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THE  PIONEERS  OF  UTICA: 


SKETCHES 


OF  ITS  INHABITANTS  AND  ITS  INSTITUTIONS,  WITH 
THE  CIVIL  HISTORY  OF  THE  PLACE, 


THE  EARLIEST  SETTLEMENT 


Ihe  year  182^, — the  Era  of  the  Opening  of  the  Erie  Canal ^ 


M.  M.  BAGG,  A.  M.,  M.  D. 


"  To  me  the  lives  of  the  instruments  of  human  progress  run  into  one  another,  and  become  so,- 
interivoven  as  to  appear  but  the  continuation  of  a  single  /«/%•"— Sabine. 


UTICA,  N.  Y. 
CURTISS  &  CHILDS,   PRINTERS    AND    PUBLISHERS.. 

1877. 


Entered  according  to  Act  of  Congrese.  A.  D.  1877,  by 

M.  M.  BAGG, 

in  the  Office  of  the  Libiaiiaii  of  Congress  at  Washington,  D.  C. 


PREFACE.  l^^'fB/ijo 


Beginning  for  liis  own  gratification  to  gather  materials  relat- 
ing to  the  earl}'  history  of  his  native  place,  the  writer  was 
subsequently  led  to  extend  his  inquiries,  and  to  shape  their 
results  for  the  benefit  of  his  present  and  former  fellow  towns- 
men. They  contain  the  record  of  no  far-reaching  and  time- 
honored  incidents,  nor  the  lives  of  many  illustrious  personages  ; 
but  only  the  story  of  the  incipient  growth  of  a  town  that  was 
begun  since  the  close  of  the  Revolution,  and  of  those  who  first 
helped  to  form  and  build  it  up.  Yet  of  these  first  inhabitants 
of  Utica  not  a  few  were  men  of  robust  and  cultured  minds, 
and  strong,  practical  virtue ;  men  of  mark  and  influence  not 
here  alone  but  elsewhere  in  the  State,  and  in  whom  an}'  town 
might  justly  take  pride  as  its  founders.  To  obtain  true  and 
just  j)erceptions  of  these  founders  from  the  testimony  of  a  few 
surviving  contemporaries,  and  transmit  them,  together  with  the 
public  acts  of  these  founders,  fresh  to  those  who  shall  succeed, 
has  been  the  purpose  of  the  author.  Written  records  of  the 
period  are  few.  Aside,  therefore,  from  such  registers  of  the 
village  and  church  corporations  as  are  extant,  such  local  news- 
papers as  are  accessible,  an  occasional  manuscript  or  diary,  and 
inquiries,  ^^ersonal  or  by  letter,  for  particulars  especially  desired, 
he  has  procured  most  of  his  subject  matter  by  comparison  and 
equation  of  the  recollection  of  aged  persons.  It  would  be  difii- 
cult  to  enumerate  all  the  persons  to  whom  he  has  been  indebted 
for  single  items  of  information.  But  to  the  following,  with  whom 
he  has  had  numerous  interviews,  he  cannot  forbear  acknowl- 
edging his  obligations,  viz  :  Messrs.  Harry  Camp,  B.  W. 
Thomas,  A.  Gr.  Dauby,  James  Sayre  and  Mrs.  E.  B.  Shearman 


1'10S127 


11.  PREFACE. 

of  Utica,  and  Rev.  John  Barton  of  Clinton,  all  of  whom  are 
now  deceased,  and  to  Messrs.  E.  S.  Barnum,  James  C.  De  Long, 
J.  E.  Warner  and  Mrs.  Mary  Wells,  of  Utica,  who  are  living. 
From  the  late  M.  B.  Scott  of  Cleaveland,  Ohio,  and  from  Hon. 
T.  H.  Powell,  of  Delaware,  in  the  same  State,  he  has  received 
lengthy  and  interesting  communications. 

To  many  others  also  he  owes  his  thanks  for  the  use  of  old 
papers  and  documents  kindly  placed  in  his  hands. 

Published  obituaries,  so  far  as  he  could  rely  on  their  accuracy 
and  justness,  he  has  freely  used,  and  often  with  little  change  in 
the  language.         * 

The  portraits  contained  in  the  volume,  and  which  to  most 
of  its  readers  may,  perchance,  prove  its  chief  source  of  interest, 
have  been  generously  furnished  at  the  expense  of  the  relatives 
and  friends  of  the  j^arties  represented. 

The  order  adopted  is  chronological :  sketches  of  the  men 
who  successively  arrived  in  the  place,  or  took  part  in  its  affairs, 
are  appended  to  the  civil  chronicle  of  the  year  when  they  came 
while  the  institutions  that  arise  are,  in  general,  linked  with  the 
lives  of  their  principal  manager,  and  are  described  no  further 
than  the  duration  of  liis  management. 

Despite  some  inconveniences,  this  plan  has  the  advantage  of 
exhibiting  the  actors,  and  only  those,  of  any  particular  era,  and 
of  keeping  in  view  the  actual  size  and  population  of  the  town. 
Perhaps,  also,  it  forms  the  most  desirable  basis  for  the  labors 
of  the  historian  who  is  to  come. 

June,  1877. 


THE  PIONEERS  OF  UTICA. 


CHAPTER  I. 

OLD    FORT   SCHUYLER. 


The  original  settlement  made  at  Utica  took  its  name  of  Old- 
Fort  Schuvler,  from  a  fort  which  had  been  erected  here  during 
the  French  and  Indian  war.  This  fort,  which  was  designed  to 
guard  the  fording  place  in  the  Mohawk  river  above  it,  was  situ- 
ated on  the  south  bank,  a  very  little  distance  south-east  of  the 
present  intersection  of  Second  street  and  the  Central  Railroad. 
The  left  bank  of  Ballou's  creek,  which  joins  the  river  just  be- 
low, was  formerly  much  depressed  a  short  distance  above  its 
mouth,  so  as  to  form,  in  high  water,  a  lagoon  that  must  have 
reached  almost  to  the  walls  of  the  fort,  and  thus  have  facilitated 
the  landing  and  embarkation  of  troops.  The  fort  consisted  of 
an  embankment  surrounded  by  palisades,  nearly  all  traces  of 
which  had  disappeared  at  the  time  of  the  arrival  of  the  first 
settlers,  although  its  site  could  still  be  distinguished  less  than 
thirty  years  ago  by  the  presence  of  a  large  apple  tree  that  had 
been  planted  within  the  enclosure.  It  was  named  in  honor  of 
Colonel  Peter  Schuyler,  an  uncle  of  General  Philip  Schuvler 
of  the  Revolution.  During,  and  subsequent  to  this  war,  it  went 
by  the  name  of  Old  Fort  Schuyler,  to  distinguish  it  from  an- 
other fortress  erected  at  Rome,  and  which  was  sometimes  known 
as  Fort  Schuyler,  though  it  had  been  christened,  and  was  there- 
fore more  correctly  called,  Fort  Stanwix. 

The  choice  of  this  spot  as  a  place  of  settlement  after  the  war 
was  probably  determined  by  the  following  circumstances :  The 
presence  of  the  hills  which  confine  the  Mohawk  at  Little  Falls, 
and  their  close  approximation  for  some  way  above  that  point, 
restricted  the  range  of  the  earlier  immigrants  into  Central  New 
York,  and  concurred  with  the  fertility  of  the  soil  along  the  val- 
ley, to  fix  them  within  the  limits  of  the  latter.     Toward  Old 


6  THE  PIONEERS  OF  UTICA. 

Fort  Schuyler  these  hills  decline  in  height,  and  begin  to  melt 
away  to  the  right  and  the  left.     Here,  therefore,  was  the  first 
place  where  facilities  appeared  for  a  divergence  from  the  former 
course,  while  the  beautiful  valleys  that  open  southward  at  this 
point  and  at  Whitesboro,  tempted  settlers  who  found  the  lands 
below^  already  in  occupation  to  depart  from  the  line  of  the  river 
in  search  of  homes  more  remote.     The  old  Indian  path  from 
Oneida  Castle  here  intercepted  the  jDath  along  the  river  side 
leading  to  the  portage  at  Fort  Stanwix.      Both   crossed   the 
Mohawk  at  the  only  place  in  the  neighborhood  where  fording 
was  easily  practicable ;  and  this  W'as  at  the  site  of  the  present 
bridge  at  the  foot  of  Genesee  street.     As  a  place  of  trade  with 
the  outlying  settlements  beyond,  which  required  supplies  that 
could  best  be  brought  by  the  river,  the  spot  seemed  an  advan- 
tageous one.     The  soil  along  the  stream  was,  it  is  true,  wet  and 
marshy,  and  the  same  was  the  case  with  nearl}^  all  the  land  in 
the  vicinity,  with  the  exception  of  a  low,  gravelly  ridge  lying 
parallel  w^ith  the  soutliern  bank,  some  dozen  rods  distant,  and 
from  w^hose   upper  end  diverged  a  slighter  ridge   southward. 
There  were  no  })romising  mill  privileges,  no  quarries  of  valu- 
able building  stone,  no  mines  of  metals  or  useful  minerals,  no 
salt  springs,  or  other  special  features  of  the  spot  that  pointed  it 
out  as  an  attractive  site  for  a  settlement  and  gave  assurance  of 
extended  growth.     The  Mohawk  was  indeed  navigable  for  ves- 
sels of  small  tonnage  from  Schenectady  to  Fort  Schuyler,  and 
even  to  Fort  Stanwix,  whence,  after  a  short  jDortage  into  Wood 
creek,  water  passage  was  continuous,  by  way  of  Oneida  lake, 
Oneida  and  Oswego  rivers,  to  Ontario  and  the  farthest  west ;  and 
this,  in  fact,  had  from  the  earliest  period  in  the  country's  history 
formed  the  principal  thoroughfare  of  travel  and  of  trade.     The 
real  and  practical  head  of  navigation  on  the  Mohawk  was  at 
Fort  Stanwix,  and  this  place  was  looked  upon, — to  use  the  lan- 
guage of  the  Commissioners  of  the  Inland  Navigation  Com- 
pany,— as  "the  future  great  city  west  of  Albany,"     Even  the 
mouth  of  the  Sauquoit  formed  a  much  more  natural  and  import- 
ant landing.     Previous  to  the  imj)rovement  of  the  road  extend- 
ing west  from  Old  Fort  Schuyler,  both  Eome  and  Wliitesboro, 
at  the  mouth  of  tlie  Sauquoit,  far  exceeded  the  former  place  in 
the  amount  of  their  river  transportation.     The  most  that  could 
have  been  expected  by  its  earlier  traders  was  to  make  it  a  land- 


OLD  FORT  SCHUYLER.  7 

ing  place  whence  goods  could  be  conveyed  to  the  places  rapidly 
settling  in  its  immediate  vicinity.  Thus  it  happened  that  for  a 
long  time  its  business  was  carried  on  near  the  river,  or  in  the 
street  wdaich  ran  parallel,  a  short  distance  above.  This  was  called 
Main  street,  its  extension  toward  Whitesboro  being  known  as 
the  AVhitesboro  road.  Nor  did  the  settlement  reach  much 
above  this  line  until  the  village  had  had  several  3-ears  of  exist- 
ence. Not  until  after  the  appropriations  made  by  the  Legislature 
in  1794,  '95  and  '97,  had  been  expended  on  the  road  to  the 
"Genesee  country,"  and  especially  not  until  after  the  incorj)o- 
ration  of  the  Seneca  Turnpike  Company  in  1800,  and  the  con- 
struction by  it  of  a  more  perfect  road,  which,  starting  at  the 
ford,  ran  much  to  the  southward  of  Eome  and  Whitesboro,  did 
Utica  increase  materially,  and  become  the  virtual  head  of  trade 
upon  the  Mohawk. 

The  territory  on  which  Old  Fort  Schuyler  was  settled,  formed 
part  of  a  tract  of  22,000  acres,  granted  on  the  2d  of  January^ 
1734,  by  George  II.,  King  of  England,  nominally,  to  several 
persons,  but  in  reality,  to  inure  to  the  benefit  of  William 
Cosby,  Colonial  Governor  of  New  York  and  New  Jersey;"^ 
it  was  thence  known  as  Cosby's  Manor.  In  default  of  the 
pavment  of  arrears  of  quit  rents,  it  was,  on  the  4th  of  July, 
1772,  sold  by  the  sheriff  under  warrant  from  Daniel  Hors- 
manden,  the  Chief  Justice  of  the  Colony,  and  was  purchased  by 
Col.,  afterwards  General  Philip  Schuyler,  for  the  joint  benefit 
of  himseK,  General  John  Bradstreet,  Kutger  Bleecker  and 
John  Morin  Scott.  They  paid  for  it  £1,387,  4s.,  7d.,  or  at  the 
rate  of  fifteen  pence  per  acre.  By  them  or  their  heirs  it  was 
held  at  the  time  the  first  settlements  were  effected. 

In  the  year  1786,  a  survey  of  the  manor,  together  with  a  map 
of  the  same,  was  made  by  John  R,  son  of  Eutger  Bleecker,  and 
a  division  of  the  lots  took  place  among  the  several  owners.  The 
whole  tract  extended  easterly  from  the  mouth  of  the  Sauquoit 
creek,  eleven  miles,  seventeen  chams,  and  was  six  miles  wide, 
three  upon  each  side  of  the  Mohawk  river.  It  was  divided 
into  lots  that  ran  back  from  the  river  three  miles,  and  were 

*  Among  the  persons  named  in  the  Royal  Charter,  in  conjunction  with 
William  Cosby,  and  who  held  title  of  the  land  from  the  2d  to  the  5th  of 
January,  when  they  transferred  their  title  to  the  Governor,  is  Richard 
Shuckburgh,  who,  if  he  did  not  compose,  introduced  the  popular  air  of 
Yankee  Doodle  into  this  country. 


8  THE  PIOXEERS  OF  UTICA. 

sixteen  or  seventeen  chains  in  widtli.  The  city  of  Utica  lies 
"wholly  upon  the  south  side  of  this  stream,  and,  according  to 
its  present  limits,  is  enclosed  mostly  between  lots  Nos.  82  and 
101,  the  western  boundary  of  so  much  of  it  as  lies  north  of 
the  Central  Kailroad  having  recently  been  extended  to  the  west 
line  of  lot  No.  104.  The  more  inhabited  j)ortion  of  the  city, 
is,  in  fact,  included  between  lots  Nos.  90  and  100.  No.  90  is 
nearly  coextensive  in  width  with  the  neck  of  the  Ox-Bow  or 
Eiver  Bend,  and  reaches  west  to  the  line  of  the  Col.  Walker 
(now  the  Culver)  place;  No.  91  reaches  westerly  nearly  to  Mo- 
hawk street,  or,  more  exactly,  to  a  point  a  little  west  of  the 
brick  house  on  Broad  street  once  occupied  by  Col.  Combe  ;  No. 
92  reaches  to  a  point  near  the  west  end  of  Broad  street  basin 
bridge ;  No.  93  to  a  point  a  few  feet  east  of  First  street  canal 
bridge ;  No.  94,  to  witliin  a  few  feet  of  Charlotte  street,  cut- 
ting the  east  line  of  Genesee  near  where  the  latter  corners  on 
Catharine ;  No.  95  to  within  a  few  feet  of  Broad wa}^ ;  No.  96 
to  a  few  feet  west  of  the  foot  of  Cornelia  street ;  ]^.v97  to  the 
southeast  corner  of  Varick  and  Fayette  streets ;  No.  98  to  the 
east  side  of  the  Vulcan  works,  near  Wiley  street ;  No.  99  to  a 
short  distance  west  of  Philip  street,  and  No.  100  to  the  west 
corner  of  the  State  Lunatic  Asylum.  These  lots  were  in  the  dis- 
tribution, apportioned  as  follows:  Lots  Nos.  90  and  91  to  the 
heirs  of  General  Bradstreet ;  92,  93  and  94  to  Eutger  Bleecker ; 
95,  96  and  97  to  General  Bradstreet's  heirs ;  98,  99  and  100  to 
General  Schuyler. 

The  very  earliest  notice  I  have  met  with  of  any  settlements 
having  been  attem])ted  on  or  near  the  site  of  Utica,  is  contained 
in  the  statement  of  a  centenarian  named  Justus  Ackley,  who 
died  at  Rome,  N.  Y.  March  22d,  1874,  having  been  born  at 
Coeyman's,  August  14th,  1771 ;  and  though  little  reliance  can 
be  placed  on  a  memory  so  ancient  as  his,  yet  this  story  is  not 
inconsistent  with  written  testimony  of  a  little  later  date.  He 
says,  that  when  he  was  fourteen  years  of  age  (1785-6)  he  passed 
the  site  of  the  present  Utica  in  company  with  his  parents.  There 
were  then  but  two  log  houses,  or  "salt  boxes,"  as  they  were 
called  in  the  language  of  the  pioneers.  Ue  describes  them  as 
made  of  split  basswood,  the  spaces  between  being  covered  with 
bark.  The  front  was  from  tw^elve  to  twenty  feet  high,  with  a 
roof  slanting  toward  the  rear,  the  lower  end  being  but  a  few 
feet  from  the  ground. 


OLD  FORT  SCHUYLER.  \) 

Moses  Foot,  who  began  the  settlement  at  Clinton  in  1787, 
while  on  his  way,  slept  in  a  log  house  belonging  to  one  of  these 
early  settlers,  who  informed  him  that  he  had  half  an  acre  cleared 
in  1785.* 

Passing  by  this  testimony,  let  us  turn  to  that  of  the  above 
mentioned  map,  which  is  still  extant  and  which  bears  the  date 
of  October,  1786.  It  appears  therefrom  that  two  houses  were 
located  near  the  ford,  on  what  is  now  the  east  side  of  Genesee 
street,  and  one  on  the  west  side.  Im]:)rovements  had  been  made 
a  little  further  westward,  somewhere  between  the  present  lines 
of  Broadwa}'  and  State  streets,  and  there  were  also  improvements 
near  the  present  eastern  limits  of  the  cit}^  Outside  of  these 
evidences  of  commencing  civilization  was  an  unbroken  forest, 
consisting  chiefly  of  beech,  hemlock,  maple  and  elm. 

The  occupant  of  the  house  nearest  the  river  on  the  eastern 
side  of  the  road  was  John  Cunningham,  his  neighbor  beside 
him  being  George  Damuth.  The  resident  of  the  opposite  side 
was  Jacob  Christman.  The  settler  toward  the  west  w^as  a  man 
named  McNamee,  and  the  clearings  on  the  eastern  border  were 
designated  as  those  of  MclSTamee  and  Abraham  Boom. 

An  emigrant  who  passed  through  the  place  the  following- 
year,  likewise  informs  us  that  there  were  three  log  huts  or 
shanties  near  the  old  fort.  The  statement  furnished  by  a  set- 
tler who  arrived  in  1788  confirms  the  evidence  of  the  map, 
showing  that  Cunningham,  Damuth,  and  Christman  were  liv- 
ing near  the  ford,  while  it  adds  to  the  list  the  name  of  Hendrich 
Salyea.  Of  these  men  we  know  little.  JVIost  of  them  were  vi 
Palatine  descent,  and  had  probably  removed  hither  from  set- 
tlements lower  down  the  jSIohawk. 

The  name  Damuth  occurs  in  the  Palatine  Records  of  Herki- 
mer county,  as  we  are  informed  by  N.  S.  Benton,  in  his  history 
of  that  county.  It  was  variously  spelled  as  Demath,  Demooth, 
Demoth,  Dimoth,  Demot,  &c.,  but  by  the  Yankee  settlers  was 
Anglicized  into  Dame  wood.  During  the  Revolutionary  war 
some  of  the  family  were  living  near  Herkimer,  and  one  George 
Damuth  lived  in  the  neighborhood  of  Little  Falls.  Prior  to 
that  struggle,  Mark  Damuth  had  settled  near  Deerfield  Corners, 
whence  with  the  other  settlers,  he  was  driven  out  by  a  threat- 

*  Journal  of  Dr.  Alexander  Coventry,  where  the  statement  is  given  on 
the  authority  of  Mr.  Foot. 


10  THE  PIONEERS  OF  UTICA, 

ened  attack  of  Indians.  He  returned  in  178-i,  and  with  him 
came  another  of  the  family  named  George.  Whether  these  two 
George  Damuths,  the  one  of  Little  Falls  and  he  of  Deei-field, 
were  the  same,  and  the  person  who  afterwards  fixed  himself  on 
the  south  side  of  the  Moliawk,  is,  though  a  conjecture,  at  least 
a  probable  one.  The  lease  from  Eutger  Bleecker,  of  the  city  of 
Albany,  to  "  George  Demuth  of  Montgomery  county,'  (the  name 
then  applied  to  all  of  the  State  west  of  Albany  county)  is 
dated,  July  28th,  1787.  It  demises  273-|  acres,  being  part  of 
lot  No.  9-1,  for  the  term  of  twenty-one  years,  at  a  yearly  rent 
of  one  shilling  per  acre.  The  first  payment  was  to  be  made 
on  the  28th  of  July,  1793,  and  subsequent  ones  annually  there- 
after. Mr.  Damuth  made  assignment  of  his  lease,  and  had  prob- 
ably died  ere  1790,  as  we  hear  at  that  date  of  a  "  widow  Da- 
muth." 

One  of  his  sons  was  a  boatman,  being  in  the  employ  of  John 
Post,  who,  as  we  snail  see,  was  the  enterprising  forwarder  of 
his  day.  Another  removed  to  Sacketts  Harbor,  and  a  third 
remained  with  his  mother,  and  lived  on  the  upper  part  of  the 
Peter  Smith  farm,  in  a  house  that  stood  where  is  now  Bethany 
Church. 

John  Cunningham,  we  may  presume  from  the  name,  was 
Scotch  in  his  origin.  He  was  the  father  of  three  daughters^ 
one  of  whom  married  another  Damuth,  whose  surname  was  Rich- 
ard, and  who  had  a  residence  in  Deerfield.  He  would  seem  to 
have  been  almost  as  much  Indian  as  white  man  in  his  habits, 
being  accustomed  to  absent  himself  for  long  periods  in  order  to 
consort  with  the  rude  children  of  the  forest,  and  wearing  a  ring- 
in  his  nose  after  the  Indian  fashion.  It  was  with, Cunningham 
that  Moses  Foot  found  a  lodging,  while  on  his  way  to  effect  a 
settlement  at  Clinton,  in  1787.  His  legal  title  to  the  land  he 
occupied  he  probably  obtained  about  the  same  time  with  Da- 
muth, for  though  I  have  not  met  with  a  copy  of  his  lease,  I 
have  seen  a  statement  of  the  payments  received  thereon,  from 
which  it  would  appear  that  it  conveyed  91^  acres  of  lot  No. 
94  for  the  term  of  ten  years,  at  one  shilling  an  acre  each  year, 
and  that  the  times  of  paymeni  were  fixed  on  the  26th  of  July, 
1798,  and  annually  on  the  same  day  thereafter,  that  is  to  say, 
within  two  da3^s  of  the  l)eginning  of  payments  on  the  lease  of 
George  Damuth.     As  with  the  latter  so  with  Cuniiiiighan,  not 


OLD  FORT  SCHUYLER.  11 

one  of  tlie  payments  were  made  by  the  original  lessee  ;  Cunning- 
ham having  alread}^,  before  1793,  sold  his  lease  and  his  better- 
ments to  John  Post  and  departed. 

Of  Jacob  Christman's  title  we  know  nothing,  nor  whether, 
indeed,  he  ever  had  any.  He  found  employment  in  boating  on 
the  river.  Two  of  his  sons  became  farmers,  and  one  occupied 
for  some  years  the  farm  in  East  Utica  on  which  Boom  had  set- 
tled, and  another  the  Devereu>:  farm.  Some  of  his  descendants 
have  been  living  in  Utica  within  a  recent  period. 

Of  McNamee  our  information  is  still  less.  Abraham  Boom 
obtained  from  Oeneral  Philip  Schuyler  in  1790,  a  life  lease  of 
the  land  on  which  he  had  located,  and  after  his  death  his  son, 
William  Boom,  disposed  of  it  to  the  Christmans. 

Hendrich  Salyea  had  a  twenty-one  years'  lease  fi'om  Eutger 
Bleecker,  dated  on  the  same  day  with  that  of  Greorge  Damnth, 
namely  :  July  28,  1787.  This  lease,  on  the  19th  of  September, 
1 789,  he  covenanted  to  sell  to  John  Post,  the  purchaser  of  the 
interest  of  Cunningham  and  in  part  of  that  of  Damuth.  The 
improvements  which  he  had  made  on  a  strip  of  land  lying  adja- 
cent, and  like  the.  former  ou  lot  No.  93,  he  sold  on  the  15th  of 
March,  1790,  to  Peter  Smith,  for  the  sum  of  £5.  He  squatted 
again  on  a  part  of  lot  No.  90,  occupying  a  log  house  that  stood 
on  the  north  side  of  the  present  Broad  street,  opposite  the  site 
of  the  subsequent  farm  house  of  Matthew  Hubbell.  The  im- 
provements on  the  latter  tract  he  sold  the  same  year  to  Mr. 
Hubbell,  but  continued  to  live,  a  straggler,  in  the  village  for 
several  years  longer.  He  was  the  only  one  of  these  earliest 
settlers  near  the  ford,  who  remained  in  the  vicinity. 

1788. 

The  manor  of  Cosby  formed  a  part  of  what  was  known  as- 
the  District  of  German  Flats,  in  the  county  of  Montgomery,  the 
name  of  the  county  having  been  changed  from  that  of  Tryon 
county  in  1784.  On  the  7th  of  March,  17S8,  the  District  of 
German  Flats  was  divided,  and  "White's  town  "  was  set  off  as 
a  separate  town.  The  new  town  was  bounded  on  the  east  by  a 
line  crossing  the  Mohawk  at  the  ford  near  Cunningham's  house, 
and  running  thence  north  and  south  to  the  bounds  of  the  state, 
a  line  which  is  perpetuated  in  the  eastern  boundaries  of  the  towns 
of  Paris  and  Bridgewater. 


^ 


12  THE  PIONEERS  OF  UTICA. 

It  is  prol)ablr  that  the  east  line  of  Whitestown  was  thus  fixed 
tlirough  Whitesboro  influence,  and  was  designed  to  exclude  the 
Dutch  settlement  at  Deerfield  and  prove  a  boundary  between 
Dutch  and  Yankee.  It  cut  the  settlement  of  Old  Fort  Schuy- 
ler in  the  middle,  leaving  a  part  in  Whitestown  and  a  part  in 
German  Flats  Upon  the  formation  of  Oneida  county,  in  1798, 
this  east  line  was  thrown  eastwardly  to  the  present  line  of  the 
city  and  count}". 

In  1788  the  whole  of  New  York,  west  of  the  dividing  line, 
constituted  the  town  of  Whitestown.  This  immense  region, 
now  teeming  with  people,  then  numbered  less  than  200  inhabi- 
tants. But  the  tide  of  immigration  had  already  begun  to  flow. 
The  reaction  which  slowly  followed  the  exhausting  struggle  for 
the  nation's  independence,  was  awakening  enterprise  and  direct- 
ing it  into  new  paths  of  activity.  The  fame  of  "  the  Whites- 
town  country "  had  reached  New  England,  and  was  enticing 
thither  the  adventurous  settler,  as  to  a  land  of  promise.  The 
neighboring  settlements  of  Whitesboro,  Oriskany,  Westmore- 
land, &c.,  had  been  commenced  a  year  or  two  previously ;  that 
of  Deerfield,  ])roken  up  and  destroyed  during  the  revolution, 
had  also  just  been  resumed. 

The  settlers  who  successively  came  in  to  swell  our  quota  of 
this  now  populous  district,  let  us  proceed  to  consider.  I  shall 
notice  them,  so  far  as  I  have  been  able  to  ascertain  the  truth, 
in  the  order  of  their  coming,  and  shall  mention  every  adult 
male  whom  I  know  to  have  been  a  resident  in  Old  Fort  Schuyler. 

In  this  same  month  of  March,  1788,  arrived  Major  John 
Bellinger,  the  first  who  effected  a  lodgment  after  the  persons 
whose  names  occur  on  Mr.  Bleecker's  map.  Such,  at  least,  is 
the  time  of  his  coming  as  given  by  Nicholas  Smith,  his  nephew, 
w^ho  accompanied  him  ;  although,  according  to  Judge  Jones  (in 
his  Annals  of  Oneida  County),  who  is  followed  therein  by  Mr. 
Benton  (History  of  Herkimer  County),  the  date  of  their  arrival 
was  1791.  Major  Bellinger  was  a  native  of  the  Mohawk  val- 
ley, and  with  two  other  members  of  his  family,  was  present  at 
the  battle  of  Oriskany,  whei-e  he  stood  by  the  side  of  the  gallant 
Herkimer,  when  the  latter  received  his  mortal  wound.  At  the 
time  of  his  journeying  hither,  the  ground  was  covered  with  four 
feet  of  snow.  Immediately  on  his  arrival,  he  constructed  a  hut 
of  hemlock  boughs,  in  which  he  lived  four  months.     It  was 


OLD  FORT  SCHUYLER,  Ig 

placed  near  what  is  now  the  east  corner  of  Whitesboro  and  Wash 
ington  streets.  The  same  year,  as  it  is  said,  he  began  to  clear 
up  a  piece  of  land  and  to  build  a  small  frame  house,  he  being 
his  own  artificer.  If  it  be  true  that  the  house  now  pointed  out 
by  old  residents  as  Mr.  B.'s,  is  the  one  he  then  erected,  it 
is  a  noteworthy  object,  and  does  credit  to  the  builder's  skill. 
It  stands  in  the  rear  of  a  wagon  shop  on  the  south  side  of 
Whitesboro  street,  third  house  east  of  Washington,  and  is  a 
story  and  a  half,  gable-roofed  house.  It  has  a  tough,  weather- 
beaten  look,  that  promises  for  it  several  years  duration.  Here, 
while  Mr.  Belhnger  managed  his  farm,  he  entertained  the  stream 
of  emigrants  on  their  way  to  more  distant  homes.  He  after- 
ward erected  a  larger  building  nearly  opposite,  a  part  of  which 
was  known  at  the  time  it  was  burned,  as  the  New  England 
House.  This  he  continued  to  keep  as  a  public  house  until  his 
death,  in  1815.  Major  Bellinger  was  a  clear-headed,  shrewd 
Dutchman,  and  a  man  of  some  influence.  He  took  part  in  the 
organization  of  the  earliest  banks,  gave  a  lot  as  a  site  for  the 
Presbyterian  church,  and  when  he  died,  was  the  possessor  of  a 
handsome  property.  His  wife  was  a  daughter  of  Nicholas 
Weaver,  of  Deerfield,  and  sister  of  the  wife  of  John,  son  of 
George  Damuth,  already  mentioned.  She  died  in  1819.  Sev- 
eral of  his  children  died  in  infancy  and  youth.  His  son  John, 
though  favored  with  more  instruction  than  his  father  had  re- 
ceived, was  unable  or  indisposed  to  make  use  of  his  advantages. 
He  followed  no  regular  business,  but  was  something  of  a  sports- 
man. He  died  in  1841.  One  of  Mr.  Bellinger's  daughters  be- 
came the  wife  of  Joshua  Ostrom,  one  of  our  earlier  citizens ;. 
another,  the  wife  of  Smith  Mott,  of  Hamilton. 

At  this  time,  as  we  are  told  by  Judge  Jones,*  a  family  named 
Morey,  Philip,  the  father,  and  Solomon,  Kichard  and  Sylvanus, 
his  sons,  from  Ehode  Island,  were  living  as  squatters  on  lot  No. 
97,  and  Francis  Foster  was  then  a  squatter  on  lot  No.  96. 
Philip  Morey  subsequently  had  a  lease  of  his  land. 

1789. 

The  following  year  came  Uriah  Alverson,  native  of  Ehode 

Island.     He  had  journeyed  through  the  place  some  two  years 

before,  when  he  determined  to  locate  here,  and  returned  east 

*  Annals  of  Oneida  County, 


14  THE  PIOXEEKS  OF  UTICA. 

for  bis  family.  On  Ins  second  arrival  he  took  up  some  land  in 
what  is  now  West  Utica,  on  along  lease  from  Gen.  Schu\der,  and 
built  him  a  house.  This  house,  after  many  changes,  removals 
and  repairs,  was  yet  standing  on  Columbia  street,  as  recently  as 
1870,  but  has  now  been  destroyed  to  make  room  for  the  church 
of  St.  Joseph.  He  removed  from  the  place  about  1809;  was 
living  in  Madison  in  1815,  and  afterwards  again  in  this  vicinity. 
His  daughter,  Abigail  Sayles,  died  in  Utica,  in  1821.  His  son, 
William  Alverson,  accompanied  his  father  on  his  first  visit,  as 
well  as  when  he  came  here  to  reside,  and  was  then  a  youth  of 
nineteen.  He  followed  several  different  pursuits  ;  by  trade  a 
journeyman  carpenter,  he  was  also  a  farmer,  a  brewer,  a  grocer 
and  a  painter.  He  was  a  man  of  strict  integrity,  industrious, 
prudent  and  economical,  but  perhaps  too  confiding.  He  lived 
to  the  age  of  eighty,  and  died  in  1849.  At  this  age  he  was  re- 
markably vigorous  and  would  outwalk  many  a  younger  man. 
The  house  in  which  he  lived  the  greater  part  of  his  life,  is  a 
story  and  a  half  one,  on  the  north  side  of  Whitesboro  street,  a 
few  rods  west  of  Hoyts  lane.  His  first  wife  was  the  mother  of 
the  late  Mrs.  T.  S.  Faxton,  his  second  was  Matilda,  daughter  of 
Stephen  Potter,  and  widow  of  Stephen  Ford.  His  sons  were 
Lewis,  grocer;  and  William,  Jr.,  currier. 

Some  time  during  the  year  1789,  or  the  latter  part  of  the  pre- 
vious year,  came  one  of  those  remarkable  men  that  new  coun- 
tries are  apt  to  produce,  and  whose  eminent  success,  especially 
in  the  acquisition  of  wealth,  is  not  surpassed  by  the  richest 
gains  of  Metropolitan  commerce.  This  was  Peter  Smith,  father 
of  the  more  widely  known  Gerrit  Smith.  To  the  courtesy  of 
the  lattei'  am  I  indebted  for  a  knowledge  of  the  main  incidents 
in  the  life  of  his  father.  Peter  Smith  was  a  native  of  Eockland 
county,  and  was  born  in  1768.  A])prenticed  at  sixteen  as  a 
clerk  in  the  importing  house  of  Abraham  Herring  &  Co.,  he 
left  them  at  the  end  of  three  j-ears,  and,  stocked  with  a  supply  of 
goods  for  a  country  store,  settled  liimself  in  trade  at  a  small 
place  called  Fall  Hill,  a  couple  of  miles  bt'luw  Little  Falls. 
Here  he  remained  but  a  single  year,  and  while  yet  a  minor  came 
to  Old  Fort  Schuyler.  He  put  up  a  log  store,  which,  as  nearly 
as  he  could  recollect  in  his  latter  years,  stood  where  Bagg's  Tav- 
ern was  afterward  built.     J.  F.  Watson,  in  his  Antiquities  of  the 


OLD  FORT  SCHUTLER.  15 

Citv  and  State  of  New  York,  published  in  Philadelphia  about 
1848-50,  says  that  Peter  Smith,  in  1787,  bought  of  the  widow 
Daniuth,  for  a  few  pounds  of  Bohea  tea,  her  log  house,  that 
stood  on  the  ground  where  was  afterwards  built  Bagg's  Hotel. 
He  soon  built  another  store  of  the  same  kind  near  the  lower 
end  of  Main  street,  and  not  far  from  the  handsome  two-story 
dwelling  he  subsequently  erected  on  the  corner  of  Main  and 
Third  streets.  The  last  mentioned  house,  he  occupied  as  early 
as  1792,  for  there  in  that  year,  his  eldest  child,  Mrs.  Cochrane, 
was  born.  In  its  day,  it  was  the  most  attractive  private  resi- 
dence the  place  contained,  and  was,  perhaps,  also  the  oldest 
frame  building  of  much  pretension.  Occupied  by  Mr,  Smith 
for  a  few  years  after  his  marriage,  it  next  became  the  residence 
of  James  S.  Kip,  and  afterward  for  many  years  that  of  Ju'lge 
Morris  S.  Miller.  It  was  a  frequent  boast  of  the  latter  that 
"  he  lived  under  the  oldest  shingles  in  Utica."  This  once  beau- 
tiful mansion  having  become  untenantable  by  the  very  dregs 
of  the  city,  was  at  length  torn  down. 

Mr.  Smith's  later  residence  was  the  house  on  Broad  street, 
beyond  the  Grulf,  afterward  occupied  by  his  son-in-law.  Captain 
Walter  Cochrane,  and  which,  after  many  transformations  effected 
by  successive  tenants,  is  now  occupied  by  George  Ellison.  To 
this  house  was  attached  a  farm  of  two  or  three  hundred  acres. 
Here,  in  March,  1797,  was  born  his  noted  son,  Gerrit. 

Mr.  Smith's  first  successful  ventures  seem  to  have  been  made 
in  trading  with  the  Indians.  In  this  direction  he  was  soon  fol- 
lowed by  John  Jacob  Astor,  and  they  became  partners  in  the 
purchase  of  furs.  Together  the}'  used  to  journey  on  foot  from 
Schenectada  to  Old  Fort  Schujder,  with  their  packs  on  their 
backs,  stopping  here  and  there  to  pick  up  furs  at  the  Indian 
settlements  on  the  way.  At  a  later  period  they  were  united  in 
buying  lands.  Partly  by  trade,  but  chiefly  by  a  diligent  and 
dextrous  improvement  of  ever}' sale  of  public  lands,  Mr.  Smith 
early  acquired  a  large  fortune,  having  become  the  possessor  of 
extensive  tracts  in  various  counties  of  the  State.  To  his  early 
acquaintance  with  the  language  of  the  Indians,  he  owed  it 
mainly  that  he  obtained  a  large  influence  over  them,  and  re- 
ceived grants  of  their  territory. 

About  the  year  1794,  he  obtained  from  the  Oneidas  their 
possessory  riglit  to  a  tract  of  land  containing  about  fifty  thou- 


16  THE  PIONEERS  OF  UTICA. 

sand  acres,  bounded  west  by  Onondaga  county  and  stretcliing 
across  Madison  county  into  Augusta,  Oneida  county.  At  this 
time  a  law  bad  been  enacted  by  Congress  which  forbade  the 
Oneidas  from  selHng  their  lands  to  the  white  settlers,  but  as 
there  was  nothing  in  the  act  to  prevent  their  leasing  them  for 
any  length  of  time,  Mr.  Smith  obtained  possession  of  this  tract 
by  a  lease  extending  for  a  term  of  999  years.  One  party 
of  the  tribe  strongly  objected  to  this  disposal  of  their  lands^ 
while  another  ])arty  u])held  tlie  lessee  in  the  right  they  bad 
given  him.  On  the  arrival  of  the  sur\-eyors,  an  attack  was 
made  upon  them,  the  compass  and  chain  were  broken,  and  one 
of  them  was  injured  in  the  hand  by  a  hatchet  thrown  by  a  lios- 
tile  Indian.  The  difficulty  was,  however,  soon  adjusted,  and 
Mr.  Smitli  was  no  further  molested  by  the  Oneidas.  Congress, 
in  the  mean  time,  had  been  watching  his  operations,  and  for  the 
purpose  of  arresting  his  influence,  Timothy  Pickering  was 
deputed  to  visit  Oneida.  There  was  a  great  gathering  of  the 
tribe  and  of  the  whites  at  the  famous  Butternut  orchard,  where 
Mr.  Pickering  addressed  the  assembly.  His  words,  having  to 
pass  through  an  interpreter,  were  enfeebled  to  Indian  ears,  while 
Mr.  Smith  addressed  them  in  reply,  in  a  tongue  which  he  had 
been  accustomed  to  speak  with  fluency,  and  appealing  to  their 
long  and  intimate  business  relations,  as  well  as  to  their  sense  of 
justice,  sustained  himself  triumphantly,  and  reestablished  his 
influence  over  both  parties.  This  tract,  at  lirst  called  New 
Petersburgh,  afterwards  Peterboro,  was  confirmed  to  him  in  fee 
simple  by  the  State. 

To  this  place  he  removed  in  1806,  after  a  brief  residence  of 
three  years  at  Yorkville,  then  known  as  Wetmore's  Mills.  He 
had  been  sheriff  of  Hei'kimer  in  1795,  when  that  county 
included  Oneida  also.  On  the  organization  of  Madison  county, 
the  same  year  of  his  removal  thither,  he  was  appointed  one  of 
its  judges,  and  the  following  year  became  first  judge.  This, 
position  he  continued  to  hold  until  1821,  and,  as  it  was  said  by 
the  lawyers  of  the  day,  made  an  excellent  magistrate. 

His  school  education  was  but  small,  although  he  wrote  a  bold 
and  free  hand,  and  his  quick  and  penetrating  mind  and  natural 
aptitude  for  affairs,  had  been  early  tempered  to  the  practice  of 
them.  Before  there  were  attorneys  in  Old  Fort  Schuyler,  Mr. 
Smith  would  seem  to  haye  been  often  called  on  to  draft  such 


OLD  FORT  SCHUYLER.  17 

law  papers  as  were  required.  But,  says  a  contemporary,  his 
knowledge  of  human  nature  was  profound,  and  few  words 
passed  from  him  in  conversation  that  were  not  worth  recording. 
The  following  anecdote  is,  perhaps,  as  characteristic  of  him  as 
any  that  have  been  told,  furnishing  the  very  key  note  of  his 

history :     A  Mr.  L ,  a  fat,  indolent  and  poor  man,  came, 

one  day,  into  his  office,  and  after  witnessing  for  some  time  the 
ease  and  rapidity  with  which  the  judge  despatched  his  business, 
he  said,  "  Judge,  I,  too,  want  to  be  lich.  How  can  I  get  rich  ?  " 
Mr.  Smith  instantly  turned  upon  him,  and  with  a  look  and 

manner  emphatically  his  own,  replied  :  "  Mr.  L ,  you  must 

be  born  again."' 

His  readiness  of  resource  and  his  promptness  to  circumvent 
a  rival,  are  well  illustrated  in  a  story  that  has  already  appeared 
in  print,  and  which  I  give  as  it  has  been  told  to  me.  He  was 
lodging  one  night  at  Post's  Tavern,  at  the  same  time  that 
Messrs.  Phelps  and  Gorham  were  also  guests.  Mr.  Smith  oc- 
cupied a  room  which  was  separated  from  the  other  land  specu- 
lators by  a  very  thin  partition.  In  the  night  he  heard  them 
whispering  together  about  a  certain  valuable  tract  of  land 
which  they  were  on  the  point  of  buying.  Rising  from  his  bed, 
and  summoning  the  landlord  for  his  horse,  he  was  soon  on  his 
way  to  the  land-office  at  Albany.  When  Messrs.  Phelps  and 
Gorham  had  finished  their  night's  rest  and  taken  their  break- 
fast, they  jogged  on  leism^ely  to  the  same  destination.  What 
was  their  surprise  when  near  the  end  of  their  journey  to- 
encounter,  on  his  way  back,  Mr.  Smith,  whom  they  had  so 
recently  seen  in  Old  Fort  Schuyler,  and  how  much  more  aston- 
ished to  learn,  on  reaching  the  office  at  Albany,  that  the 
coveted  prize  was  his. 

Sagacious  and  shrewd,  he  was  also  active  and  untiring  in  his^ 
efforts  to  accumulate,  yet  he  was  a  man  of  his  word,  and  too 
wise  to  be  dishonest  Independent  and  fearless,  he  was  at  the 
same  time  modest  and  unassuming,  and  held  himself  as  no^ 
more  than  the  equal  of  those  of  lesser  means.  Excessively- 
plain  in  his  dress  and  equipage,  and  frugal  in  all  his  ways,  he^ 
was  even  la\dsh  where  his  feelings  were  enlisted.  For  these 
feelings  were  deep,  and  his  domestic  affection  ardent  In  per- 
son he  was  short  and  stout.  The  most  striking  features  were 
his  curved  nose  and  his  hawk-eye,  which  latter  was  keen  and  pene- 


18  THE  PIONEERS  OF  UTICA. 

trating.  Several  years  before  his  death,  Judge  Smith  conveyed 
his  estates  to  his  son  Gerrit,  and  after  spending  some  time  in 
travelling,  iinally  settled  in  Schenectada,  where  he  died  April 
17th,  1837. 

His  estimable  ^^^fe,  as  well  remembered  for  her  piety,  as  for 
her  intellectual  gifts  and  the  graces  tliat  adorn  the  true  lady, 
was  Elizabeth,  daughter  of  Colonel  James  Livingston,  of  the 
Revolutionar}^  army,  and  sister  of  the  wife  of  the  late  Hon. 
Daniel  Cady,  of  Johnstown.  She  died  in  Utica,  August 
27th,  1818. 

A  fellow  witness  with  Peter  Smith  to  a  conti-act  made  on  the 
19th  day  of  September,  1789,  by  Henrj^  Sal  yea,  was  Samuel 
Eusst.  Of  Mr.  Russt  we  know  only  that  he  was  a  shoemaker, 
an  elderly  man  wdth  a  large  family,  and  that  after  tarrying  in 
the  place  a  few  years  longer,  he  moved  to  Onondaga. 

The  contract  referred  to  was  in  favor  of  John  Post,  of  Schen- 
ectada, with  whom  Salyea  agreed,  in  consideration  of  the  sum 
of  one  hundred  pounds,  to  surrender  on  the  first  of  April  fol- 
lowing, the  lot  he  had  leased  from  Rutger  Bleeckerin  17S7. 

1790. 

Accordingly  in  the  spring  of  1790,  this  John  Post,  with  his 
wife,  three  young  children  and  a  carpenter,  supplied  with  a 
stock  of  merchandize,  furniture  and  provisions,  embarked  upon 
the  Mohawk  at  Schenectada,  and  in  eight  or  nine  days  landed 
at  Old  Fort  Schuyler.  Besides  the  purchase  from  Salyea,  he 
had  also  the  ownership  of  the  lease  of  John  Cunningham,  and 
of  a  part  of  that  of  George  Damuth.  We  are  told  by  a  settler 
of  the  Genesee  countr)',  who  passed  up  the  river  the  summer 
previous,  that  Mr.  Post  was  then  finishing  his  house  on  a  half 
acre  of  land  that  he  had  cleared*  The  clearing  was  probably 
made  by  Cunningham,  the  ])revious  settler.  The  house,  as  Mr. 
Post  subsequently  informed  Dr.  Alexander  Coventry,f  was 
probably  the  first  frame  house  erected  in  the  county.  Judge 
White,  of  Whitcsboro.  was  still  living  in  a  log  house.  This 
'house  of  Mr.  Post,  stood  on  the  west  side  of  what  is  now  lower 
Genesee  street,  not  far  from  Whitcsboro  street.     The  farm  that 

*  Turner's  History  of  the  Phelps  and  Uorham  Purchase. 
-  f  Dr.  Coventry's  Journal. 


OLD  FORT  SCHUYLER.  19 

Tie  bought  of  Saljea,  was  adjacent  to  Salyea's  or  Ballou's  creek, 
known  also  as  the  Sulphur  Spring  creek. 

Mr.  Post,  was  of  Dutch  extraction,  as  was  likewise  his  wife. 
He  was  the  son  of  Elias  and  Margarientje  (Bellinger)  Post,  of 
Schenectada,  where  he  was  born  December,  1748.  He  had 
faithfallj  served  his  country  during  the  entire  period  of  the 
Eevolution,  and  was  at  the  taking  both  of  Burgojne  and  Corn- 
wallis.  For  some  years  prior  to  his  settlement  at  old  Fort 
Schuyler,  he  had  been  employed  in  trading  with  the  Six  Nations, 
and  removed  to  this  place  to  engage  in  the  same  business.  At 
first  he  kept  his  goods  for  sale  in  his  dwelling,  which  from 
necessity  was  made  a  house  of  entertainment  also,  and  until  the 
year  1794,  there  was  besides  this,  and  the  extemporized  lodging 
place  of  Major  Bellinger,  no  other  tavern  in  the  place.  In  the 
year  1791  he  erected  a  store  beside  his  house,  and  near  what 
now  constitutes  the  north-west  corner  of  Grenesee  and  "Whites- 
boro  streets.  His  trade  was  principally  with  the  neighboring 
Indians,  who  would  bring  him  in  the  furs  of  the  animals  they 
killed,  and  also  ginseng,  a  plant  growing  in  the  woods,  and 
which  was  then  in  great  request  as  an  article  of  export  to  the 
Chinese.  In  return,  he  furnished  them  spirits,  tobacco,  blankets, 
ammunition,  beads,  &c.  It  is  said  by  his  daughter  to  have  been 
a  common  occurrence  that  thirty  or  forty  Indian  men,  women 
and  children  remained  at  his  house  through  the  night,  and,  if 
the  weather  were  cold,  surrounded  the  immense  kitchen  fire  of 
logs,  or  in  the  milder  season,  lay  upon  the  grass  plats  by  the 
side  of  the  log  and  brush  fences  of  the  vicinity.  From  the 
journal  of  travellers*  who  took  dinner  and  supper  here  in  No- 
vember, 1793,  and  then  looked  into  his  store,  we  learn  that  "it 
was  well  stocked,  and  a  favorite  place  for  tipplers  and  cus 
tomers."  Of  the  entertainment  he  furnished  his  guests,  the 
same  travellers  give  an  account  yet  more  unfavorable,  which  we 
would  lain  set  down  to  the  quei'ulous  spirit  of  the  foreign  tour- 
ist, and  for  the  good  name  of  the  place  as  well  as  its  worthy 
landlord,  hardly  credit  in  its  literal  truth.  "Mr.  Post,"  says 
the  writer  of  their  journal,  "  keeps  the  dirtiest  tavern  in  the 
State  of  New  York,  which  is  not  saying  little.  Following  the 
custom  of  the  country,  the  linen  is  changed  only  on  Sundaj^s, 
to  the  misfortune   of  those   who  arrive  on  a  Saturday ;    and  I 

*  Journal  of  the  Castor  Land  Company. 


20  THE   PIONEERS  OF  UTICA. 

therefore  resolved  to  sleep  on  tlie  couch  they  gave  me  with  my 
clothes  on.  The  common  table  had  little  to  m}'  relish,  so  that 
I  was  obliged  to  live  chiefly  upon  milk,  a  proceeding  which 
shocked  the  self  esteem  of  Mr.  Post,  who  could  not  conceive 
how,  with  the  cheer  he  provided  his  guests,  they  could  call  for 
milk  in  preference."  Such  unmeasured  denunciation  must  surely 
be  imputed  to  the  prejudices  of  an  over-polished  and  dainty 
Frenchman,  illy  fitted  to  cope  with  the  privations  of  a  new 
country,  if  not  to  the  moroseness  of  a  sick  one,  convalescing- 
from  dysentery  and  yearning  for  the  comforts  of  home.  The 
animvis  of  the  writer  is  betrayed  in  the  fling  at  the  other  inns 
of  the  State  conveyed  in  the  expression,  "  which  is  not  saying 
little,"  {qui  nest  pas  de  peu  dire.)  And  the  changing  of  the 
linen  on  Sundays  onl}' — certainl}'  no  worst^  than  "  a  sheet  l)y 
night,  a  table-cloth  by  day" — was,  it  seems,  the  custom  of  the 
conntrv,  and  so  lightens  the  onus  of  a  special  chai'ge  against 
tliis  ])articular  hostelry.  Unfortunately  it  was  Saturday  when 
the  traveller  put  up  therein,  and  hence  his  ire. 

Tradition  informs  us  of  a  difficulty  the  company  met  with  in 
getting  supplies  for  their  expedition,  and  that  to  overcome  it 
they  put  in  practice  a  sharp  Yankee  trick.  Mr.  Post  was  the 
only  one  in  the  settlement  who  could  furnish  them  pork,  and  he 
asked  for  it  more  than  they  were  willing  to  give.  The  store  of 
James  Kip,  to  be  presently  mentioned,  had  all  the  salt,  and 
this  too,  as  they  thought,  was  held  dearer  than  was  just  So^ 
buying  of  Kip  the  whole  stock  of  salt,  they  had  the  monopoly, 
and  were  able  to  deal  better  with  Post 

But  Mr.  Post,  as  we  are  told  by  his  daughter,  was  an  unwil- 
ling landlord ;  he  kept  tavern  with  reluctance,  and  no  longer 
tlian  until  others  arrived  to  till  the  duty.  General  traffic  by 
land  and  water  was  more  siiited  to  his  tastes.  lie  erected  on 
the  river  bank  a  three-storied  warehouse  of  wood,  which  was 
afterwards  moved  a  few  rods  above  the  site  of  the  bridge,  and 
was  still  there  at  a  comparatively  recent  period.  Mr.  Post 
owned  several  boats,  which  were  em})loyed  in  taking  produce  to 
Schenectada,  and  in  l>ringing  back  merchandise  and  the  fami- 
lies and  effects  of  persons  removing  into  the  new  country.  He 
ran  three  stage-ljoats,  as  they  were  called,  fitted  up  with  oil 
cloth  covers  and  with  seats,  more  especially  for  the  accommo- 
dation of  passengers. 


OLD  FORT  SCHUYLER.  21 

The  earlier  boats  in  use  upon  the  Mohawk  were  Canadian 
Ibatteaux,  chnker-built,  and  capable  of  carrying  one  and  a  half 
to  two  tons  up  the  stream,  and  live  tons  downward.  They  were 
known  as  three-handed  or  four-handed  boats,  according  as  they 
required  three  or  four  men  to  propel  them,  or,  wath  reference  to 
their  capacity,  two  or  three  hogshead  batteaux.  They  were 
forced  over  the  rapids  with  poles  and  rojjcs,  the  latter  drawn  by 
men  on  the  shore.  Such  was  the  mode  of  transporting  mer- 
chandize and  Indian  commodities  to  and  from  the  west,  until 
some  time  after  the  Revolution.  An  association  incorporated 
by  the  State,  known  as  the  Inland  Lock  Navigation  Company, 
constructed  a  dam  and  sluice  at  Wood  creek,  and  several  locks 
at  Little  Falls.  These  improvements,  which  were  finished  in 
1795,  enabled  boats  to  pass  without  unloading,  as  they  had 
previously  been  obliged  to  do,  and  admitted  also  of  the  use  of 
those  of  fifteen  tons  burden.  After  the  enlargement  of  the 
locks  they  carried  twenty  tons  or  more  in  high  water,  and  eight 
to  ten  in  what  was  called  "  full  channel "  water,  which  meant 
twenty  inches  over  the  rifts.  These  latter  boats  were  known 
as  Durham  boats,  and  were  in  shape  not  unlike  a  canal  scow, 
being  low  and  open,  fitted  with  a  walking- board  along  the  gun 
wale,  and  with  a  mast  that  could  be  raised  when  required. 
They  were  propelled  by  means  of  long  poles  thrust  into  the 
river  and  pushed  from  the  shoulders  of  men,  who  walked  from 
end  to  end  of  the  boat,  bowed  almost  to  the  face  in  their  efforts 
to  move  it  forward.  The  poles  had  heads  that  rested  against 
tlie  shoulder,  which  was  often  galled  like  that  of  a  collar  worn 
horse.  Down  the  stream  advantage  was  taken  of  the  current, 
and  along  the  sti'aight  reaches  of  the  channel,  and  when  the 
wind  was  favorable,  a  sail  was  hoisted.  The  crew  consisted  of 
five  or  six  hands,  who  considered  themselves  fortunate  when 
they  made  ten  miles  in  one  day,  but  were  often  half  a  day  in 
proceeding  only  a  few  rods.  The  delay  of  unloading  at  Little 
Falls  had  been  obviated,  but  it  was  found  more  difficult  to  force 
large  than  small  craft  over  the  rapids.  Several  boats  usually 
went  in  company,  and  if  any  arrived  first  at  a  rift,  they 
awaited  the  approach  of  the  others,  that  the  united  strength  of 
many  might  aid  in  the  labor  before  them.*  From  a  Schenec- 
iada  paper  of  1803,  we  get  an  idea  of  the  dimensions  of  one  of 
*  Simms'  History  of  Schoharie  County. 


22  THE   PIONEEES  OF  UTICA. 

these  Durham  boats  then  on  her  first  trip  :  "She  is  sixty-three 
feet  keel,  eleven  feet  wide,  and  two  feet  three  inclies  deep. 
When  loaded  she  draws  two  feet  of  water,  and  will  carry  twenty- 
four  tons.  She  now  brought  down  two  hundred  and  tifty  bush- 
els of  wheat,  and  will  next  trip  ])ring  eight  hundred."  In  1791 
it  cost  from  $75  to  $100  per  ton  for  transportation  from  Seneca 
lake  to  Albany  ;  in  1796  the  cost  was  reduced  to  $32  per  ton, 
and  to  $16  on  returned  cargoes.  Mr.  Post's  stage  boats  were 
propelled  chiefly  wuth  oars,  were  consti'ticted  to  carry  twenty 
passengers,  and  were  tastefully  curtained. 

Within  a  few  years  of  his  arrival,  viz.:  on  the  13th  of  July, 
1792,  Mr  Post  purchased  of  the  representatives  of  Gen.  Brad- 
street,  eighty-nine  and  a  half  acres  of  lot  No,  95,  which  now 
includes  the  heart  of  the  cit}".  He  had,  by  his  trade  and  by 
the  earlj^  purchase  of  lands,  acquired  what  was  deemed  no  little 
fortune,  and  it  was  said  was  about  to  cease  from  business.  But 
Post  had  daughters,  and  the  second  one  especially  was  a  pretty 
and  lively  girl.  As  she  possessed  also  attractions  from  her 
father's  wealth,  she  had  many  admirers.  She  married  Giles- 
Hamlin,  who  had  been  clerk  to  Jeremiah  Van  Rensselaer,  and 
was  deemed  an  expert  merchant.  Hamlin  was  taken  into  part- 
nership in  May.  1803,  and  the  business  was  recommenced  on  a 
large  scale,  for  Hamlin's  ambition  was  to  do  a  wholesale  trade. 
He  went  to  New  York,  and  purchased,  on  Post's  credit,  a  large 
stock  of  goods,  which  he  soon  sold  to  small  dealers  in  the 
neighboring  settlements,  receiving  in  return  their  promissory 
notes.  A  second  trip  was  made  to  New  York,  and  a  still 
larger  supply  was  bought  and  sold  on  credit.  In  1803  Post  & 
Hamlin  advertise  five  tons  of  candles  by  the  ton,  box  or  jiound, 
also  one  thousand  cwt.  of  cotton  yarn. 

But  just  as  their  New  York  creditors  were  j^ressing  them  for 
payments,  and  when  in  making  collections  they  had  received  a 
large  amount  of  wheat  and  pork,  together  with  a  sum  in  bank 
notes,  came  a  sudden  end  of  all  the  prosperity  of  Mr.  Post. 
Between  two  and  three  o'clock  in  the  morning  of  February  4, 
1804,  a  fire  broke  out  in  his  stoi-e.  which  was  so  far  advanced 
before  it  was  discovered  that  nothing  was  saved  but  a  ])art  of 
their  account  l)Ooks  and  some  silver  money.  Post  behaved 
honorably  and  sold  all  his  lands  to  secure  some  preferred  debts, 
and  became,  in  his  old  age,  divested  of  all  thej^roperty  for  which 


OLD  FORT  sc;huyler.  23 

he  had  labored  during  his  whole  life.  Much  commiseration 
was  felt  for  him,  and  he  and  his  aged  wife  and  his  large  fam- 
ily of  daughters  withdrew  from  Utica  to  a  small  farm  at  Man- 
lius.  Nothing  now  remains  of  Mr.  Post  but  a  wretched  street 
called  by  his  name,  on  lands  which  he  once  owned,  unless  it  be 
the  large  box  stove  which  once  heated  his  store,  now  to  be  seen 
in  front  of  one  of  the  hardware  establishments,  and  which,  per- 
chance, was  the  instrument  of  his  ruin. 

We  are  told  by  those  who  remember  him,  that  Mr.  Post  was 
a  large,  hearty-looking  and  sensible  man,  l)ut  somewhat  reserved. 
He  did  not  seem  to  be  confined  very  closely  to  his  store,  but 
when  the  Indians  gave  his  wife  more  trouble  than  she  was  able 
to  contend  with,  he  would  be  on  hand  to  assist.  He  died  in 
1830.  The  members  of  his  family  were  :  Eebecca  (Mrs.  Storm, 
of  Schenectada) ;  John,  died  at  the  age  of  26 ;  Mrs.  (Hamlin) 
Petrie ;  Catharine,  died  unmarried ;  Mrs.  Eose,  of  Geneva  ;  Mrs. 
Bettis;  Mrs.  Gregory;  Mrs.  Gillett. 

In  April,  1790,  a  small  colony  of  two  or  three  families  arrived 
here  from  Connecticut,  prominent  among  whom  was  Captain 
Stephen  Potter.  He  settled  first  on  what  is  known  as  Gibbs' 
hill,  three  or  four  miles  south  of  the  settlement,  but  soon  ex- 
changed his  place  for  lot  No.  97,  the  lot  lying  a  little  w^est  of 
Bellinger's.  The  squatter  who  had  first  occupied  it  was  anx- 
ious to  give  it  up  on  account  of  the  sickness  his  family  had  suf- 
fered there.  The  log  house  wdiich  he  occupied,  and  where  was 
afterward  built  the  house  occupied  by  his  son,  was  on  the 
lower  end  of  his  farm,  near  Potter's  bridge,  so  called. 

Captain  Potter  was  born  January  12,  1739.  He  served 
throughout  the  war  of  the  Pevolution,  and  there  is  reason  to 
think  that,  although  then  young,  he  was  also  a  soldier  in  the 
old  French  war  that  preceded  it.  His  several  commissions  as 
ensign,  second  lieutenant,  first  lieutenant  and  captain  are  still 
in  existence,  bearing  respectively  the  stirring  names  of  Jona- 
than Trumbull,  John  Hancock,  John  Jay  and  Samuel  Hunt- 
ington. In  July,  1775,  he  was  second  lieutenant  in  the  regi- 
ment known  as  "Congress'  Own,"  the  same  in  which  there  was 
serving,  under  the  same  rank,  the  lamented  Nathan  Hale,  who 
was  executed  by  the  British  as  a  spy  in  the  following  year. 
Captain  Potter  was  an  excellent  man  and  greatly  esteemed. 


24  THE   PIONEERS  OF  UTICA. 

His  })iety  was  of  the  strict  Puritan  order,  and  himself  a  worthy 
■descendant  of  the  Potters  who  signed  the  ''Plantation  Cove- 
nant" at  New  Haven  in  1638.  At  a  meeting  held  at  Whites- 
boro  in  April,  1798,  for  the  purpcjse  of  organizing  a  religious 
society,  he  was  put  on  the  committee  to  draft  a  constitution, 
and  when  the  Society  was  incorjjorated,  shortly  afterward,  by 
the  style  of  the  United  Society  of  Whitestown  and  Old  Fort 
Schuyler,  he  was  elected  one  of  its  Trustees.  When,  in  1803,  it 
was  deemed  advisable  to  elect  a  portion  of  the  Session  from 
that  part  of  the  church  residing  in  the  latter  place.  Captain 
Potter  was  created  both  deacon  and  elder.  His  manners  were 
somewhat  singular  and  his  demeanor,  as  it  seemed  at  least  to 
those  much  younger  than  himself,  rather  stern,  so  that  children 
stood  in  some  awe  of  him.  Moreover,  his  utterance  was  a  little  in- 
distinct and  his  |)ronunciation  old  fashioned.  Having  occasion 
at  one  time,  in  his  prayer  at  a  religious  meeting,  to  use  the  word 
antemeridian  he  greatly  }')erplexed  a  child  wiio  was  present, 
and  who,  after  the  close  of  the  meeting,  appealed  to  its  father 
to  know  who  was  the  "Aunty  Mary  Hian  "  about  whom  the 
good  elder  had  been  praying.  But  whatever  his  austerity  to 
the  young,  he  was  by  no  means  averse  to  a  joke  with  his  equals. 
For  the  following  anecdote  we  are  indebted  to  Wm.  Tracy,  Esq.: 
Mr.  Henry  Huntington,  of  Pome,  had  a  lawsuit  against  Abel 
French,  for  failure  to  perform  a  contract  for  the  sale  of  some 
land  on  the  hills  south  of  the  Mohawk,  two  or  three  miles  from 
Utica.  The  question  was  what  damages  he  should  recover. 
He  regarded  the  land  as  valuable,  and  wanted  the  difference 
between  the  contract  price  and  the  current  value,  and  called 
Deacon  Potter  as  a  witness  to  prove  their  value.  The  latter 
was  a  wai-Hi  friend  of  ]\Ir.  II.  When  sworn  and  asked  if  he 
knew  the  land,  he  said  ''yes,  every  foot  of  it."  "What  do  you 
think  it  worth,  Ca])tain  Potter?"  The  old  man  jjaused  a  mo- 
ment, and  then  slowly  said:  "If  I  had  as  many  dollars — as 
my  ycjke  of  oxen — could  draw — on  a  sled, — on  glaze  ice, — I 
vow  to  God — I  would  not  give  a  dollar  an  acre  for  it."  There 
was  some  noise  in  the  court  house  on  liearing  the  answer. 

Captain  Potter  died  in  1810 ;  his  wife,  Sarah  Lindsley,  in 
1812.  He  had  five  children,  all  of  whom  were  born  before  his 
arrival :  and,  with  one  excei)tion,  they  all  married  early  settlers. 
Lucinda,  born  1767,  married  Benjamin  Phiiit:  Sarah,  Thomas 


OLD  FORT  SCHUYLER.  25 

Norton;  Matilda,  Stephen  Ford,  and  after  liis  death,  William 
Alverson;  Marj  remained  unmarried  ;  William  Frederick  occu- 
pied the  homestead  and  cultivated  the  farm  until  long  after  the 
city  had  grown  up  around  him. 

In  company  with  Captain  Potter  came  his  son-in-law,  Benja- 
min Plant,  from  Brantford,  Ct.  Purchasing  a  portion  of  the 
Potter  lot,  he  settled  thereon,  remaining  a  farmer  all  his  life. 
His  house  stood  on  the  rear  of  the  late  residence  of  his  son, 
James  Plant,  now  occupied  by  M.  C.  Comstock.  He  was  a 
good  farmer  and  worthy  man.  He  died  in  March,  1813;  his 
wife  in  January,  18i8. 

Of  his  sons,  one  died  young,  and  was  the  lirst  person  interred 
in  the  old  burying  ground  on  Water  street ;  one  is  still  living, 
and  one,  "after  having  faithfully  shared  in  the  habits  of  frugal 
industry  which  characterized  the  early  settlers,  was  able  to  sui-- 
round  himself,  during  the  latter  years  of  his  life,  with  the  com- 
forts and  luxuries  of  a  happy  home  in  a  prosperous  city." 
Among  the  reminiscences  of  Benjamin  Plant,  Jr.,  the  eldest 
son,  who  was  born  in  179-i,  and  who  resided  on  the  New  Hart- 
ford road  for  upward  of  fifty  years,  is  of  having  once  come  very 
near  to  encountering  a  bear  with  her  cub  in  the  road  near  his 
father's.  He  was  in  company  with  the  latter,  who,  seeing  the 
bear  approaching,  advised  the  son  to  lie  down  and  keep  quiet. 
This  he  did,  when  the  mother,  being  intent  on  getting  her  young- 
one  through  a  brush  fence  that  impeded  their  course,  passed  near 
and  went  on  her  way. 

Three  brothers  Garret,  viz. :  Samuel,  Peter  and  Cheney,  were 
also  companions  of  Captain  Potter  in  his  immigration  to  this 
place.  Two  of  them  at  least  were  carpenters,  and  worked  a 
short  time  here,  but  soon  removed  ,  from  the  place.  Samuel 
seems  to  have  been  the  longest  resident ;  but  was  gone  before 
1810.  Cheney  Garrett  was  one  of  the  first  settlers  of  South 
Trenton,  and  was  living  there  as  late  as  1850. 

Another  settler  of  1790,  was  Matthew  Hubbell,  from  Lanes- 
boro,  Mass.  Born  in  1762,  he  was  drafted  into  military  service 
at  the  age  of  fifteen,  and  took  part  in  the  battle  of  Bennington, 
Before  he  came  to  this  place,  he  had  occupied  for  a  single  season 


26  THE   PIONEERS  OF  UTICA. 

a  farm  on  the  Phelps  &  Gorham  purcliase.  in  Ontario  county. 
But  liis  wife  being  discontented  in  so  savage  a  wilderness,  where 
bears  were  too  plenty  and  neighbors  too  few,  he  sold  at  sixty- 
six  cents  per  acre,  the  land  he  had  bought  at  thirty-three  cents, 
and  leaving  Bloonifield,  returned  eastward.  Following  the 
iiataral  water  courses,  they  traversed  the  ovitlets  of  Canandaigua 
and  Seneca  lakes,  Seneca  river,  Oneida  river  and  lake,  and  Wood 
creek,  to  the  portage;  thence  the  Mohawk  to  Old  Fort  Schuy- 
ler, which  they  reached  in  December.  He  bought  Sal  yea's  in- 
terest in  the  River  Bend  farm,  and  subsequently  obtained  a 
deed  of  it  from  Agatha  Evans  and  Sir  Charles  Gould,  heirs  of 
General  Bradstreet.  This  purchase  cost  him  at  the  rate  of  S2.50 
per  acre.  Selling  a  part  on  the  west,  he  continued  to  cultivate 
the  remainder  until  his  death,  and  here  he  reared  a  large  family. 
Possessed  of  a  fair  share  of  New  England  energy  and  enter- 
prise, with  the  moral  and  virtuous  habits  there  inculcated,  Mr 
Hubbell  was  a  useful  and  respected  citizen.  He  was  a  member 
of  the  first  grand  jury  that  ever  sat  in  this  State  west  of  Herki- 
mer. He  was  among  the  earliest  and  most  prominent  of  the 
Baptist  denomination  in  this  section,  having  received  immersion 
in  1803,  at  the  hands  of  Elder  Co  veil,  a  Baptist  elder,  then  on 
a  tour  of  visitation  and  preaching  throughout  the  State,  and 
who  has  published  a  journal  of  his  laV)ors.  During  some  years 
Mr.  H.  was  a  respected  magistrate  of  the  town.  He  died  Octo- 
T)er  12th.  1819,  in  consequence  of  sickness  contracted  at  Sack- 
etts  Harbor,  whither  he  carried  supplies  in  the  war  of  1812. 

Of  liis  family  of  twelve  children,  two  of  whom  were  born 
before  their  arrival  at  this  place,  and  all  of  whom  reached  adult 
years,  the  late  Alrick  Hubbell,  who  died  in  January,  1877,  was 
the  last  survivor. 

Yet  another  comer  of  the  year  1790,  was  Benjamin  Ballon. 
His  native  place  was  somewhere  in  Rhode  Island,  whence  he 
came,  bringing  a  family  of  gi'own  u})  children.  He  had  a  lease 
from  the  Bleecker  family  in  1797  of  one  hundred  and  twenty-six 
acres  of  lot  No. 92,  and  occupied  a  house  east  of  the  Big  Basin, 
near  the  site  of  the  boat  yard.  Beside  farming,  he  also  earned 
on  a  small  tannery.  He  is  represented  as  a  tall,  lank  person, 
wearing  a  velvet  suit  much  worn,  and  a  hat  that  lacked  at 
east  a  third  of  its  bi-iin.     His  death  occurrc<l  March  2d,  1822. 


OLD  FORT  SCHUYLER.  27 

His  sons  were  Tliomas,  Levi,  Prosper,  Joseph  and  Benjamin. 
Two  of  tliem,  Thomas  and  Benjamin,  were  blacksmiths.  The 
latter,  who  figured  conspicuously  as  a  military  man,  and  was 
also  some  time  village  trustee,  assessor,  &c.,  carried  on  a  saw  mill 
on  the  Starch  Factory  creek,  where  it  is  crossed  by  the  Min- 
den  or  Burlington  road.  He  died  November  18th,  1840,  aged 
seventy  years;  his  wife,  Eunice,  four  years  later,  aged  eighty- 
foui-.  One  of  the  daughters  of  Benjamin,  Sr.,  married  Asa, 
Sprague,  a  later  citizen. 

So  destitute  were  the  Mohawk  settlements  at  this  period  of 
articles  that  are  now  of  almost  daily  use,  and  abundant  where- 
ever  stores  exist,  that  a  gallon  of  wine  could  not  be  found 
throughout  the  valley.  Such  is  the  testimony  of  a  settler  of 
Palmyra,  who  journeyed  eastward  in  1790  in  quest  of  wine  for 
an  invalid  neighbor,  and  without  success  until  he  reached 
Schenectada.* 

1791. 

For  the  year  1791,  the  only  additional  residents  whom  we  are 
able  to  chronicle,  are  Thomas  and  Augustus  Corey,  and  Peter 
Bellinger.  That  others  may  have  come  in,  especially  on  the 
outskirts  of  the  settlements,  may  be  inferred  from  the  fact  tliat 
several  such  were  living  here  during  the  succeeding  year. 

In  July  of  this  year  the  Coreys  purchased  two  hundred  acres 
of  lot  No.  95,  and  they  resided  nearly  on  the  site  of  the  brick 
house  on  the  north  east  corner  of  Whitesboro  and  Hotel  streets. 
Their  house  was  remarkable  as  being  shingled  on  the  sides  as 
well  as  above.  In  1795  the}'  sold  out  to  Messrs.  Boon  and  Link- 
laen,  agents  of  the  Holland  Land  Company,  and  left  the  place. 
The  Coreys  came  from  Portsmouth,  R  I.,  and  were  cousins. 
Thomas  was  a  surveyor,  and  came  to  the  new  country  with  the 
intention  of  exercising  his  profession.  He  was  soon  called  home 
again,  and  was  detained  there  by  the  prolonged  illness  of  a 
brother.  He  became  a  prominent  man  in  his  native  State  ;  was- 
for  twenty -five  years  a  member  of  either  its  lower  or  up}ier 
Legislative  Assembly,  and  was  last  a  senator,  under  the  Dorr 
constitution  of  Rhode  Island. 

^Turner's  History  of  Phelps  &  Gorliam's  Pni'cbase. 


28  THE  PIONEERS  OF  UTICA. 

Peter  Bellinger  purchased  this  year  150  acres  of  lot  89,  lying 
in  the  Gulf;  east  (jf  Mr.  Hubbell.  He  remained  there  until  his 
death. 

1792. 

In  1792,  Joseph  Ballou,  a  brother  of  Benjamin,  from  Exeter, 
H.  I.,  embarking  on  board  a  sloop,  at  Providence,  with  his  wife, 
two  sons  and  a  daughter,  proceeded  by  the  route  of  Long  Island 
Sound  and  the  Hudson  to  All  )any ;  and  thence,  passing  over- 
land to  Schenectada,  came  in  boats  up  the  Mohawk  and  landed 
a  short  distance  below  the  ford.  Mr.  Ballou  settled  himself  ujion 
lot  No.  94.  This,  it  will  be  remembered,  is  the  lot  of  which 
Butger  Bleecker  leased  273-|  acres  to  George  Damuth,  for  the 
term  of  twenty-one  j^ears.  Previously  to  the  date  agreed  on 
for  the  first  payment  (July,  1 793),  Mr.  Ballou  would  seem  to 
liave  obtained  from  Damuth  or  his  widow,  an  assignment  of  a 
part  of  this  lease,  the  remainder  being  held  by  Mr.  Post,  since 
this  first  jDayment  was  made  jointly  by  them  both.  The  pay- 
ments of  1794  to  1797  inclusive,  are  also  endorsed  as  made  in 
part  by  Mr.  Ballou,  while  those  which  follow,  of  1802-7,  were 
wholly  received  from  him.  This  farm,  or  so  much  of  it  as 
reached  from  the  river  to  a  line  south  of  where  tlie  canal  now 
runs,  he  had  under  cultivation.  In  August,  1800,  he  and  his 
sons  procured,  each  of  them,  from  the  executors  of  Mr.  Bleecker, 
a  deed  of  a  lot  on  Main  street,  near  the  present  John,  and  upon 
these  lots  they  erected  a  house  and  a  store.  The  house  stood 
where  John  street  opens  out  of  the  square.  It  then  fronted  toward 
the  square,  but  when  John  sti'eet  was  ()|)ened,  it  was  faced  about 
to  the  latter  street  and  made  a  part  of  a  public  house.  This 
house,  once  known  as  Union  Hall,  and  subsequently  by  man}' 
different  names,  occupied  the  site  of  the  present  Ballou  Block. 
Mr.  Ballou  removed  to  a  house  still  standing  on  the  corner  of 
First  and  Main  streets.  He  lived  a  farmer,  and  died  in  1810, 
aged  sixty-seven.  He  and  his  sons,  who  enjoyed  a  large  share 
of  the  esteem  of  their  fellow  citizens,  were  prudent  and  unos- 
tentatious men. 

These  sons  were  merchants,  and  occupied  a  store  which  was 
adjacent  to  the  farm  house  on  the  west.  Jerathmel  advertises 
in  1802,  that  he  "sells  dry  goods  and  groceries,  and  will  pay 
the  highest  price  for  shi}ipingy<<y/'5."     He  was  one  of  the  vil- 


OLD  FORT  SCHUYLER.  29 

lage  trustees,  elected  at  the  first  meeting  held  under  the  charter 
of  1805,  and  held  the  office  by  successive  reelections  for  four 
years.  He  died  June  29th,  1817,  his  sons  being  Tlieodore  P., 
still  residing  in  Utica,  and  Peter  P.  and  William  R,  deceased. 

Obadiah,  the  other  son  of  Joseph,  withdrew  from  business 
after  a  few  years,  but  continued  to  live  in  the  place  until  ISS-l, 
or  later,  when  he  moved  to  Auburn. 

Sarah,  the  daughter,  became  the  wife  of  Ebenezer  B.  Shear- 
man. In  her  eleventh  year  when  she  came  with  her  parents, 
she  survived  until  February,  7th  1877,  and  died  at  the  age  of 
ninety-six. 

In  the  summer  of  1792,  a  start  seems  to  have  been  given  to 
the  settlement  by  the  erection  of  a  bridge  across  the  Mohawk. 
The  petition  to  the  Legislature,  asking  aid  to  build  it,  fortu- 
nately still  survives.  It  is  valuable  at  the  present  day  not  only 
because  it  shows  the  difficulty  of  the  work  without  such  assist- 
ance, as  well  as  the  inconveniences  that  had  been  previously 
felt,  but  because  it  has  preserved,  in  the  names  of  its  signers, 
what  may  be  deemed  a  tolerably  complete  enumeration  of  the 
people  then  living  in  the  vicinity.  No  apology,  therefore,  can 
be  needed  for  transferring  it  in  full.  Those  of  the  petitioners 
known  as  settlers  of  Old  Fort  Schuyler  are  designated  by 
italics : 

To  the  Honorable  the  Legislature^  t&c,  &c.  : 

The  petition  of  the  Subscribers,  Inhabitants  of  the  County  of 
Herkimer,  Eespectfully  sheweth : 

That  having  for  a  long  time  endured  the  inconveniences  and 
dangers  of  fording  the  Mohawk  river  at  Old  Fort  Schuyler,  did 
some  time  past  associate  and  by  voluntary  subscription  attempt 
to  raise  money  to  erect  a  bridge  across  the  river  at  said  place, 
but  after  their  most  strenuous  exertions,  find  themselves,  on 
account  of  the  infant  state  of  the  adjacent  settlements,  incapa- 
ble of  effecting  said  purpose ;  and  your  Petitioners  beg  leave 
to  state  that  in  addition  to  the  inconveniences  of  fording  said 
river,  (which  at  some  seasons  of  the  year  is  very  dangerous,) 
the  public  in  general  are  highly  interested  in  the  erection  of  a 
bridge  at  said  place,  as  it  is  one  of  the  greatest  roads  in  the 
State  of  New  York,  being  the  customary,  (and  in  consequence 
of  the  erection  of  bridges  over  the  Canada  creeks  below,)  the 
most  direct  route  from  the  eastern  to  the  west  part  of  the  State. 
In  this  situation,  while  the  more  interior  parts  of  the  State  are 


30 


THE  PIONEERS  OF  UTICA. 


enjoying  liberal  donations  from  tlie  State  for  bnilding  of  bridges, 
your  Petiti(;ners  earnestly  implore  the  Legislature  to  extend  a 
helping  hand  to  those  who  having  but  recentl}^  settled  in  almost 
a  wilderness  have  devolved  upon  them  a  very  heavy  burden  in 
making  roads  and  building  bridges ;  they  therefore  pray  the 
Legislature  to  grant  them  the  sum  of  Two  Tliousand  Pounds 
toward  defraying  the  expense  of  erecting  a  bridge  at  the  place 
abo\'e  mentioned,  as  it  will  require  nearly  double  that  sum  to 
complete  the  same ;  and  your  petitioners  will  ever  pray. 
Herkimer  County,  October  24,  1792. 


Thos.  R  Gold, 
Thomas  Hooker, 
Peleg  Hyde, 
Edward  Johnson, 
Ezra  Hovey, 
Jacob  Hastings, 
Elias  Kane. 
Jeremiah  Powell, 
Asa  Kent. 
Claudius  Wolcoot, 
Archibald  Bates. 
John  Cunningham, 
Joseph  Harris, 
Samuel  Wells, 
fried  riegbauman, 
Uriah  b'ayles. 
Jacob  (illegible), 
John  Whiston, 
Daniel  Carapble, 
Isaac  Brayton, 
Caleb  Austin, 


Nathan  Smith, 
George  Doolittle, 
Daniel  Reynolds, 
Just's  Griffeth, 
Benj'n  Johnson, 
Philip  Morey. 
Henry  Chesebrough, 
George  Staples, 
Solomon  Harter, 
Oliver  Trumbull, 
AVm  Bmm  (Boom), 
Daniel  C.  White. 
Matthew  Hubbell, 
Solomon  Wells, 
David  Andrew, 
Theodore  Sprague, 
Benjamin  Carney, 
Abram  Jillot, 
Solomon  Whiston, 
Peleg  Briggs, 
Townsin  Briggs, 


Asa  Bmnson, 
Robert  Bardwell, 
John  Post, 
Nath'l  Griffeth, 
John  H.  Pool, 
Silcaniif:  Mowry, 
Abr'm  Braer, 
William  Sayles, 
A  athaniel  Darling, 
John  Crandal, 
Sam'l  Wilbur, 
Jacob  Ch/istman, 
Obadiah  Ballou, 
Ellis  Doty, 
A  iigustuf  Sayles, 
George  Wever, 
Samuel  Griffith, 
Thomas  Scott, 
IVilliarn  Alvej-son, 
Samuel  Barnes, 
William  haile. 


Elizur  Moseley, 
Gains  Morgan, 
Phillup  Alesworth, 
John  Lockwood, 
Aaron  Bloss, 
John  Foster, 
John  Richardson, 
Noah  Kent, 
Shadrach  Smith, 
Daniel  FoUett. 
John  Bellinger, 
John  Cliristman, 
John  D.   Petrye, 
Jeremiah  Read, 
William  Sayles,  Jr., 
Seth  Griffeth, 
Henry  Fall, 
David  Stafford, 
Francis  Guiteau, 
Samuel  Stafford, 


The  petition  was  presented  Nov.  21st,  and  referred  to  a  com- 
mittee, who  reported  that  "  the  prayer  ought  to  be  granted, 
and  that  a  clause  be  adid  to  som  Pro'pi:>er  Bill  for  that  pur- 
pose." Having  then  been  committed  to  a  committee  of  the 
House  on  the  supplementary  bill,  favorable  action  was  taken. 
The  bridge  had  been  raised,  however,  the  })revious  summer. 
It  was  placed  on  the  line  of  Second  street,  where  the  banks 
were  somewhat  higher  than  at  the  site  of  the  present  bridge. 
The  raising  took  })lace  on  Sunday,  in  order  that  more  of  the 
inhabitants  of  the  vicinity  might  be  at  leisure  to  assist.  There 
was  living  in  Deerfiel(  I  a  few  months  since  a  man  who,  when  a  child 
was  present  at  the  raising.  This  was  Elder  George  M.  Weaver, 
who  was  born  in  January,  1788,  and  was  then  in  his  fifth  year. 
An  incident  which  he  related  as  connected  with  the  event,  must 
have  contributed  to  hx  the  fact  in  his  memoiy.  On  the  way 
over  with  his  parents  from  Deerlield  they  spied  a  bear  in  a  tree 
by  the  side  of  the  road.     While  Mrs.  Weaver  bravely  remained 


OLD  FORT  SCHUYLER.  31 

at  the  foot  of  the  tree  with  her  young  son  and  another  child  in 
arms,  keeping  watch  of  the  bear,  the  father  returned  home, 
procured  a  gun  and  shot  the  animal,  after  which  they  continued 
their  course  to  the  river. 

It  is  interesting  to  know  that  this  bridge  was  inspected  and 
judgment  passed  upon  it  by  a  young  engineer,  who,  at  a  later 
])eriod,  became  illustrious  for  his  brilliant  scientific  achievements. 
This  was  Marc  I.  Brand,  the  engineer  of  Thames  tunnel,  and  of 
manj^  other  vast  engineering  works  in  England.  For  he  formed 
one  of  a  small  party  of  agents  sent  out  by  a  French  company  to 
form  a  settlement  in  the  Black  River  country.*  From  their 
journal  we  learn  that  they  slept  at  Post's  tavern  in  November 
1793,  and  in  the  morning  went  out  to  look  at  the  bridge.  These 
are  their  words :  "  This  bridge,  built  after  the  English  manner, 
is  in  the  arc  of  a  circle,  with  a  very  moderate  curve,  and  is 
supported  by  beams  placed  like  a  St.  Andrew's  cross,  and  cov- 
ered with  plank.  The  bridge  has  already  bent  from  the  carve 
intended  and  inclined  to  the  oval,  an  effect  due  as  much  to  the 
framing  as  to  the  quality  and  smallness  of  the  timbers,  which 
are  of  pine  and  fir.  The  main  support  which  they  have  put  in 
the  middle  would  rather  tend  to  its  entire  destruction  when  the 
ice  is  going  off.  The  abutments  are  of  timber,  and  are  also 
settled,  from  miscalculation  of  the  resistance,  the  one  on  the 
south  side  being  built  upon  ground  that  is  full  of  springs. 
This  bridge  has  been  built  but  a  short  time,  and  was  erected  by 
a  country  carpenter.  We  asked  Mr.  Post  why,  when  they  had 
such  a  work  to  execute,  they  did  not  employ  an  engineer  or 
architect  to  draw  a  plan  and  the  details,  which  a  carpenter  might 
then  easily  execute.  He  replied  that  this  was  not  the  custom, 
and  that  no  carpenter  would  be  wilHng  to  work  after  the  plans 
of  another  man.  He,  however,  appeared  mortified  at  the  prob- 
able fate  of  his  bridge  which  we  predicted."  The  bridge  was 
in  fact  swept  off  within  a  few  months,  and  in  1794  a  new  one 
was  erected. 

*  The  Journal  of  the  Castorlaud  Company.  This  journal  is  a  voluminous 
manuscript  in  the  possession  of  Dr.  Franklin  B.  Hough,  of  Lowville,  to 
whose  kindness  I  have  been  indebted  for  a  cursory  examination  of  its 
pages.  Dr.  Hough  having  been  at  the  trouble  to  procure  it  from  France, 
is  now  ready  to  publish  a  translation  when  he  shall  meet  with  sufficient 
encouragement  to  do  so. 


32  THE   PIONEEES  OF  UTICA. 

From  the  preceding  list  of  signers  we  gather  a  few  additional 
names.  They  represent  farmers  who  lived  near  rather  than 
within  the  settlement,  and  some  actually  outside  of  the  limits 
of  Utica,  as  determined  by  the  first  village  charter.  These 
limits  reached  from  the  eastern  line  of  lot  No.  82  on  the  east 
to  the  western  bounds  of  No.  99  on  the  west  On  or  near 
the  upper  end  of  the  former  lot,  and  in  the  vicinity  that  is 
called  Welsh-bush,  lived  Nathan  Darling,  Jeremiah  Powell  and 
Joseph  Harris.  Somewhat  nearer,  though  at  quite  a  remove 
from  the  central  settlement,  were  John  D.  Petrie,  Frederick 
Bowman  and  Henry  Staring.  Petrie  occupied  the  farm  next 
east  of  Matthew  Hubl^ell,  afterwards  well  known  as  the  High 
Sch(X)l  f^rm,  until  1802,  when  he  sold  it  to  Alexander  Cairns,, 
who  resold  in  1804  to  Solomon  Wolcott.  Below  him  again,  and 
at  the  end  of  the  plain  of  Broad  street,  just  where  the  road  begins 
to  descend  to  the  hollow  of  the  creek,  was  the  house  of  Freder- 
ick BowmaiL  Staring  was  his  next  neighbor  on  the  east,  if  not 
at  the  date  in  question,  certainly  within  a  short  time  afterwards. 
Petrie,  Bowman  and  Staring  were  all  of  German  origin,  and 
the  names  all  occur  among  the  patentees  of  the  town  of  Grer- 
man  Flats.  Bowman's  is  the  only  famil}^  of  which  there  are 
representatives  still  left  in  Utica  and  vicinitj'.  Westward  were 
found  Claudius  W^oolcot,  a  little  west  of  Nail  creek,  on  the 
present  Court  street,  Archibald  Bates  and  Aaron  Clark  on  the 
lower  or  river  end  of  lot  No.  101,  and  Darius  Sayles  on  the 
upper  |)art  of  the  same  lot  and  in  the  rear  of  the  ^'resent  Asy- 
lum farm.  Aaron  Clark  at  first  occupied  a  log  house  near  the 
river,  but  afterwards  built  on  the  Whitesboro  road.  He  had 
three  sons  and  four  daughters.  Dying  in  1803,  he  was  suc- 
ceeded by  his  son  Welcome,  whose  son,  Alfred  S.,  still  lives  on 
the  same  lot  No.  101  though  a  little  east  of  the  homestead. 
Welcome  Clark's  wife  was  a  daughter  of  Uriah  Sayles.  Both 
families  were  from  Khode  Island. 

Next  west  of  Clark  Ywed  two  men  named  Robert  Whipple 
and  Arnold  Wells,  and  though  their  names  are  not  to  be  found 
on  the  ])etition,  we  are  assured  they  had  already  been  a  year  or 
two  established.  The  former  occupied  the  gambrel  roofed  house 
which,  up  to  the  year  1870,  stood  on  the  northern  side  of  the 
road  :  the  latter  was  on  the  south  side.     They  bore  the  relation 


OLD  FORT  SCHUYLER.  33 

of  father  and  son-in-law,  having  married,  while  still  in  Rhode 
[sland,  a  widow  and  her  daughter.  Of  these  one  only  engaged 
in  business  in  the  village.  Mr,  Wells  was  for  a  short  time  a 
merchant,  furnishing  the  capital,  about  the  year  1802,  which 
gave  a  start  to  his  more  adventurous  partner,  Watts  Sherman. 
His  second  wife,  whom  he  married  fifty  years  after  his  first 
nuptials,  was  Miss  Mary  Spurr,  who  is  still  living  in  Utica. 
Mr.  Wells'  father  and  brother,  who  were  petitioners  for  the 
bridge,  resided  in  Deerfield. 

Still  further  west  on  the  Whitesboro  road,  Nathan  Smith  had 
a  house  on  the  south  side  that  is  still  standing.  He  was  one  of 
the  representatives  of  Herkimer  county  in  the  Legislature  of 
1798,  and  of  Oneida — now  set  off  from  Herkimer — in  the  ses- 
sion of  1801-2.  During  the  two  subsequent  sessions  he  was 
again  a  member  from  Herkimer,  and  was  living  at  Fairfield. 
Mr.  Smith  had  a  share  in  organizing  the  Bank  of  Utica,  in  1812,, 
and  was  one  of  its  original  trustees. 


1793. 

In  the  year  1793,  as  we  learn  from  the  inscription  on  his  tomb 
stone,  came  Gurdon  Burchard,  and  Elizabeth  his  wife.  They 
were  from  Norwich,  Connecticut.  Mr.  Burchard  was  a  saddle- 
and  harness-maker,  and  occupied  a  lot  fronting  on  Whitesboro 
street,  south  side,  but  reaching  through  to  Genesee,  a  gore  sep- 
arating it  from  the  corner  of  the  latter.  About  1810  he  aban- 
doned this  business  and  opened  a  tavern,  under  the  sign  of  the 
"  Buck,"  nearly  on  the  site  of  the  present  Dudley  House.  And 
here  he  continued,  with  the  exception  of  a  brief  period  when  he 
was  in  the  "mercantile  line,"  until  his  death,  August  17, 1832,  at 
the  age  of  sixty-four,  he,  as  well  as  one  of  his  daughters,  hav- 
ing fallen  victims  to  the  cholera  epidemic  of  that  year.  He 
was  a  public-spirited  and  a  useful  citizen,  and  for  two  or  three 
years  held  the  office  of  trustee  of  the  village.  Of  his  family, 
four  or  five  of  whom  are  still  living,  not  a  member  remains  in 
the  place.  He  left  his  name  to  the  lane  which  runs  through, 
his  former  property. 

His  children  were :  Susan  (Mrs.  Taintor)  long  the  efficient, 
superintendent  of  the  female  department  of  the  Presbyterian 


34  THE   PIOXEERS  OF  UTICA. 

Sunday  school;  Emil}^,  died  in  1832,  aged  twent^y-eiglit ;  Ed- 
ward, for  many  3'ears  witli  James  Dana,  and  now  in  Beloit ; 
George,  in  Wisconsin  ;  Gnrdon,  in  New  York. 

Gideon  Burcbard,  tlie  father  of  Gurdon,  came  a  little  time 
after  him,  and  became  a  journeyman  in  his  employ.  He  died 
in  1810. 

James  P.  and  Stephen  Dorchester,  who  are  known  to  have 
been  living  here  in  1794,  and  who  were  related  to  Mr.  Burch- 
ard,  probably  came  at  the  same  time  with  him.  They  were 
hatters,  and  occupied  a  shop  on  Genesee  street,  a  short  distance 
above  the  rear  end  of  the  Burchard  lot.  On  this  site,  James  P. 
erected  the  first  brick  store  that  was  built  on  Genesee  street. 
He  soon  left  the  place. 

Stephen  Dorchester,  who  was  born  in  Farmington,  Conn.,  in 
1756,  died  in  1808.  Of  his  sons,  one  went  to  sea,  the  other  was 
Eliasaph  Dorchester,  to  be  spoken  of  hereafter. 

1794. 

"We  come  now  to  the  year  1794,  when  we  find  that  the  hamlet 
is  increased  by  the  presence  of  several  additional  inhabitants. 
Inasmuch  as  their  names  are  not  to  be  previously  met  with,  it 
is  presumed  they  had  newly  arrived. 

Prominent  among  them  was  James  S.  Kip,  who  would  seem 
to  have  been  in  his  own  house  as  early  as  May  of  this  year,  for 
therein  was  received  the  agent  of  the  Castorland  Company, 
who  came,  with  a  letter  of  introduction,  to  seek  aid  in  securing 
workmen  and  wagons  for  the  furtherance  of  the  enterprise. 
Mr.  Kip,  who  was  for  long  3'ears  afterward  a  conspicuous  mem- 
ber of  society,  was  a  native  of  New  York,  and  the  son  of  a 
Dutch  gentleman,  whose  farm  on  Kip's  bay  had  so  increased 
in  value  with  the  rise  of  real  estate  in  tliat  vicinity,  as  to  prove 
a  fortune  to  the  possessor.  He  was  a  nephew  of  Abraham  Her- 
ring, with  whom,  as  we  have  seen,  Peter  Smith  liad  been  an 
apprentice,  and  we  may  surmise,  therefore,  that  it  was  through 
the  influence  of  the  latter,  that  he  was  led  to  settle  at  this  place. 
On  the  19th  of  Jul}',  in  this  same  year,  he  ])Ought  of  Evans  & 
Gould, — the  daughter  and  devisee,  and  the  executor  of  General 
Dradstreet, — lot  No.  96,  containing  four  hundred  acres.  This 
lot  embraces,  at  this  day,  a  very  precious  portion  of  the  city, 


OLD  FORT  SCHL'YLER.  35 

extending  in  width,  from  a  few  feet  east  of  Broadway,  to  a  lit- 
tle west  of  the  line  of  Cornelia  street,  and  stretching  back  from 
the  river  some  three  miles. 

The  purchase  of  No.  96,  Mr.  Kip  does  not  seem  to  have  pro- 
ceeded at  once  to  occupy,  for  after  having  parted  with  a  fraction, 
—a  portion,  however,  large  enough  to  enrich  the  family  of  the 
purchaser, — he  settled  himself  upon  a  leased  farm  of  three 
hundred  and  sixty-six  acres,  in  lot  No.  93,  which  included  the 
site  of  the  old  fort.  Here  he  built  a  small  log  store,  near  the 
eastern  end  of  Main  street,  establishing  a  landing  on  the  river 
at  the  mouth  of  Ballou's  creek,  nearly  in  fi'ont  of  his  house, 
and  strove  by  these  means  to  divert  the  commerce  from  Mr. 
Post  and  other  rivals,  who  were  located  a  little  higher  on  the 
stream.  He  built  also  a  pot  ashery,  and  was  soon  a  considerable 
manufacturer,  although  for  his  products  he  soon  found  in  Bryan 
Johnson,  and  Kane  &  VanRensselaer,  more  successful  vendors 
than  he  himself  had  been. 

But  Mr.  Kip  was  ambitious  to  shine  in  other  spheres.  Quite 
early  he  figured  as  a  military  man;  and,  at  the  very  beginning 
of  the  century,  he  was  making  tours  of  the  northern  towns,  as 
inspector  of  militia.  Moi'eover,  his  public  spirit  and  his  ardent 
temperament,  soon  drew  him  into  public  life,  and  he  became  an 
•eager  politician  and  a  warm  partisan.  He  was  made  sheriff  in 
1804,  and  continued  to  hold  the  office  at  intervals,  and  by  re- 
peated appointments,  for  nine  years.  Prominent  in  social  life, 
interested  in  all  matters  of  a  local  nature,  and  endowed  with 
enterprise  and  independence,  he  devoted  himself  assiduously  to 
the  general  interests,  and  became  more  successful  as  a  public 
man,  than  he  was  in  acquiring  property  for  himself.  He  was 
one  of  the  first  Board  of  Directors  of  the  Utica  Bank,  and  at 
its  election,  he  was  chosen  as  its  first  president.  In  1812,  he  had 
the  honor  of  being  one  of  the  Presidential  Electors. 

"Sheriff,"  or  "Major"  Kip,  as  he  was  indifferently  called, 
was  portly  in  person,  somewhat  pock-marked,  and  wore  glasses. 
He  was  gentlemanly  in  his  appearance  and  address,  dignified 
and  stately.  Affable  and  companionable  among  his  equals, 
toward  his  family  his  intercourse  was  tender  and  affectionate. 
He  was  a  generous  liver,  and  a  bountiful  provider,  and  that  not 
for  himself  alone,  for  he  was  "  given  to  hospitality."  and  fond  of 
making,  as  well  as  of  attending  the  frequent  dinner  parties  that 


36  THE   riONEEKS  OF  UTICA. 

characterized  the  social  habits  of  tlie  gentlemen  of  the  earliest 
generation  in  Utica. 

As  an  illustration  of  the  violence  of  party  spirit  which  equally 
marked  those  days,  and  of  the  extreme  to  which  it  carried  men 
of  standing  and  self-respect,  we  may  relate  the  particulars,  as 
they  have  come  down  by  tradition,  of  a  personal  encounter 
Major  Kip  once  had  with  Judge  Morris  S.  Miller,  a  man  as  hot- 
tempered  as  himself.  It  occurred  the  day  before  election,  in 
18-  -,  and  arose  out  of  a  newspaper  article,  which  Judge  Miller 
was  thought  to  have  written,  and  which  Mr.  Kip  felt  called  on 
to  resent.  Armed  with  a  cow-hide,  he  accosted  the  judge,  wha 
was  on  horseback,  and  after  charging  him  with  the  authorship 
of  the  article  in  question,  drew  him  from  his  horse,  or  induced 
him  to  dismount,  when  they  joined  in  a  fierce  and  bloody  strug- 
gle. It  was  arrested  by  the  bystanders,  but  not  until  both  were 
dreadfully  pummeled.  After  being  carried  home,  Judge  Miller 
was  plied  with  beefsteak  poultices,  through  the  advice  of  Mrs. 
Bradstreet,  who  ha])})ened  to  be  present,  and  who  had  been  ac- 
customed to  such  affrays  among  Irish  gentlemen  in  her  own 
country.  By  this  means  the  swelling  was  kept  down,  and  the 
judge  was  rendered  fit  to  appear  at  the  polls  on  the  following 
day,  whereby  he  earned  the  victory  over  his  antagonist,  who  had 
not  been  so  scientifically  managed. 

Major  Kip's  earlier  residence  was  on  Main  street,  where  he 
occupied,  for  a  time,  the  handsome  house  on  the  corner  of  Third 
street,  which  was  subsequently  the  home  of  Judge  Miller.  About 
the  year  1809,  he  built  and  occupied,  on  a  portion  of  his  first 
purchase,  the  finest  mansion  in  the  village.  This,  which  was  of 
cut  stone,  stood  on  the  westerly  side  of  Bi-oadway,  within  a  very 
short  distance  of  where  the  canal  was  afterward  laid  out.  It 
was  surrounded  by  handsome  grounds,  which  formed  on  the 
south  a  fine  esplanade  for  military  parades.  When  the  canal 
was  constructed,  Mr.  Kip  was  anxious  to  save  his  garden  and 
grounds.  Accordingly  he  induced  the  commissioners  to  run 
the  line  where  they  did,  instead  of  south  of  the  building,  as 
they  had  intended  to  do.  The  consequence  was,  that  they 
were  forced  to  ])ring  the  channel  so  close  to  the  rear  of  his  house 
as  to  greatly  injure  it  in  beauty  and  value,  and  to  interfere  with 
its  comfortable  use,  by  the  intrusion  of  water  into  the  cellar. 
Thus,  in  place  of  being  made  richer  by  the  canal,  as  he  probably 


OLD  FORT  SCHUYLER.  S7 

would  have  been,  had  the  original  design  been  adhered  to,  he 
was  seriously  damaged.  This  circumstance  doubtless  tended  to 
•discourage  and  embitter  Mr.  Kip,  but  did  not,  as  some  have 
thought,  lead  to  his  removal  from  the  place.  He  was  concerned 
in  a  large  landed  interest,  that  had  been  willed  to  him,  but 
which  was  in  litigation  ;  and,  by  the  ad^ace  of  his  counsel, 
he  removed  to  another  State,  in  order  to  bring  the  suit  in  the 
United  States  courts.  He  went  to  New  Haven  in  1825,  but 
returned  in  five  years,  and  died  at  the  house  of  his  son-indaw, 
•on  Chancellor  square,  August,  1831,  aged  sixty-four  years. 

His  wife  was  Eliza,  daughter  of  Mrs.  Dakin,  an  English  lady, 
who,  at  first,  took  up  her  residence  on  Paris  Hill,  but  subse- 
•quently  removed  to  this  place,  and  whose  four  accomplished 
daughters  became  the  wives  of  four  of  Utica's  earlier  settlers. 
She  died,  August,  1809.  His  children  were  Ann,  who  married 
Theodore  S.  Gold ;  Mary,  who  married  Charles  P.  Kirkland ; 
Samuel  K.,  of  New  York,  recently  deceased;  and  Elizabeth, 
who  married  J.  Munson  Landon.  In  Mr.  Kip's  second  mar- 
riage, to  Miss  Meirin,  in  1812,  he  was  not  so  fortunate. 

One  Joseph  Peirce  was  an  occupant  of  a  part  of  the  territory 
-acquired  by  Mr.  Kip,  in  his  purchase  of  July,  1794,  and  is 
known  to  have  been  living  thereon  in  April,  previous ;  how 
much  longer,  it  is  impossible  to  sa}'.  Mr.  Peirce  had  been  a 
soldier  of  the  Revolution,  and  bore  the  title,  if  not  the  rank,  of 
■captain.  His  farm-house  was  near  the  eastern  line  of  Broad- 
way, a  little  way  up  from  Whitesboro  street.  After  Broadway 
had  been  opened  hy  Mr.  Kip,  the  house  was  pulled  down,  to 
make  way  for  a  new  house  erected  b}'-  Mr.  Inman,  the  well  that 
had  been  in  the  rear  of  the  first  one,  being  left  in  the  street, 
where,  in  recent  times,  it  has  dispensed  its  waters  to  all  who 
sought  them.  Captain  Peirce  afterward  lived  in  Deerfield,  and 
built  the  covered  bridge  across  the  river,  which,  in  1810,  suc- 
ceeded the  two  earlier  structures.  His  sons  were  Joseph,  Jr., 
John  and  Parley.  The  former  removed  to  Cayuga  county. 
John  was  constable  and  village  tax  collector,  and  afterwards 
■deputy  sheriff.  As  constable,  he  was  often  travelling  over  the 
•county  and  serving  processas  in  what  are  now  Lewis,  St.  Law- 
rence and  Jefferson.  He  once  went  to  Ogdensburg  to  serve  a 
summons.     His  wife  was  a  daughter  of  Christopher  Roberts,  a 


38  THE   PIONEERS  OF  UTICA. 

farmer,  early  settled  in  the  eastern  precincts.  He  moved  from 
this  place  to  Trenton,  where  he  owned  the  mills  below  the  Falls, 
Parley  was  a  carjienter,  and  in  1817  was  living  on  Broad  street. 
Captain  Peirce's  two  daughters  married  husbands  who  proved 
intemperate  and  shiftless. 

Thomas  Norton,  who  married  Sarah,  second  daughter  of 
Stephen  Potter,  had  been  a  sea  captain,  and  afterward  returned 
to  a  sea  faring  life.  His  residence  while  here  was  on  the  upper 
end  of  the  Potter  lot,  and  subsequently  on  the  turnpike,  near 
the  residence  of  Mrs.  Butterfield,  where  he  kept  a  public  house. 

Another  resident  of  this  date,  whose  singular  histor}^  we 
have  often  heard  related  by  the  earlier  citizens,  was  the  village 
physician,  Dr.  Samuel  Carrington.  He  was  a  young  man  of 
very  gentlemanly  appearance  and  manners,  and  of  good  literary 
education.  Pie  was  a  druggist,  though  he  was  titled  doctor, 
and  may  have  taken  the  degree.  In  an  advertisement  of  his 
drugs,  paints  and  dye  woods,  dated  November,  1800,  he  says- 
he  has  "  determined  to  sell  them  at  very  low  prices  for  ready 
pay.  Having  found,  from  sad  experience,  that  credit  is  the 
bane  of  trade,  he  declines  granting  that  indulgence  in  the  future,, 
and  would  rather  cry  over  than  after  his  goods."  He  succeeded 
Mr.  Post  as  postmaster  on  the  first  of  April,  1799,  and  was  a 
very  prosperous  man  in  a  pecuniary  way,  though  his  emolu- 
ments from  his  office  could  not  have  been  ver}'  pi'otitable.  He 
had  become  somewhat  of  an  old  bachelor,  when,  at  that  early 
period  of  the  country,  almost  every  person  married  quite  young. 
But  now  he  was  going  to  tlie  East  to  be  married,  and  his  friends- 
crowded  around  the  stage  coach  that  was  to  carry  him  to  his 
bride,  in  order  to  congratulate  him  on  the  somewhat  unexpected 
event.  He  departed,  and  Utica  never  saw  him  more.  He 
arrived  at  his  place  of  destination  and  the  ceremony  was  per- 
formed ;  but  early  the  next  morning  he  got  up,  left  his  bride 
and  disappeared,  no  one  ever  knew  why  or  whither.  The  mys- 
terious flight  has  never  been  solved.  His  brother,  John  Car- 
rington, came  and  settled  up  his  affairs,  entering  for  a  short 
time  into  partnership  with  Dr.  Marcus  Hitchcock.  The  latter, 
however,  bought  John  out,  and  in  turn  became  postmaster. 
In  1802  Dr.  Carrington  was  one  of  the  trustees  of  the  Presby- 
terian church ;  but  in  June  of  the  same  year  we  lind  his  name 


OLD  FORT  SCHUYLER.  39 

on  tlie  list  of  jurors  that  were  disqualified  by  reason  of  death, 
removal,  &c. 

Dr.  Benjamin  Woodward  lived  a  short  time  in  the  vicinity 
of  the  present  Globe  Hotel,  and  also  on  Main  street,  and  here 
he  was  married  to  Hannali  Ellis,  sister  of  the  wife  of  Judge 
Cooper,  to  be  presently  noticed. 

Stephen  Ford,  a  merchant,  occupied  for  a  short  time  a  store 
on  the  south  corner  of  Genesee  and  Whitesboro  streets  his  lot 
being  the  larger  end  of  the  gore,  next  Mr.  Burchard.  He  mar- 
ried the  third  daughter  of  Stephen  Potter.  He  failed  and  left 
the  place.  After  his  death,  his  widow  married  William  Al- 
verson. 

Aaron  Eggieston  was  a  cooper,  whose  shop,  during  most  of 
his  residence,  stood  at  a  long  distance  from  other  buildings, 
viz. :  near  the  site  of  Charles  Millar  s  new  store,  on  the  east 
side  of  Genesee.  With  the  exception  of  a  brief  stay  in  Clin- 
ton, whence  he  returned  in  1804,  he  lived  here  in  the  exercise 
of  his  trade  until  his  death,  in  December,  1828.  He  was  a  man 
of  some  enterprise,  and  was  respected  as  a  good  citizen.  About 
1820  he  was  doing  business  on  the  south  side  of  Broad  street, 
midway  between  Genesee  and  John.  His  sons  were  Henry  and 
Moses  T.,  whose  home  w^as  in  New  Hartford. 

John  Hobby  was  a  blacksmith,  his  shop  being  just  above  the 
site  of  the  Central  Railroad  depot.  He  had  a  brother  Epene- 
tus,  a  tall,  stout  man  with  but  one  eye,  who  was  a  good  hand 
at  fires  ;  and  another  brother  whose  name  was  Elkanah.  The 
three  formed  the  chorus  of  a  song  that  was  a  favorite  with  the 
jolly  band  which  sometimes  met  of  an  evening  at  the  village 
inn.  The  song  was  entitled,  "  All  on  Hobbies."  At  the  end 
of  the  first  verse  all  would  shout,  "That's  John  Hobby;"  after 
the  next,  "  That's  Neet  Hobb}^"  &c.     John  died  Feb.  6,  1812. 

Thomas  Jones  was  a  black  and  white  smith,  who  sometimes 
worked  for  Hobby.  He  was  a  superior  workman,  and  is  said 
to  have  been  so  expert  a  picklock  as  to  have  been  in  durance  in 
England,  for  the  unlawful  exercise  of  his  skill.  The  writer 
has  seen  a  key  of  a  rather  complicated  form  that  was  made  by 
him,  and  has  heard  others  report  of  his  skill.     A  passing  trav- 


40  THE  PIONEERS  OF  UTICA. 

t         -1-  ■•• 

r         " 

€ller  of  1794,  "in  looking   through   the  rooms  at  Mr.  Post's, 

fortunately  came  across  one  Tom  Jones,  an  Englishman,  who 

helped  him  in  spending  the  evening  less  gloomily."     He  was 

not  English,  however,  but  came  from   Caernarvonshire.     He 

€nlisted  during  the  war  of  1812,  though  he  did  not  serve,  as 

peace  was  declared  very  soon  afterwards.     A  daughter  of  his, 

born  in  1796,  died  Feb.  18,  1876,  having  lived  more  than  sixty 

years  within  the  shadow  of  Trinity  church,  and  almost  under 

protection  from  the  bolts  of  heaven  by  the  lightning  rod  which 

her  father  had  constructed  for  the  church. 

Another  Jones,  Simeon  by  name,  lived  in  a  liouse  on  stilts 
that  stood  upon  a  knoll  in  a  swamp.  That  swamp  was  near 
the  eastern  end  of  the  site  of  the  Globe  Hotel. 

Barnabas  and  Eoger  Brooks  were  braziers,  who  lived  and 
carried  on  their  trade  on  Whitesboro  street,  next  west  of  Mr. 
Burchard.  Vacating  this  lot  within  a  few  years  to  Francis  A. 
Bloodgood,  they  moved  to  the  corner  of  Seneca,  where  they 
were  again  displaced  b}"  Nathan  Williams,  who  bought  and 
built  upon  the  place. 

The  parties  who  are  known  to  have  been  new  comers  of  the 
year  1794,  were  Moses  Bagg,  John  House  Jason  Parker  and 
Apollos  Cooper. 

Moses  Bagg,  of  Westlield,  Mass.,  with  his  wife  and  two  sons, 
landed  from  the  river,  about  two  miles  above  the  ford,  in  the 
autumn  of  1793,  and  after  tarrying  through  the  winter  at  Mid- 
dle settlement,  arrived  at  Old  Fort  Schuyler  on  the  12th  of  the 
following  March.  In  August,  Mr.  Bagg  obtained  from  Joseph 
Ballou,  four  acres  of  his  leased  farm, — for  which  he  subsequently 
got  a  title  from  Mr.  Bleecker, — and  began  to  practice  his  trade 
of  blacksmith  on  what  is  now  Main  street,  a  little  east  of  the 
corner  of  the  square.  His  house,  a  log  structure,  or  as  one  eye- 
witness avers,  a  shanty  made  of  hemlock'  boards  nailed  to  the 
stubs  of  trees,  stood  directly  on  the  corner  ;  and  this  he  opened 
for  the  accommodation  of  traA-ellcrs.  Shoitly  afterwards  he 
put  up  a  two  story  wooden  building  on  the  same  site.  This 
house  was  sul)scquently  removed  by  his  son  aci'oss  the  street, 
and  in  conjunction  with  the  farm  house  of  Mr.  Ballou,  made 
up  the  late  Northern  Hotel;  a  hotel,  which  after  having  been 
held  in  succession  by  niinici-ous  tenants,  has  now  given  ])laceto 


OLD  FORT  SCHUYLER.  41 

tlic  Ballon  block.  Mr.  Bagg  continued  to  keep  tavern  while  lie 
lived,  and  is  said  to  have  been  an  accommodating  landlord,  as  well 
as  an  amiable  and  upright  man,  possessed  of  a  fair  share  of  good 
sense  and  native  shrewdness,  managing  his  own  affairs  with 
prudence,  and  making  many  friends  and  no  enemies.  He  died 
in  September,  1805,  his  wife  in  March  of  the  same  year.  James, 
his  eldest  son,  moved  al^out  1809  to  Denmark,  in  Lewis  county, 
and  thence  to  Lowville,  where  he  died  in  1851.  Moses,  the 
other  son,  will  be  noticed  hereafter. 

Shortly  after  the  arrival  of  the  preceding  family  came  anoth- 
er inn-keeper,  who  opened  a  house  on  the  south-east  corner  of 
Oenesee  street  and  the  public  square.  This  was  John  House, 
of  whom  we  know  little  beside  the  fact  that  he  was  a  pleasant 
man  and  a  popular  tavern-keeper.  He  removed  early  from  the 
place,  and  by  the  year  1802  his  house  was  kept  by  another.  His 
daughter  became  the  wife  of  Myron  Holley,  of  Ontario  county. 
Wm.  House,  his  son,  was  a  merchant  in  Lockport,  N.  Y. 

One  of  Utica's  most  useful  and  best  remembered  citizens  ap- 
peared on  its  stage  when,  in  1791:,  Jason  Parker  took  up  his 
abode  therein.  Married  in  1790  to  EoxanaDay,  of  Will)raham, 
Mass., — he  himself  being  a  native  of  the  neighljoring  town  of 
Adams — he  settled  the  same  year  in  New  Hartford.  Here  he 
cleared  up  two  farms,  and  was  progressing  with  the  same  energ}^ 
that  he  afterward  evinced  in  a  different  calling,  when  his  health 
gave  way,  and  he  was  advised  to  relinquish  fanning  and  engage 
in  some  other  pursuit.  He  came  to  this  place  about  1794,  and 
undertook  the  em^oloyment  of  post-rider  between  Canajoharie 
and  Whitestown.  These  journeys  were  made  on  horseback  and 
sometimes  on  foot.  His  wife  would  occasionally  assist  him, 
when  needed,  eking  out  the  trip  between  this  place  and  Whites- 
boro.  The  contract  from  the  government  for  the  transportation 
of  the  mail,  which  had  been  given,  the  year  previous  to  one 
Simeon  Pool,  soon  passed  into  his  hands.  It  is  related  that 
when  on  one  occasion,  Mr.  Parker  arrived  with  the  great  west- 
ern mail  from  Alban}^,  it  was  discovered  that  it  contained  six 
letters  for  the  inhabitants  of  Old  Fort  Schuyler.  This  remark- 
able fact  was  heralded  from  one  end  of  the  settlement  to  the 
other,  and  some  were  incredulous  until  assured  of  its  truth  by 


42  THE  PIONEERS  OF  UTICA. 

the  postmaster,  Jolin  I^ost.  In  August,  1795,  he  began  to  run  a 
stage  between  the  uLove  mentioned  phices,  and  thus  announces 
his  undertaking :  "  The  mail  leaves  Whitestown  every  Mon- 
day and  Thursday,  at  2  o'clock  P.  M.,  and  proceeds  to  Old  Fort 
Schuyler  the  same  evening;  next  morning  starts  at -i  o'clock, 
and  arrives  at  Canajoharie  in  the  evening,  exchanges  passengers 
with  the  Albany  and  Cooperstown  stages,  and  the  next  day  re- 
tarns  to  Old  Fort  Schuyler.  Fare  for  passengers,  $2.00  ;  way 
passengers  four  cents  per  mile,  fourteen  pounds  of  baggage 
gratis ;  one  hundred  and  fifty  pounds  weight  rated  the  same 
as  a  passenger.  Seats  may  be  had  by  applying  at  the  post-office, 
"Whitestown,  at  the  house  of  the  subscriber,  Old  Fort  Schuy- 
ler, or  at  Captain  Roof's,  Canajoharie." 

That  his  experiment  was  a  difficult  and  a  doubtful  one  when 
left  unaided  by  the  fostei'ing  care  of  go^-ernment  we  may  justly 
infer,  and  we  are  not  surprised  to  find  him  joining  with  eastern 
proprietors  in  a  call  for  legislative  help.  Their  petition,  which 
is  dated  Jannary  18,  1797,  sets  forth  that  "  at  an  early  da}^  and 
when  no  other  persons  could  be  prevailed  on  to  hazard  so  pre- 
carious an  undertaking,  they  set  up  a  line  of  stages  from  Alba- 
ny to  Lansingburg,  and  another  from  Albany  to  Whitestown, 
and  for  several  years  ran  them  at  great  loss  to  themselves,  in 
anxious  hope  and  expectation  that,  by  persevering  in  so  laudable 
an  undertaking,  they  should  at  some  future  time  receive  a  com- 
pensation, when  the  population  of  this  new  and  growing  country 
would  admit."  Then  adverting  to  the  embarrassing  and  destruc- 
tive consequences  of  opposition  which  had  been  set  up  on  some 
of  the  eastern  lines,  the  petitioners  continue  as  follows:  The 
western  line  must  inevitably  share  tlie  same  fate  unless  your 
petitioners  can  obtain  the  interference  of  the  honorable  the  Legis- 
lature. And  although  they  are  desirous  of  continuing  to  prose- 
cute their  present  concerns  in  the  stages,  particularly  on  the 
western  routes,  they  dare  not  flatter  themselves  in  being  able  to 
do  it,  unless  they  can  obtain  an  act  of  exclusive  privilege  for 
a  certain  number  of  years."  Whether  their  petition  achieved 
them  any  good  we  are  unable  to  say,  l)ut  in  November,  1799, 
we  find  that  the  mail  stage  between  Schenectada  and  Utica  is 
still  run  twice  a  week  by  "the  public's  most  humble  servants," 
Moses  Beal  and  Jason  Parker.  In  1802  the  public  are  further 
informed  that,  in  addition  to  the  above  arrangements,  "a  stage 


OLD  FORT  SCHUYLER.  43 

for  the  conveyance  of  the  mail,  and  those  who  wish  to  travel  by 
stage,  will  start  from  Utica  for  Onondaga  twice  a  week." 

In  March,  1 803,  Mr.  Parker  is  again  before  the  Legislature  in 
company  with  Levi  Stephens  and  other  associates,  suing  for  the 
exclusive  right  of  running  stages  from  the  village  of  Utica  to  the 
village  of  Canandaigua  for  the  term  of  ten  years,  and  averring 
that  "the  present  emoluments  are  inadequate  to  reimburse  the 
expenses  by  the  proprietors."  Accordingly  an  act  was  passed 
tlie  following  year  granting  to  Jason  Parker  and  Levi  Stephens 
the  exclasive  right  for  seven  years  of  running  a  line  of  stages, 
for  the  conveyance  of  passengers,  at  least  twice  a  week,  along 
the  Genesee  road,  or  Seneca  turnpike,  between  the  above  men- 
tioned villages.  They  were  bound  to  furnish  four  good  and 
substantial  covered  wagons  or  sleighs,  and  sufficient  horses  to 
run  the  same.  The  fare  was  not  to  exceed  five  cents  per  mile, 
and  they  were  to  run  through  in  forty-eight  hours,  accidents  ex- 
cepted. They  were  forbidden  to  carry  more  than  seven  passen- 
gers in  any  one  carriage,  except  by  the  unanimous  consent  of 
said  passengers.  If  four  passengers  above  the  seven  applied 
for  passage,  they  were  obliged  to  fit  out  and  start  an  extra  car- 
riage for  their  accommodation  ;  an}^  number  less  than  four  might 
be  accommodated  by  paying  the  rate  of  four. 

By  September  1810,  a  greater  degree  of  expedition  was  at- 
tained on  the  eastern  route,  so  that  we  read  of  a  daily  line  of 
stages  between  Albany  and  Utica,  and  in  September,  1811,  of 
another  line  three  times  a  week  in  addition  to  the  daily  one.  In 
January  of  the  latter  year  the  route  westward  had  been  extend- 
ed to  Buffalo  and  Niagara  Falls.  Thus  he  commenced  by  such 
humble  beginnings  a  business  which,  partly  alone  and  partly 
in  association,  he  prosecuted  throughout  his  lifetime,  and  which 
within  that  time  increased  so  as  to  become  one  of  the  largest 
business  organizations  ever  formed  in  the  place.  At  the  time 
of  his  decease  there  were  eight  daily  lines  of  stages  running 
through  Utica,  east  and  west,  besides  twelve  daily,  semi- weekly 
or  weekly  lines  running  north  and  south,  in  most  of  which  he 
was  or  had  been  interested. 

But  Mr.  Parker's  activity  was  not  wholly  expended  in  the 
running  of  stages.  Besides  serving  as  a  trustee  of  the  village, 
and  besides  bearing  a  share  in  the  public  undertakings  of  the 
day  that  concerned  him  equally  with  his  fellow-citizens,  he  also 


44  THE  PIONEERS  OF  UTICA. 

carried  on  milling  and  flouring.  Al)out  1817  this  was  done  at 
New  Hartford,  in  company  with  his  nephew,  David  Miller,  and 
after  1823,  when  the  navigation  of  the  Mohawk  had  ceased,  in 
a  mill  which  he  constructed  bel(^w  the  bridge.  He  also  at  an 
earlier  period  had  an  interest  with  Stalham  Williams  in  mercan- 
tile business. 

To  Mr.  Parker,  Messrs.  T.  S.  Faxton,  S.  D.  Childs  and  John 
Butterlield  were  all  indebted  for  the  impetus  which  set  them 
forward  in  a  career  of  success,  the  former  having  joined  him  as 
his  outside  assistant  in  1813,  Mr.  Childs  as  his  book-keeper  in 
1816,  and  the  latter  in  1822,  at  first  as  a  runner,  and  eventually 
as  his  successor  in  the  stage  and  transportation  business,  though 
he  was  never,  as  Messrs  Faxton  and  Childs  were,  one  of  the 
Arm  of  J.  Parker  &  Co. 

Remarkable  for  his  business  capacity,  his  enei'gy  and  his  skill 
in  dealing  with  others.  Mr.  Parker  was  not  less  noted  for  his 
unswerving  integrity  and  his  kind  and  liberal  disposition.  Well 
do  I  remember  the  benevolent  features  of  the  old  man  as  they 
kindly  beamed  upon  the  children  of  his  acquaintance,  as  well 
as  the  quaint  attire  in  which  he  appeared  abroad — the  broad- 
brimmed  beaver,  the  spencer  worn  outside  his  coat,  and  the 
long  church  warden  pipe,  only  laid  aside  when  he  took  the 
reins  for  a  drive  in  his  chaise. 

He  lived,  on  his  first  coming,  in  a  log  house  on  Main  street,  a 
little  west  of  First  street.  His  next  residence  was  on  the  south 
side  of  Whitesboro  street,  near  Seneca,  his  carriage  and  black- 
smith shops,  stahles,  &c.,  being  adjacent  He  subsequently 
built  a  house  on  the  opposite  side  of  the  street,  where  the  late 
E.  M.  Gilbert  afterwards  built  and  resided. 

Mr.  Parker  died  in  1830,  his  wife  the  former  part  of  the 
same  year.  Two  or  three  of  his  children,  of  whom  he  had 
seven  in  all,  were  born  before  his  arrival  in  Utica,  Those  who 
attained  adult  age  were  Cynthia,  (Mi's,  George  Maconiber,) 
Roxana,  (Mrs.  S.  D.  Childs,)  Milton  D.  and  Patty  Ann,  (Mrs. 
John  Hastings). 

Apollos  Cooper  was  born  at  Southampton,  L.  I.,  February 
2d,  1767,  was  a  carpenter  by  trade,  and  had  come  into  Oneida 
county  in  1790.  Before  coming  to  Old  Fort  Schuyler,  he  had 
lived  at  Johnstown,  and  was  also  in  the  employ  of  Mr.  Scriba, 


OLD  FORT  SCHUYLER.  45 

at  Oneida  Lake.  On  the  1 1th  of  A|)ril,  1795,  he  bought  of  James 
S.  Kip  one  hundred  and  seventeen  acres  of  Great  Lot  No.  96, 
which  the  latter  had  bought  the  year  previous.  This  land  con- 
stituted a  narrow  strip,  extending  from  the  river  nearly  to  the' 
intersection  of  Genesee  and  State  streets.  Early  in  the  fall  of 
1794  he  had  gotten  possession  of  the  land,  and  built  the  rear 
part  of  the  house  on  Whitesboro  street,  where  he  afterwards  re- 
sided throughout  his  life.  The  homestead  yet  remains,  while  the 
farm  has  long  since  been  swallowed  up  by  the  encroaching  city. 

Mr.  Cooper  does  not  seem  to  have  long  pursued  his  trade,  but 
when  not  engaged  in  official  duties,  was  chiefly  busied  with 
farming.  The  bridge  across  the  river,  at  the  foot  of  Genesee 
street,  which  replaced  the  earlier  bridge,  is,  however,  said  to 
have  been  the  work  of  his  skill.  A  peculiarity  of  this  bridge 
consisted  in  the  long  covered  avenue  of  trestle  work  that  led 
down  to  it,  reaching  back  half  way  to  Main  street — a  proof,  as 
it  would  appear,  that  the  river  bank  was  then  much  lower  than 
at  present,  and  the  bridge,  in  consequence,  more  difficult  of 
approach.  This  bridge  had  a  stone  abutment  in  the  centre,  and 
was  of  more  substantial  construction  than  its  more  immediate 
predecessor.  Mr.  Cooper  was  also  the  artificer  of  Hamilton 
Oneida  Academy,  the  precursor  of  Hamilton  College. 

As  time  rolled  on,  his  property  increased  greatly  in  value, 
and  enabled  him  to  realize  all  the  comforts  of  a  thriving  farmer, 
and  to  bestow  upon  his  children  the  advantages  of  an  educa- 
tion, which  in  his  own  case  had  been  limited,  but  whose  value 
he  well  knew  how  to  estimate.  His  early  location  in  the  county 
secured  to  him  an  extensive  acquaintance,  and  obtained  for 
him  no  small  share  of  public  favor,  manifested  by  his  appoint- 
ment, at  various  periods,  as  Judge,  Representative  and  Sheriff, 
and  by  his  filling  also  many  subordinate  stations  in  the  place  of 
his  residence.  If  there  were  differences  among  his  neighbors, 
Judge  Cooper  was  a  man  to  whom  such  differences  could  be 
referred  with  all  the  confidence  that  a  sound  head  and  an  honest 
heart  will  always  command.  He  was  simple  in  habit,  and  un- 
pretending in  manners  ;  of  vanity  he  had  not  a  particle,  honest 
pride  he  possessed  to  a  fault.  Self-reliant  and  positive  in  his 
opinions,  he  was  frank  and  outspoken,  and  his  convictions  were 
stated  with  plainness  and  force.  After  a  long  period  of  suffer- 
ing, he  died  March  2d,  1839 ;  his  wife  (Sybel  Ellis)  ten  years 


46  THE  PIONEERS  OF  UTICA. 

before.     His  sons  were  Elias,  Benjamin  F.  and  Charles.     His 
only  daughter  is  the  wife  of  E.  A.  Graham. 

John  Cooper,  a  relative  of  the  preceding,  and  a  farmer,  occu- 
pied, until  the  marriage  of  the  judge,  the  portion  of  the  house 
the  latter  had  first  built.  Later  he  lived  in  a  house  near  Hojt's 
lane,  on  the  north  side  of  Whitesboro  street.  His  son  Abra- 
ham, who  pursued  his  clerkship  with  Br^-an  Johnson,  became 
afterward  a  prosperous  merchant  at  Trenton,  and  was  the  father 
of  the  late  Hoel  Cooper,  of  Watertown. 

On  a  farm  next  west  of  Nathan  Smith,  and  half  way  to 
Whitesboro,  lived  William  Inman,  a  gentleman  who  was  in 
habits  of  constant  intercourse  with  the  people  of  the  settle- 
ment, though  he  did  not  move  into  it  until  a  few  years  later ; 
but  as  this  farm  has,  by  a  recent  legislative  ordinance,  been 
included  within  the  domain  of  Utica,  we  introduce  him  here. 
Dr.  Hough,  in  his  History  of  Lewis  county,  informs  us  that 
*'  ]\L-.  Inman  was  a  native  of  Somersetshire,  England,  and  in 
earl}^  life  was  a  clerk  of  Lord  Pultney.  He  first  sailed  to 
America  March  13,  1792,  and  arrived  in  June.  He  soon  after 
was  entrusted  witli  the  interests  of  certain  Europeans,  promi- 
nent among  whom  was  Patrick  Colquhoun,  High  Sheriff  of 
London,  for  whom  he  purchased  in  trust  the  tract  of  land  called 
Tnman's  Triangle,  including  the  towns  of  Leyden  and  Lewis,  in 
Lewis  county,  N,  Y.  The  following  j^ear  he  returned  to  Eng- 
land, but  ere  long  was  again  in  this  countrj'-," 

In  1793,  he  obtained  of  Eutger  Bleecker  two  leases  of  land  in 
lot  No.  104,  containing  in  all  one  hundred  and  fifty-three  acres, 
and  not  long  after  came  to  reside  in  Oneida  county.  He  lived  at 
first  in  the  house  that  is  situated  on  the  north  side  of  the  Whites- 
boro road,  opposite  the  bridge  over  the  canal.  But  disgusted  with 
the  "Yankee  dust"  which  reached  him  from  the  neighboring 
highway,  he  built  the  large  house  that  stands  quite  back  from  it 
on  the  south  side,  and  which  has  been  of  late  years  known  as  the 
Champlin  house.  Possessed  of  ample  means,  he  hired  laborers 
and  lived  upon  his  farm  as  a  ])rivate  gentleman.  "  He  had  con- 
siderable knowledge  of  English  literature,  was  fond  of  books,  and 
exhiV^ited  in  his  conversation  the  superiority  which  results  from 
culture  and  from  intercourse  with  refined  societ}^     His  hand- 


OLD  FORT  SCHUYLER.  47 

writing  was  handsome ;  he  was  accurate  and  methodical ;  un- 
derstanding well  his  own  interests,  and  apt  in  drafting  all  legal 
papers  relating  to  his  property  and  dealings."  He  consequently 
maintained  a  high  social  standing,  and  participated  in  the  best 
society  which  the  neighborhood  afforded.  He  rode  in  a  heavy 
English  carriage,  and  wore  powdered  hair  with  short  clothes 
and  knee  buckles. 

As  earl}^  as  1804:  he  erected  a  brewery  on  the  site  of  what  is 
now  the  northwest  corner  of  Broadway  and  Whitesboro  streets, 
where,  with  Edward  Smith  and  Aylmer  Johnson,  under  the 
firm  name  of  E.  Smith  &  Co.  he  commenced  business  as  brewer 
and  malster.  In  April,  1805.  the  partnership  was  dissolved, 
and  the  brewery  was  thereafter  for  some  years  conducted  by 
Mr.  Inman  alone.  He  built  a  house  for  his  own  use  on  the  east 
side  of  Broadway,  a  short  distance  above  the  corner  of  Whites- 
boro, which  house  is  now  occupied  by  William  N.  Weaver. 

Mr.  Inman  was  among  the  foremost  of  those  who  took  a  part 
in  founding  Trinity  church  ;  he  was  placed  on  the  subscription 
and  also  on  the  building  committee,  and  while  he  lived  in 
Utica  served  either  as  vestryman  or  warden.  But,  with  this 
exception,  it  does  not  appear  that  he  manifested  much  interest 
in  the  prosperity  of  the  place,  or  exerted  the  influence  which 
from  his  wealth  and  high  social  position  he  might  have  com- 
manded. Unfortunately  his  temper  was  harsh  and  uncom- 
promising, his  bearing  haughty  and  domineering,  and  he  could 
ill  adapt  himself  to  the  plain  people  and  the  unpolished  man- 
ners of  a  new  country.  It  is  said  that  when  his  goods  were 
being  brought  up  the  Mohawk,  Sam.  Carey  the  boatman,  taking 
■offence  at  some  overbearing  conduct  in  Mr.  Inman,  tumbled 
him  into  the  river. 

About  1813  he  removed  to  New  York,  where  he  became  a 
merchant,  but  met  with  heavy  reverses.  About  1825  he  w^ent 
to  Leyden,  in  Lewis  county,  and  there  he  died  February  14, 
1843,  aged  eighty-one  years.  His  wife,  Sarah,  died  in  the  same 
place,  July  24,  1829,  aged  fifty-six.  She,  says  her  son,  the 
distinguished  artist,  was  gentle  and  persuasive.  His  sons  were 
William,  John,  Henry  and  Charles,  of  whom  the  three  first 
attained  distinction  in  paths  quite  diverse. 

William  entered  the  navy  January  1st,  18 1 2,  rose  by  succes- 
sive steps  to  the  rank  of  Commodore,  and  after  sixty-two  years 


4S  THE  PIONEERS  OF  UTICA. 

of  gallant  and  deserving  sen'ice,  died  October  23d,  1874 ;  he 
served  on  the  lakes  during  the  war  of  1812-15,  commanded 
one  of  two  boats  that  captured  a  pirate  vessel  on  the  coast  of 
Cuba,  in  1823 ;  commanded  a  steamer  on  the  lakes  in  1845,  a 
steam  frigate  of  the  E  I.  squadron  in  1851,  and  was  at  the 
head  of  the  squadron  on  the  coast  of  Africa  in  1859-6L 
(Drake's  Dictionary  of  American  Biography.) 

John,  born  at  Utica,  1805,  having  taught  school  in  North 
Carolina,  passed  a  year  in  Europe  and  studied  law  on  his  return, 
became  editor  of  the  Standard^  afterwards  of  the  Spirit  of  the 
Times^  then  of  the  N.  Y.  Mirror.  In  1834  he  was  assistant 
editor  of  the  Commercial  Advertiser^  and  in  1844,  on  the  death 
of  William  L.  Stone,  became  editor-in-chief.  He  was  for  some 
years  editor  of  the  Columbian  Magazine^  and  was  a  frequent 
contributor  to  the  periodicals  of  the  day.  He  died  August  30, 
1850.     (Drake's  Am.  Biog.) 

Henry,  born  at  Utica,  October  28,  1801,  early  manifested  a 
taste  for  art,  entered  the  studio  of  Jarvis,  and  at  first  devoted 
himself  to  miniature  painting,  but  afterwards  turned  his  talents 
to  good  advantage  in  portrait,  landscape  and  (/ew re  painting,  and 
attained  such  distinction  as  to  be  chosen  Vice  President  of  the 
National  Academy  of  Design.  He  visited  England  in  1844, 
and  painted  portraits  of  Wordsworth,  Chalmers,  Macaulay  and 
others.  He  afterwards  undertook  a  series  of  pictures  for  the 
National  Capitol,  illustrating  the  settlement  of  the  west,  but  did 
not  live  to  complete  the  first  of  them.  Among  his  best  efforts 
are  his  portraits  of  Chief  Justice  Marshal  and  Bishop  White,  his 
"Kip  Van  Winkle  waking  from  his  Dream,"  "  Mumble  the  Peg," 
and  "  Boyhood  of  Washington."  He  was  one  of  the  most 
versatile  of  American  artists.  He  possessed  the  choicest  social 
quahties  and  the  finest  sensibilities.  His  conversational  qualities 
were  of  a  high  order,  and  he  had  a  fund  of  anecdote  and  wit. 
He  died  in  New  York,  January  17,  1846.     (Drake's  Am.  Biog.) 

Charles,  a  cabinet  maker,  died  in  Cincinnati.  The  youngest 
daughter  of  Mr.  Inman  married  Bryan  Collins,  of  Lewis  county  ; 
the  eldest  died  unmarried. 

An  inhabitant  of  whom  we  get  the  first  hint  in  1795,  at  this 
time  a  carpenter,  but  who  afterwards  developed  into  a  merchant 


OLD  FORT  SCHUYLER.  49 

as  successful  as  any  that  Utica  has  produced,  was  Watts  Slier- 
man.  He  came  from  Newport,  K.  I.  His  means  were  small, 
so  that  while  he  followed  his  trade — and  was  but  a  botch  at 
that — his  wife  kept  a  small  shop  on  Main  street,  where  she  sold 
cake  and  beer.  He  soon  obtained  the  office  of  constable,  and, 
as  we  are  assured,  manifested  unusual  zeal  in  the  discharge  of 
his  duties,  having,  on  one  occasion,  descended  into  a  chimney 
in  order  to  seize  a  silk  dress  which  the  party  having  it  was  de- 
termined he  should  not  come  at,  and  so  debarred  him  other 
entrance  into  his  house.  But  it  is  likewise  reported  that  at  that 
period  he  was  rather  too  prone  to  visit  the  tavern,  and  that  his 
wife  adopted  the  following  means  to  cure  the  failing.  One 
evening,  after  her  work  was  done,  she  took  her  knitting  and 
repaired  to  the  tavern,  where  she  sat  down  and  assumed  the  air 
of  being  at  ease.  The  embarrassment  of  the  other  parties  pre- 
sent was  soon  relieved  by  the  Avife  addressing  her  husband  thus: 
"  Mr.  Sherman,  I  married  you  for  the  sake  of  your  company, 
and  I  have  come  here  to  enjoy  it'"  This  visit  sufficed  to  reform 
the  wa3's  of  the  wanderer ;  and  he  was  ever  after  not  only 
closely  devoted  to  business,  but  a  man  of  marked  and  exem- 
plary habits  in  respect  to  temperance.  I  retail  the  gossip  as  I 
have  heard  it;  but  whether  true  or  not  the  incident  is  deemed 
sufficiently  characteristic  of  Mrs.  Sherman  to  have  deserved  to 
be  so.  This  lady,  whose  maiden  name  was  Olivia  Jillson,  was 
of  excellent  judgment,  and  a  notably  faithful  counsellor  to  her 
husband  throughout  his  life. 

In  1802  Mr.  Sherman  formed  a  partnership  in  trade  with 
Arnold  Wells,  the  latter  furnishing  the  m  st  of  the  capital. 
In  this  new  sphere  he  evinced  unusual  capacity,  for  he  was 
uncommonly  shrewd  and  stirring.  Being  too  ambitious  for  Mr. 
Wells,  they  separated,  while  Mr.  Sherman  enlarged  his  busi- 
ness and  directly  took  rank  among  the  leading  merchants. 
With  others,  he  bestirred  himself  in  the  creation  of  the  first 
glass  works  of  the  county,  the  factory  at  Yernon,  and  was  one 
of  its  directors.  Under  date  of  May,  1813,  he  informs  the 
community  that  he  has  taken  into  partnership  Henry  B.  Gribson 
and  Alexander  Seymour,  under  the  name  of  Sherman,  Gibson 
&  Co.  While  the  junior  member  remained  in  Utica,  the  twO' 
former  established  themselves  in  New  York,  where  their  skill- 


60  THE  PIOXEERS  OF  UTICA. 

ful  conduct  of  trade  secured  an  independent  fortune  for  eacli  of 
them.     Mr.  Slierman  died  about  the  year  1820. 

He  was  a  tall,  fine  looking  person,  extremely  neat  of  attire. 
Although  close  and  sharp  in  business,  he  was,  up  to  a  certain 
standard,  unexceptionally  moral,  and  gave  freely  to  objects  of 
benevolence  or  public  utility.  His  place  of  business,  while 
in  Utica,  was  on  Genesee  street,  a  little  below  the  line  of  Broad, 
and  afterward  nearly  opposite  Catherine.  For  his  residence  he 
erected  the  house  which  was  afterwards  the  home  of  General 
Joseph  Kirkland,  and  is  now  that  of  Mrs.  Susan  Gridley  His 
wife  lived  until  her  eighty-second  year,  and  died  in  Albany,  Jan- 
uary 26,  1860.  In  all  the  relations  of  life  she  performed  well  her 
part  and  was  deservedly  esteemed.  Her  second  husband  was 
Paul  Hochstrasser,  and  him  she  survived  thirty  years.  One  of 
Mr.  Sherman's  daughters  married  Henry  B.  Gibson  ;  a  second, 
Bobert  Shearman,  a  merchant  of  a  somewhat  later  residence ; 
and  two  lie  interred  in  Forest  Hill  Cemetery,  whither  they  were 
removed  from  the  old  ground.  One  son,  Chas.  A.  W.,  is  living 
in  Albany.  Watts  Sherman,  late  of  the  banking  house  of  Dun- 
can, Sherman  &  Co.,  was  a  nephew. 

Two  additional  farmei's  of  this  date  were  Aaron  Adams  and 
Benjamin  Hammond.  The  latter,  commonly  known  as  Pump- 
kin Hammond,  lived  near  the  present  intersection  of  South  and 
Bridge  streets.     He  was  gone  by  1802. 

The  tailor  of  the  time,  one  Daniel  Banks,  lived  alone  on 
Whitesboro  street,  opposite  where  now  is  Hotel  street.  .  He  was 
taken  with  a  fever,  became  delirious,  and,  having  been  denied 
water  to  quench  his  thirst,  seized  the  opportunity  when  his  at- 
tendant was  away  to  go  for  it  himself.  He  was  missed,  and 
search  being  made  he  was  found  drowned  in  the  well.  This 
occurred  in  August,  1799.  His  tMinbstone  in  the  old  burying 
ground  bears  the  oldest  inscription  that  can  be  deciphered 
there. 

Samuel  Jewett  was  one  of  the  pioneer  settlers  of  New  Hart- 
ford, and  used  to  say  that  he  had  helped  to  raise  the  first  barn, 
the  first  frame  house,  and  the  first  meeting  house,  that  were 
built  in  that  town.     He  removed  hither  in  1795,  and  purchased 


OLD  FORT  SCHUYLER.  51 

of  Stephen  ISTorton  a  part  of  the  Potter  farm.  His  late  resi- 
dence on  the  line  of  the  Seneca  turnpike,  built  before  that  road 
liad  been  worked,  but  not  before  it  was  laid  out,  forms  at  this 
day  almost  the  only  remaining  landmark  of  its  generation. 

Of  Mr.  Jewett,  his  contemporaries  report  that  his  word  was 
"like  apples  of  gold,  in  })ictures  of  silyer."  In  confirmation 
they  relate  the  following  anecdote  :  He  once  bargained  with 
Jason  Parker  to  fuiiiish  him  the  ensuing  winter  one  hundred 
tons  of  hay  at  fiye  dollars  per  ton.  The  winter  set  in  early  and 
proved  an  unusually  bleak  and  cheerless  one.  Hay  was  in 
great  demand  and  had  largely  risen  in  value.  Without  a  mur- 
mur Mr.  Jewett  faithfully  executed  his  contract ;  and,  as  he 
urged  his  laboring  cattle  o\''er  the  bare  and  rough  corduroy 
which  formed  the  only  road  between  him  and  his  purchaser,  he 
was  often  accosted  to  know  the  price  of  his  hay.  "Sold,"  was 
his  brief  response. 

Mr.  Jewett  had  a  family  of  nine  children,  all  of  whom 
reached  adult  age.  The  oldest  and  the  youngest  daughters  are 
still  living  on  the  homestead,  and  near  by  lives  Benj.  F.,  the 
only  son  who  is  still  a  resident. 

A.  vigorous  old  man,  named  Lewis  Crandall,  observed  his 
centennial  birthday  in  Utica,  April  13,  1872.  He  said  that 
when  he  was  twenty-two  or  twenty-three,  he  and  his  father-in- 
law,  John  Shute,  lived  one  year  on  the  farm  east  of  the  hollow 
below  Frederick  Bowman,  more  recentl}^  known  as  the  Dever- 
eux  farm.  If  his  memory  was  not  at  fault  this  must  have  been 
in  179-1  or  '95.  His  subsequent  life  had  been  passed  chiefly  in 
Westmoreland,  where  as  well  as  in  Utica  he  has  descendants, 
and  where  he  died  the  following  summer. 

The  Western  Centinel^  of  September  23,  1795,  records  the 
fact  that  sickness  was  then  prevailing  throughout  the  whole  of 
the  western  country  beyond  what  had  ever  before  been  experi- 
enced since  its  first  settlement.  "  Scarce  a  family  escapes,"  it 
says.  "  and  numbers  of  whole  families  labor  under  the  inflic- 
tion. The  diseases  most  prevalent  are  the  lake  (or  Genesee) 
fever,  and  the  intermittent  or  fever  and  ague.  We  have  author- 
ity to  say  that  the  lake  fever  is  not  confined  wholly  to  lake 
towns,  but  is  frequent  in  the  most  inland  ones," 


52  THE   PIOXEERS  OF  UTICA. 

Following  down  the  course  of  our  annals,  the  first  I  have  to 
note  in  the  jear  1796  is  Ezekiel  Clark.  By  the  settlers  who 
are  known  to  have  arrived  at  this  time,  Mr.  Clark  was  found 
essaying  to  do  business  as  a  merchant,  and  his  shop  was  in  a 
room  of  Bagg's  tavern.  He  continued  a  resident  almost,  if 
not  quite,  until  the  hamlet  became  a  city,  and  was  by  turns  mer- 
chant, innkeeper,  baker,  cooper  and  merchant  again.  In  1817 — 
the  era  of  the  publication  of  the  first  village  directory — his 
store  was  at  No.  10  Genesee  street.  And  twenty  years  later 
he  was  striving  to  earn  a  living  by  the  making  of  bandljoxes. 
An  industrious  and  a  reputable  man,  but  easy  and  careless, 
from  want  of  prudence  he  was  frequently  in  trouble,  and  from 
too  much  change,  he,  like  the  rolling-stone,  gathered  little. 

His  first  wife  (Miss  Tafft),  who  died  in  1803,  was  the  mother 
of  four  children,  all  of  whom  are  deceased.  His  second  (Mrs. 
Mehitable  Parmelee)  was  the  mother  of  the  late  Mrs.  V.  V. 
Livingston. 

Of  other  inhabitants  whose  names  are  now  first  found  our 
scanty  information  permits  us  to  add  but  two,  John  Hopkins 
and  Rufus  Harris.  The  one  was  a  farmer  or  teamster ;  the 
other  was  a  laboring  man. 

Of  the  new  comers,  one  was  a  merchant,  but  did  not  remain 
long  a  merchant.  With  him  there  was  abundant  reason  for 
the  change ;  his  educational  training  had  been  in  a  totally  dif- 
ferent direction,  and  was  too  complete  a  one  to  admit  of  sacri- 
fice ;  this,  together  with  his  natural  bias  and  the  needs  of  his 
neighbors,  soon  inclined  him  to  pursuits  more  congenial.  This 
was  Dr.  Alexander  Coventry,  whose  character  and  career  desei've 
a  fuller  consideration.  From  a  carefully  written  obituary  by  Dr. 
John  McCall,  are  derived  many  of  the  particulars  herewith  given. 
He  was  born  near  Hamilton,  in  Scotland,  August  2V,  1766, 
and  was  the  son  of  Capt.  George  Coventry,  who  had  served  un- 
der his  Majesty  George  III.,  in  the  old  French  war.  The  son 
attended  medical  lectures  at  Glasgow  and  at  Edinburgh,  and 
imbibed  the  instruction  of  those  eminent  teachers,  Monro,  Cul- 
len,  Hope  and  Gregory.  In  July,  17S5,  he  sailed  for  America, 
and  first  settled  at  Hudson,  in  this  State,  where  he  became  en- 
gaged in  agricultural  pursuits  in  conjunction  with  the  practice 
of  his  profession.     Thence  he  removed  to  Romulus,  on  the  east 


Lyy^y^y^  Qo-t/i^^^T^^^^ 


OLD  FORT  SCHUYLER.  53 

side  of  Seneca  lake,  wliicli  "place  be  left  in  1796  on  account  of 
the  sickness  of  himself  and  his  famil}^,  and  came  to  Old  Fort 
Schuyler.  At  first  he  entered  into  mercantile  business  with 
Mr.  John  Post,  but  soon  separated  from  him,  and  opened  a 
physician's  office  just  above,  that  is  to  say,  on  the  west  side  of 
the  Genesee  road,  about  two  doors  above  the  corner  of  Whites- 
boro  street.  About  1804  he  had  for  a  partner  Dr.  David  Has- 
brouck ;  but  having  purchased  a  farm  in  Deerfield,  he  removed 
thither  and  once  more  engaged  in  agriculture. 

The  doctor  pursued  farming,  and  especially  fruit-growing, 
with  all  the  ardor  of  more  modern  amateurs,  and  his  grafted 
■apples  and  other  fruit  w^ere  famous  the  country  round.  From 
this  period  onward  until  his  death,  his  time  and  attention  were 
divided  between  his  farm,  his  books  and  the  practice  of  his  pro- 
fession, although  during  his  latter  years  the  demands  of  his 
profession  were  paramount  to  all  beside.  The  greatest  disad- 
vantage of  this  division  of  employment  was  the  difficulty  of 
procuring  his  assistance  on  any  sudden  emergency,  and  espe- 
cially as  the  road  to  his  residence  was  sometimes  almost  impass- 
able. He  had  formed  a  partnership  in  1817,  with  the  late  Dr. 
John  McCall,  then  also  residing  hi  Deerfield.  In  the  following 
year,  when  the  latter  came  to  this  place,  tlieir  office  was  in  a 
small  wooden  building  on  the  north-west  corner  of  Broad  and 
John  streets.  And  here  joined  him  his  next  and  last  pai-tner, 
his  son.  Dr.  Chas.  B.  Coventry. 

As  a  family  physician  and  obstetrician.  Dr.  Coventry  was 
eminently  distinguished ;  and  not  only  in  our  own  but  in  the 
adjoining  counties  he  maintained  a  standing  no  less  respectable 
as  a  consulting  one.  His  uniformly  courteous  and  sympathiz- 
ing manner  wuth  the  sick,  cooperating  with  his  clear  and  dis- 
criminating judgment,  obtained  for  him  unrivaled  esteem  and 
-affection.  Every  one  felt  safe  when  his  skill  and  experience 
could  be  secured.  In  person  he  was  muscular,  and  moderate 
in  height ;  in  manners  without  pretence,  but  affable  and  engag- 
ing ;  in  tastes,  social ;  in  temper,  sometimes  irascible. 

The  doctor  could  ill  brook  opposition,  and  sooner  than  yield 
to  an  adversary,  his  Scotch  blood  would  assert  itself  after  the 
most  approved  pugilistic  method.  More  than  one  story  has 
been  told  of  his  resort  to  blows  where  he  could  not  readily  com- 
pass his  ends  in  a  more  peaceful  way.     The  most  characteristic 


64  THE  PIONEEES  OF  UTICA. 

of  tliese  incidents,  thougli  not  so  successful  in  its  issue  as  some 
others,  occurred  one  winter  when  he  was  on  his  way  to  Albany 
to  attend,  a  meeting  of  the  State  Medical  Society.  He  was  at 
the  same  time  carrying  a  load  of  grain  to  market,  and  was  in  a 
double  sleigh  accompanied  by  his  hired  man.  Meeting  another 
loaded  team  in  a  narrow  place,  its  driver,  an  obstinate  Dutch- 
man, was  unwilling  to  give  him  any  part  of  the  road.  Both 
claimed  the  track  and  insisted  that  the  other  shpuld  turn  out. 
"Words  proving  of  no  avail,  the  doctor  got  out  of  the  sleigh,, 
determined  to  give  the  other  a  threshing.  His  man  offered  to 
assist  him,  but  belie-^nng  himself  competent  for  the  work,  the 
Doctor  declined  his  aid.  After  one  or  two  sharp  rounds  of 
fisticuff,  he  found  himself  decidedly  worsted,  having  received 
some  damaging  blows  about  the  face  and  eyes,  so  that  the  man 
again  proffered  his  assistance.  The  Doctor  refused  his  help, 
declared  that  he  was  fairly  whipped,  and  generously  ordered 
his  driver  to  turn  out  and  give  the  Dutchman  the  whole  of  the 
way.  Arrived  at  Albany  he  sold  his  grain,  but  was  so  disfigured 
in  person  that  he  did  not  venture  to  appear  at  the  Society. 

Although  quite  reasonable  in  his  charges.  Dr.  Coventry  was 
sometimes  annoyed,  as  others  of  his  profession  are  apt  to  be, 
by  the  tardiness  or  delinquency  to  pay  of  ungrateful  patients. 
He  himself  told  the  following  story  with  relation  to  a  neighbor 
of  his  whose  family  he  often  attended,  but  who,  after  the  occasion 
of  the  visit  was  over,  would  neglect  to  pay  the  bill.  The  fellow 
was  notoriously  bad  and  the  doctor  was  determined  to  frighten 
him  ;  so  meeting  him  one  day  in  the  village,  Dr.  Coventry  asked 
him  if  he  felt  well.  He  replied  "  Yes,"  and  asketl  the  reason 
for  such  a  question.  The  doctor  responded  that  he  looked  sick, 
and  at  the  same  time  felt  his  pulse.  Then,  assuming  a  very 
grave  countenance,  he  said,  you  are  a  })ad  fellow,  and  have 
treated  me  ill ;  but  I  will  not  see  you  kill  yonrself,  so  I  advise 
you  to  go  home  immediately  and  take  to  your  bed.  The  man 
was  young  and  vigorous,  but  he  at  once  became  livid  with  fright, 
gasped  for  breath,  and  almost  staggered  into  a  chair.  The  doc- 
tor, becoming  himself  alarmed  at  the  effect  of  his  joke,  now 
laughingly  told  him  that  nothing  ailed  him,  that  he  wanted  only 
to  frighten  him  for  not  paying  his  long  standing  account. 

The  public  appreciation  of  the  science  and  standing  of  Dr. 
Coventry,  is  shown  by  the  offices  he  held.     Besides  presiding- 


OLD  FORT  SCHUYLER,  55 

for  several  successive  years  over  the  Medical  Society  of  his  own 
county,  he  was  twice  elected  president  of  the  Medical  Society 
of  the  State.  He  was  a  trustee  of  the  Fairfield  Medical  Col- 
lege, a  member  of  the  Society  for  the  Promotion  of  Agricul- 
ture, Art  and  Manufactures,  a  member  of  the  Albany  Lyceum, 
and  a  corresponding  member  of  the  Linn^ean  Society,  of  Paris. 
He  was  an  occasional  contributor  to  the  political  and  agi-icultural 
journals  of  the  day,  and  was  also  the  author  of  some  profes- 
sional papers  for  the  medical  serials. 

From  the  period  of  his  studentship  to  the  last  year  of  liis  life 
he  kept  a  diary  in  which  he  noted  at  length  his  medical  and 
agricultural  employments,  with  references  now  and  then  to  social 
and  other  current  events  of  the  day.  About  the  year  1817  he 
led  the  way  in  the  formation  of  the  first  Agricultural  Society 
of  the  county,  and  was  its  Secretary  and  presiding  genius. 

While  attending  a  dangerous  case  of  .sickness  in  the  family 
of  Nicholas  Devereux,  he  fell  a  victim  to  an  epidemic  influenza, 
and  died  December  9,  1831.  His  wife,  Elizabeth  Butler,  of 
Brantford,  Conn.,  had  deceased  some  j^ears  before.  He  left  a 
family  of  seven  sons  and  four  daughters.  Of  these  the  late  Dr. 
Chas.  B.  Coventry  was  the  only  one  who  made  a  home  in  Utica. 

A  merchant  who  may  be  set  down  as  of  this  date  was  Talcott 
Camp,  for  he  visited  the  place  in  the  fall  of  1796,  bringing  with 
him  a  portion  of  goods,  though  he  returned  east  for  the  winter, 
to  come  again  with  his  famih^  the  following  spring.  Shortl}' 
before  the  date  above  named  he  was  in  New  York  city,  and  a 
sight  he  there  beheld  determined,  it  is  said,  his  course  to  the 
new  settlement.  This  was  a  barrel  or  two  of  silver  coin  which 
William  G.  Tracy  of  Whitesboro,  had  brought  down  to  ex- 
change for  the  goods  he  needed  in  his  trade.  Returns  like 
these  betokened  a  market  that  was  worth  the  seeking,  and  he 
sought  it.  Talcott  Camp  was  born  in  Durham,  Conn.,  March 
1-1,  1762,  and  was  the  son  of  Elnathan  Camp  and  Eunice 
Talcott,  daughter  of  one  of  the  original  proprietors  of  the  town. 
His  collegiate  course  at  New  Haven  being  interrupted  by  the 
war  of  the  Revolution,  he  entered  into  the  service  of  his  country 
and  held  during  the  greater  part  of  the  contest,  a  post  in  the 
Commissary  Department.  Settling  afterward  in  Glastonbujy, 
he  was  engaged  chiefly  in  mercantile  pursuits,  although  he  was 


56  THE  PIONEERS  OF  UTICA. 

also  associated  with  a  partner  in  the  manufacture  of  iron.  Here, 
hi  1785,  he  married  Nancy  Hale,  and  here  all  but  the  youngest 
one  of  his  children  were  born. 

For  a  few  _years  after  his  removal  to  Old  Fort  Schuyler  he 
devoted  himself  to  trading,  and  was  not  all  unsuccessful  in  the 
pursuit,  though  he  ere  long  disposed  of  his  interest,  and  engaged 
in  the  purchase  and  sale  of  lands.  But  it  is  as  an  ujjright  and 
esteemed  magistrate,  as  he  long  was,  that  Squire  Camp  is  best 
know^n,  and  there  are  those  living  who  can  recall  the  impartial 
dignity  with  which  he  was  wont  to  pronounce  "  the  opinion  of 
the  Court."  In  1809  he  was  made  President  of  the  village,  a 
station  which  he  held  for  five  successive  j'ears.  This  was  in 
part  during  the  turbulent  period  of  the  war,  when  troops  were 
often  marched  through  the  village  or  quartered  in  the  neigh- 
borhood, and  when  aggressions  and  quarrels  were  rife.  Much 
responsibilit}'  and  care  were  of  course  devolved  upon  him. 
One  occasion  of  tlie  time  is  especially  remembered.  A  shot 
fired  b}^  a  soldier  either  accidentally  or  by  design,  entered  the 
house  of  an  unoffcPxding  citizen.  The  people  were  indignant 
and  a  mob  was  preparing  to  avenge  the  wrong.  But  the  calm 
and  judicious  measures  of  the  chief  officer  appeased  the  excite- 
ment and  brought  the  offender  to  justice.  He  was  some  time 
Trustee  of  the  Presbyterian  Church,  and  bore  a  part,  as  one  of 
the  original  Board,  in  the  founding  of  the  Utica  Academy. 

Prominent  among  those  who  made  honorable  the  beginnings 
of  Utica,  he  was  a  man  of  intelligence  and  integrit}',  of  sterling 
sense  and  judgment,  "  of  marked  and  dignified  aj3j)earance  and 
courteous  manners,  who  always  commanded  respect,  and  in  his 
later  years  veneration."  A  casual  or  undiscerning  sj^ectator 
might,  perhaj^s,  have  deemed  him  pi-oud,  and  it  is  the  likeli- 
hood that  such  an  impression  might  seize  u})on  the  mind  of  a 
stranger  whicli  formed  the  basis  of  the  following  incident.  We 
relate  it  for  the  sake  of  the  story  merely,  and  without  intending 
to  detract  from  the  esteem  wdiich  is  due  to  the  subject  of  it  A 
raw  apprentice  of  James  Delvin,  struck  with  the  trim  aspect 
and  erect,  soldierly  air  of  this  I'lilllc-shirted  gentleman  of  the 
old  school,  appealed  to  his  master  to  know  who  he  was.  "That,'' 
said  Jemmy,  wlio  saw  his  chance  for  a  joke,  "  that  is  Talcott 
Camp,  and  he  beai's  a  commission  from  the  President  of  the 
United  States  to  shoot  down  the  first  man  he  meets  who  is 


u^  &. 


OLD  FORT  SCHUYLER.  57 

prouder  than  lie  is."  Neat,  Squire  Camp  certainly  was,  to 
extremes,  and  self-respecting  also,  chary  of  his  associates  and  of 
his  honor,  but  unassuming,  and  inclined  to  diffidence  rather 
than  to  undue  exaltation  of  himself.  And  if  he  held,  as  he 
often  did,  positions  of  public  confidence,  they  were  not  of  his  own 
seeking,  but  unasked  tributes  to  the  merits  of  this  worthy  Chris- 
tian gentleman. 

He  retained  through  life  some  of  the  modes  of  pronunciation 
that  were  in  use  in  Connecticut  when  he  was  young ;  for  change 
he  would  say  charnge,  for  sugar,  sooger,  and  for  Tomas,  T/iomas. 
He  lived  a  little  west  of  Mr.  Burchard,  on  the  same  side  of 
Whitesboro  street,  and  afterward  on  Main  street,  on  the  same 
lot  where  stood  the  village  school  house.  He  died  September 
3,  1832,  aged  seventy  ;  his  wife  August  31,  1806.  He  had  five 
sons  and  three  daughters,  all  of  whom  have  since  their  maturity, 
been  residents  of  Utica,  \az :  John  and  Harry  to  be  noticed 
hereafter ;  Nancy  and  Horace  twins,  the  former,  wife  of  Ira 
Merrell ;  George,  removed  to  Sacketts  Harbor  ;  Eunice  died  in 
in  infancy ;  a  second  Eunice,  wife  of  William  F.  Potter;  Charles, 
a  merchant  associated  with  his  older  brothers,  who  died  about 
1834 ;  Harriet,  widow  of  Andrew  Merrell,  who  still  survives. 

1797. 

Before  I  go  on  to  speak  of  the  new  comers  of  1797,  let  me, 
in  my  attempts  to  preserve  a  chronological  order,  notice  a  few 
individuals  who  were  already  located  when  the  settlers  of  1797 
themselves  appeared.  The  exact  time  of  their  arrival  I  am 
unable  to  determine,  and  it  is  not  impossible  that  some  of  them 
may  have  been  ere  this,  two  or  three  years  on  the  soil,  but 
records  we  have  not,  not  even  a  tax  list. 

Besides  other  merchants  than  tnose  we  have  mentioned, 
Clark  &  Fellows  kept  at  this  time  the  largest  store  in  the  place, 
that  is  to  say,  for  the  benefit  of  the  inhabitants,  Post's  trade 
being  chiefly  with  the  Indians.  It  was  situated  on  the  north 
side  of  the  Whitesboro  road,  near  the  present  Division  street, 
and  was,  in  fact,  but  a  mere  hut,  Silas  Clark,  the  elder 
partner,  was  a  stirring  man,  and  made  money.  He  owned  a 
farm  in  the  Gulf  below  Bowman's,  known  afterward  as  the 
Devereux  farm,  also  a  house  and  lot  between  Bowman  and 


58  THE  PIONEERS  OF  UTICA. 

Petrie,  besides  the  house  in  wliich  he  Hved  on  the  south  side  of 
Whitesboro  street,  and  almost  opposite  his  store.  He  was  quite 
an  admirer  of  horse-flesli,  and  was  also  a  major  of  militia.  He 
was  onl\-  thirty -seven  when  he  died,  of  inflammation  caused,  as 
it  was  said,  by  wearing  tight  boots,  while  on  parade.  Starr  and 
Silas  Clark,  two  of  his  sons,  were  in  business  here  at  a  later  date. 
The  former  moved  to  Mexico,  Oswego  county,  and  has  been  a 
member  of  the  Assembly ;  the  latter,  after  living  some  years 
in  Watertown,  is  now  iti  Kenosha,  Wis. 

William  Fellows,  after  the  death  of  his  associate,  formed  a 
connection  with  Moses  Bagg,  Jr.,  for  the  sale  of  the  miscella- 
neous goods  of  a  country  store.  This  connection  was  closed  in 
the  year  1807,  when  John  Camp,  who  had  been  their  clerk, 
purchased  Mr.  Fellows'  interest.  The  latter  continued  to  do 
business  a  short  time  longer,  but  died  in  1809,  leaving  one  son, 
William  H.  Fellows,  now  residing  in  Ohio.  His  wife  was  a 
daughter  of  Samuel  Hooker,  a  settler  of  the  ensuing  year.  She 
afterwards  married  Killian  Winne. 

Kichard  Smith  sold  lime  juice.  Muscovado,  and  East  India 
sugar,  molasses,  soap,  tobacco,  Spanish  and  American  cigars, 
Cephalique  and  Eappee  snuff,  hair  powder  and  pomatum,  curl- 
ing irons,  combs,  &c.,  kc.  His  store  is  believed  to  have  been 
at  the  lower  end  of  Genesee  street,  on  the  east  side.  He  soon 
departed. 

Daniel  Budlong,  a  shoemaker  and  leather  dealer,  had  a  shop 
next  door  to  John  Post,  where  he  was  burned  out  in  the  lire 
that  destroyed  the  latter.  Two  years  later  his  store  was  broken 
o]ien  and  robbed.  About  1808  he  joined  another  townsman  in 
the  purchase  of  the  "  medical  apparatus"  of  Dr.  D.  F.  Launay, 
a  medical  adventurer,  and  travelled  off  to  the  west,  engaged  in 
what  was  termed  the  "Launay  business,"  but  returned,  and  was 
here  in  1832,  as  a  physician. 

William  Halsey  was  a  carjienter.  In  November,  1800,  he 
advertises  the  sale  of  "  that  large  two-storj^  house  now  occupied 
by  the  subscriber,  fronting  Main  street  (Whitesboro),  between 
the  hotel  and  John  House's  tavern,  together  with  half  an  acre 
of  land  and  the  outhouses  standing  on  the  same ;  it  being  an 


OLD  FORT  SCHUYLER.  59 

excellent  stand  for  a  tavern  or  any  kind  of  mechanic."  It  was 
purcliased  by  Bryan  Johnson,  and  was  his  home  thronghoat 
the  remainder  of  his  life.  Mr.  Halsey,  who  was  well  thought 
of  by  his  fellow  citizens,  removed  at  this  time  from  the  place. 
A  brother  of  his,  Hezekiah  Halsey,  had  a  blacksmith  shop  for 
a  short  time  a  little  farther  west,  near  the  corner  of  Burchard's 
lane.     He  removed  to  Westmoreland,  where  he  lived  until  1872. 

Jeptha  Buell  was  another  carpenter,  who  lived  in  the  place 
a  few  years  longer  than  Halsey,  but  was  gone  before  1810. 

Joseph  Dana  was  the  first  schoolmaster  of  Old  Fort  Schuy- 
ler, and  kept  in  a  building  on  Main  street,  about  midway 
between  First  and  Second,  which  was  also  used  as  a  place  of 
worship  as  well  as  for  secular  assemblies.  The  majority  of 
Mr,  Dana's  pupils  used  to  speak  of  him  as  an  excellent  teacher, 
remarkable  for  the  order  and  discipline  he  maintained.  He  was 
pedagogue  both  here  and  in  Deerfield  before  the  year  1800. 
In  the  latter  year,  in  consequence  of  some  trouble  in  his  school 
for  which  his  respectable  patrons  attached  no  blame  to  the 
teacher,  he  accepted  a  call  to  Westmoreland.  In  Deerfield  he 
taught  also  a  singing  school,  and  on  his  departure  concluded 
the  exercises  by  a  song,  whose  final  verses  ran  somewhat  as 
follows : 

Fare  ye  well,  my  friends  and  foes; 
I'll  take  my  staff  and  travel  on, 
'Till  better  worlds  I  view. 

Having  brought  up  at  Westmoreland,  he  taught  there  three 
years.  At  an  exhibition  which  closed  his  term,  he  was  ad- 
dressed by  one  of  his  pupils  in  "  most  beautiful,  feeling  and 
commendatory  terms."  The  address  was  the  production  of 
the  elder  Judge  Dean,  father  of  the  youthful  speaker.  Of  Mr. 
Dana's  later  history  we  know  only  that  he  was  a  sergeant  in 
the  regular  army  in  the  war  of  1812. 

Other  residents,  to  be  barely  mentioned,  were  Timothy  Lam- 
son,  a  book-keeper,  and  a  skillful  one,  as  his  books  attest ;  a 
man  named  Scates,  who  had  a  home  on  Main  street,  in  the  rear 
of  the  present  premises  of  Mrs.  Emma  Mann ;  Isaiah  Johnson, 
a  farmer  on  the  upper  end  of  Post's  farm, — for  Mr.  Post  made 
improvements  fast,  and  as  early  as  1792  extended  them  back  to 
the  hills,  skipping  over  a  low  part  of  the  intermediate  ground  ; 


60  THE  PIONEERS  OF  UTICA. 

Jeriy  Tibbits,  barber,  who  spent  most  of  his  time  at  the  tavern, 
could  shave  or  'tend  horses  equally  well,  and  in  1807  had  a 
new,  impnn'cd  liquid  blacking  ;  and  Pel  eg  Hale,  boatman. 

A  man  of  higher  mark  than  these,  and  deserving  a  fuller 
notice,  was  Nathan  Williams.  For  the  following  sketch  I  am 
in  large  part  indebted  to  a  published  obituary  prepared  by  the 
late  A.  B.  Johnson,  at  one  time  his  pupil,  and  throughout  life 
his  personal  and  political  friend. 

"  Judge  Williams  was  born  on  the  19th  of  December,  1773, 
in  Williamstown,  Mass.,  of  patriotic  parents,  whose  property 
was  lost  in  the  vicissitudes  of  the  Eevolution.  Hence,  at  the  age 
of  thirteen,  with  only  the  simplest  rudiments  of  an  English  edu- 
cation, he  left  the  parental  shelter  to  acquire  his  own  subsistence. 
He  arrived  at  Troy  a  stranger  and  with  only  a  few  cents  in  his 
possession  ;  yet  with  no  recommendation  but  the  development 
of  his  character,  he  acquired  the  profession  of  the  law  and  ad- 
mission to  the  bar."  When  it  was  he  made  his  way  to  this 
place  no  one  is  able  to  tell  us,  though  we  are  assured  it  was  not 
later  than  1797. 

At  the  first  term  of  Common  Pleas  held  in  Oneida  county, 
in  1798,  he  was  admitted  to  practice  in  the  Court,  as  he  had 
already  found  admission  to  the  bar  of  Herkimer.  The  same 
year  he  was  received  in  the  Courts  of  Chenango,  of  which 
county  he  was  appointed  District  Attorney  in  the  year  1802. 
Nor  was  it  long  before  Mr.  Williams  was  engaged  in  extensive 
business  as  attorney  and  counsellor,  and  as  solicitor  in  chancery. 
Although  it  is  said  that  such  was  the  undeviating  purity  of  his 
conduct  and  his  strict  integrity  towards  his  clients,  that  he 
aided  them  to  avoid  law  suits  rather  than  undertake  them. 
"  Prompt  and  exemplary  in  all  that  related  to  local  or  general 
benevolence,  his  contributions  of  time,  influence  and  property 
entered  largely  into  nearly  every  measure  that  elevated  the 
town  of  his  adoption.  At  an  early  jDcriod  of  his  residence  he 
assisted  in  the  establishment  of  a  well  selected  public  library. 
Of  this  he  was  for  many  years  librarian."  An  active  partici- 
pant in  the  services  of  the  united  and  but  partially  sectarian 
Congregation  of  Whitesboro  and  Old  Fort  Schuyler,  in  due 
time  he  zealously  cooperated  with  others  of  his  sect  in  the  or- 
ganization of  Ti'inity  church,  and,  when  this  had  an  existence, 


f^wm^. 


OLD  FORT  SCHUYLER.  61 

became  a  warden.  The  pul^lic  chai'ities  of  the  Episcopal  body 
and  the  plans  set  on  foot  for  church  extension,  had  throughout 
his  life  no  more  faithful  and  steadfast  friend.  He  was  president 
of  the  village  corporation  and  president  of  the  Manhattan  Bank. 
"  During  the  war  of  1812  he  aided  essentially  the  general 
government  by  his  influence  and  his  fervor  in  this  region. 
Moreover,  he  left  his  professional  business,  which  was  then  at 
its  height,  and  his  numerous  family,  and  with  gun  and  knap- 
sack marched  as  a  volunteer  to  Sacketts  Harbor,  then  under 
the  command  of  his  brother-in-law.  Gen.  Jacob  Brown,  and 
threatened  with  invasion."  "  The  people  and  the  government 
often  honored  him  with  many  important  stations.  He  was  Dis- 
trict Attorney  of  the  sixth  district  in  1801-13,  and  again  of 
Oneida  county  in  1818-21,  Eepresentative  in  Congress,  1805-7, 
and  Member  of  Assembly,  1816,  1818  and  1819.  He  was  also 
a  member  of  the  convention  of  1821  for  the  reform  of  the  con- 
stitution." 

But  it  is  as  circuit  judge,  to  which  laborious  and  responsible 
office  he  was  appointed  in  April,  1823,  and  which  he  held  for 
many  years,  that  Nathan  Williams  is  most  vividl37-  and  respect- 
fully remembered.  "As  a  judge,"  says  Mr.  Johnson,  "his  ad- 
dresses were  fervently  moral.  Few  men  could  attend  his  court 
in  any  capacity  and  not  obtain  instruction  in  the  duties  of  life, 
and  encouragement  for  their  cultivation."  Perhaps  by  nature 
somewhat  austere,  "even  his  failings  leaned  to  virtue's  side," 
"for  toward  vn-tue  he  had  an  apparently  intuitive  bias;  while 
its  constant  exercise  exalted  beneficially  the  standard  of  pri- 
vate character  among  those  he  encountered."  He  was  at  one 
period  counsel  for  the  Oneida  Indians,  and  the  epithet  they 
gave  him  does  honor  to  the  man,  while  reveahng  the  justice  of 
their  discrimination ;  in  their  tongue  he  was  the  "  Upright 
Friend."  One  incident  will  I  give  in  illustration  of  the  sterner 
traits  of  his  character.  On  an  occasion  when  his  official  duties 
required  him  to  ask  a  young  married  lady  whether  the  deed 
she  had  signed  was  executed  by  her  without  any  fear  or  com- 
pulsion of  her  husband,  she  laughed  and  said  that  she  was  not 
afraid  of  her  husband.  "  Then  madam,"  replied  her  questioner, 
"you  have  not  learned  the  first  duty  of  a  wife,  which  is  to 
fear  her  husband." 

But  lest  my  story  should  leave  too  hard  and  repellant  an  im- 
pression of  the  man,  I  cheerfully  adopt  the  summary  contained 


62  THE  PIONEERS  OF  UTICA. 

in  the  words  of  finother  of  his  eulogists:  "  every  part  of  his  hfe 
was  filled  up  with  something  to  render  his  memory  dear  to  his 
kindred,  and  honored  b}'  his  countrj^"  Though  not  great  in 
intellect,  he  was  respectable,  and  always  adequate  to  the  occa- 
sion. In  person,  he  was  tall  and  commanding ;  in  expression, 
grave  and  impressive. 

It  was  charged  by  the  political  opponents  of  Mr.  Williams, 
that  he  neglected  to  resign  his  judgeship  at  the  end  of  the  con- 
stitutional term.  When  he  did  retire,  the  following  paragraph 
appeared  in  an  Albany  paper :  "  Judge  Nathan  Williams,  hav- 
ing at  length  arrived  at  the  age  of  sixt}',  has  resigned  his  ofhce 
of  Circuit  Judge."  A  few  months  before  his  death,  he  removed 
to  Geneva,  upon  receiving  the  appointment  of  clerk  of  the 
Supreme  Court.  His  death  occurred  September  25,  1835.  His 
remains  were  brought  to  Utica  for  interment. 

Judge  Williams  was  twice  married,  and  the  father  of  a  large 
family.  His  first  wife,  to  whom  he  was  married  in  1800,  and 
who  died  in  1807,  was  Mar}^  Skinner,  of  Williamstown ;  his 
second,  Maria  Watson,  an  adopted  daughter  of  her  uncle,  James 
Watson,  of  New  York,  to  whom  he  was  married  in  1809,  sur- 
vived him  many  years,  and  died  in  1851. 

Of  his  numerous  family  who  have  occupied  honored  posts 
in  the  church,  at  the  bar,  and  in  various  walks  of  business, 
the  most  are  now  deceased.  They  were  as  follows :  Thomas 
Skinner,  Henry  Hunt,  Edward  Temj^leton,  Nathan  Thompson, 
James  Watson,  Mary  Eliza  (Mrs.  David  Wager),  John  Douglass, 
Hobart,  Brown  How,  Sarah  Watson  (Mrs.  Theo.  Dimon),  Helen 
(Mrs.  Kathern).  The  three  daughters,  John  D.  and  Rev.  Hobart 
Williams  alone  survive. 

The  second  lawyer  wlio  falls  within  our  list,  and  the  first  per- 
son we  shall  enumerate  as  among  the  actual  arrivals  of  the  year 
1797,  is  Erastus  Clark,  who,  like  his  predecessor,  has  left  an  im- 
perishable name  on  the  history  of  Utica.  To  them  both,  we 
mav,  in  comparison  with  those  who  have  followed  them  in  the 
same  calling,  award  a  high  meed  of  })i'aise. 

Erastus  Clark  was  the  son  of  Dr.  John  Clark,  and  was  born 
in  Lebanon,  Connecticut,  on  the  lltli  of  May,  1763.  His  mater- 
nal grandmother  was  a  sister  of  the  illustrious  Jonathan  Edwards. 
At  an  early  age  he  entered  Dartmouth  College,  and  after  gi'adu- 


OLD  FORT  SCHUYLER.  63 

ation,  applied  himself  with  diligence  to  the  study  of  the  law, 
and  was  admitted  to  the  bar. 

In  the  year  1791  he  removed  to  Clinton,  and  having  gained 
admission  to  the  courts  of  this  State,  commenced  the  practice  of 
the  law.  His  learning,  his  industry,  and,  above  all,  his  character 
for  probity,  gradually  raised  him  to  a  highl}^  respectaljle  rank  in 
his  profession.  In  the  year  1 797,  he  changed  his  residence  to  Old 
Fort  Schuyler.  "Here  he  filled  various  offices  of  public  trust, 
with  strict  fidelity  and  disinterested  zeal,  and  with  independent 
firmness."  Ejected  as  a  village  trustee  at  the  first  election  held 
under  the  charter  of  1805,  he  continued  many  years  to  fill  that 
once  honored  post,  and  was  also  among  the  earlier  local  presidents. 
In  1817,  when  a  new  and  enlarged  charter  was  accorded  the 
village,  again  was  he  called  to  guide  in  its  administration.  In 
the  meantime  he  had  twice  represented  this  district  in  the  State 
Assembly.  Associated  with  Alexander  Hamilton,  Egbert  Ben- 
son, Jonas  Piatt,  Thomas  R  Grold,  and  others,  he  was  named  a 
trustee  in  the  original  charter  of  Hamilton  College.  And  jet, 
so  long  as  he  lived,  few  of  his  profession  were  more  diligent  at 
the  courts,  or  more  relied  on  for  the  wisdom  and  soundness  of 
their  legal  counsel.  For  although  he  was  not  endowed  with 
the  fascination  of  popular  eloquence,  in  the  learning  of  the  law 
he  was  unsurpassed. 

The  following  estimate  of  the  character  of  Mr.  Clark  by  Judge 
Jonas  Piatt,  who  had  long  enjoyed  his  friendship,  I  make  no 
apology  for  reproducing  in  full : 

For  originality  and  decision  of  character,  his  name  was  j^ro- 
verbial.  An  enlightened  conscience  was  his  habitual  guide  ;  and 
if  from  precipitancy  or  irritation  his  head  sometimes  erred,  there 
was  a  redeeming  principle  in  his  heart  which  reclaimed  and  reg- 
ulated his  erring  judgment  and  passions  with  magnetic  influence. 
His  frankness  was  sometimes  ill-timed  and  excessive.  What 
others  thought  he  spoke,  and  this  naked  and  unreserved  habit  of 
mind  and  expression  frequently  gave  ofi:ence  when  he  was  not 
conscious  of  it,  and  sometimes  betrayed  apparent  vanity.  But 
of  no  other  man  can  it  be  more  truly  said  that  those  who  knew' 
him  best,  esteemed  him  most.  His  liberal  charity  and  his  gen- 
erous spirit  in  promoting  benevolent  objects  and  public  institu- 
tions were  ever  leading  and  consj^icuous,  while  no  man  was  less 
indulgent  to  his  own  appetites,  or  more  self-denying  in  his  pleas- 
ures and  personal  gratifications.  His  habit  of  living  was  simple, 
plain  and  frugal ;  and  yet  his  house  was  the  abode  of  cheerful, 
cordial  and  familiar  hospitality.     In  the  more  intimate  and  ten- 


64  THE  PIONEERS  OF  UTICA. 

der  relations  of  domestic  life,  the  virtues  of  this  excellent  man 
shone  with  peculiar  lustre.  His  religious  character  was  free 
from  ostentation,  but  uniform,  consistent,  sincere  and  ardent. 

To  the  foregoing,  from  one  who  signs  himself,  "A  friend  to 
whom  he  was  closer  than  a  brother,"  I  would  add  the  following 
terse  synopsis  from  the  pen  of  our  late  fellow  citizen,  James 
Watson  Williams.  It  is  contained  in  a  historical  address,  deliv- 
ei-ed  on  the  oceasi(m  of  the  reopening  of  the  Utica  Academy. 
He  says  of  Mr.  Clark :  ''  He  was  a  man  of  strongly-marked 
character,  of  noted  integrity,  and  of  shrewd,  sharp  sense;  of 
fine  classical  attainments,  which  he  kept  up  fresh  to  the  close  of 
his  life ;  of  thorough  historical  knowledge,  and  a  wonderfu 
memory ;  sparing  of  w^ords,  but  not  of  point  or  })itli ;  a  man  to 
the  purpose,  but  somewhat  cynical ;  not  quite  bland  enough  to 
be  popular,  but  esteemed  for  his  independence  and  force  of 
mind."  Judge  Ambrose  Spencer  said  of  him,  that  he  was  the 
only  man  he  ever  knew  who  could  split  a  hair  and  show  tlie 
parts. 

Mr.  Clark's  reputation  for  keen  wit  and  shai-p  repartee  is  still 
fresh,  and  has  caused  his  sayings  to  be  more  frequently  reported 
than  those  of  any  other  of  his  brilliant  contemporaries  of  the 
Oneida  County  Bar.  When  asked,  on  one  occasion,  how  he 
would  make  a  Dutchman  out  of  a  Yankee,  his  ready  answer 
was,  "Break  his  jaw  and  knock  his  brains  out."  To  the  ques- 
tion how,  then,  he  w^ould  make  a  Yankee  out  of  a  Dutchman, 
he  retorted,  "  Can't  do  it,  sir ;  ain't  stock  enough  !"  Judge  Yates, 
of  Albany,  and  Erastus  Root,  of  Delaware,  (who  was  noted  for 
his  excessive  drinking,)  had  been  placed  on  the  democratic  ticket 
for  Governor  and  Lieutenant  Governoi'.  Mr.  Clark's  opinion  of 
the  nomination  having  been  asked,  he  respcjnded,  "  Excellent  1 
Albany  sturgeon  needs  brandy  to  wash  it  down."  When  Judge 
Morris  S.  Miller  became  a  convert  to  a  new  party,  he  congratu- 
lated himself  before  Clark  on  the  conversion  of  another:  "I 
have  made  a  bucktailthis  morning ;"  to  w^hich  the  latter  replied  : 
'■^Fcicilis  descensus  Averni,  sed  revocare  gradum.^^  For  the  benefit 
of  those  who  may  not  have  studied  Virgil,  I  give  a  translation 
by  the  late  Judge  Ezekiel  Bacon,  which  api)eared  in  the  papers 

of  that  day : 

"  Easy  to  fall  to  Pluto's  gloomy  den, 
But  a  hard  scrabble  to  get  back  again." 


OLD  FOET  SCHUYLER.  65 

Mr.  Clark  resided  for  many  years  on  the  west  side  of  Genesee 
street,  nearly  opposite  the  mouth  of  Catherine.  Subsequently, 
when  this  site  became  valuable  for  business  purposes,  he  built 
and  occupied  a  house  on  Seneca  street,  where  Mrs.  Greenman's 
house  now  is,  and  a  little  later  removed  to  the  one  that  had  been 
built  by  George  Macomber,  and  where  Mr.  C.'s  son  now  lives. 
He  died  November  7,  1825.  His  first  wife,  who  died  in  1810^ 
was  Sophia  Porter,  of  Lebanon,  Connecticut.  She  was  intelli- 
gent, dignified,  charitable,  and  conscientious.  After  her  mar- 
riage, she  learned  to  learn  the  Greek  Testament  with  ease,  merely 
from  religious  motives,  and  was  otherwise  notable  for  her 
piety.  It  was  chiefly  through  her  zealous  exertions  that  the 
Female  Missionary  Society  was  instituted  in  the  year  1806. 
July  1,  1812,  Mr.  Clark  married  Sophia,  '^daughter  of  Eoyal 
Flint,  of  Hartford,  Connecticut.  She  was  a  lady  of  extreme 
gentleness  and  sweetness  of  disposition  combined  with  much 
strength  of  character,  and  unusual  culture.  Her  children  were 
Sophia  (Mrs.  John  S.  Walton,  of  New  Orleans),  Elizabeth  and 
Erastus,  all  of  whom  are  living,  and  James,  who  died  in  infancy. 

But  we  have  yet  another  lawyer  of  the  present  year  to  chron- 
icle. This  is  Francis  A.  Bloodgood,  who  was  admitted  as  an 
attorney  of  the  Supreme  Court,  August  5th,  1790,  but  whose 
debiit  before  a  Fort  Schuyler  audience,  was  made  on  the  anni- 
versary of  our  nation's  independence,  1797.  His  address  was 
delivered  in  a  grove  in  the  rear  of  the  shingle-sided  house  here- 
tofore mentioned,  and  on  whose  site  was  erected,  the  following 
year.  The  Hotel,  as  it  was  called,  par  eminence.  Mr.  Bloodgood 
was  a  native  of  Albany,  and  a  graduate  of  Union  College. 
What  headway  he  made  in  the  practice  of  his  profession,  we 
are  unable  to  declare;  but  two  years  later  he  was  appointed 
county  clerk,  and  herein  he  found  what  was  almost  his  life-work ; 
at  least,  during  nearly  the  whole  period  of  his  residence,  did  he 
hold,  by  successive  reappointments,  this  remunerative  and  re- 
sponsible station.  He  was  an  upright  man,  of  scholarly  tastes 
and  considerable  culture,  with  the  courteous  refinement  of  a 
gentleman.  His  political  feelings  were  strong,  and  his  influence, 
both  by  means  of  his  pen  and  by  personal  efforts,  was  consider- 
able. Neither  was  he  by  any  means  indifferent  to  all  that  re- 
lated to  the  interests  of  the  town.     He  was  a  village  trustee  in 


66  THE  PIONEERS  OF  UTICA. 

1805,  and  on  tlie  organization  of  the  Bank  of  Utica,  became 
one  of  its  trustees.  In  1810,  as  Senator,  he  represented  the 
district  at  Albany,  where  he  was  a  zealous  follower  of  De  Witt 
Clinton.  He  resided  on  Whitesboro  street,  within  a  short  dis- 
tance eastward  from  the  office  over  which  he  presided.  Of  me- 
dium height  and  rather  slight  of  figure,  he  was  a  little  lame, 
and  carried  always  a  heavy  gold-headed  cane.  His  features 
were  intellectual  and  handsome.  His  wife  was  Louisa  Dakin, 
sister  of  the  wife  of  James  S.  Kip,  and  of  the  wife  of  his  own 
brother,  Lynott.  She  was  a  little  over-nice  as  a  housekeeper, 
but  his  household  was  a  well-ordered  and  attractive  one. 

Mr.  Bloodgood  died  in  Ithaca,  whither  he  removed  about  1823. 
His  son,  Simeon  De  Witt,  graduated  at  Union  College,  studied 
law,  and  settled  in  Albany.  He  acquired  some  reputation  as  a 
man  of  letters.  His  daughter  Elizabeth  was  one  of  the  five 
founders  of  the  Utica  Sunday  school.  Besides  these  he  had 
other  children. 

As  notable  a  person  as  any  we  have  yet  mentioned,  conspic- 
uous alike  for  his  past  eminent  service  to  the  country  as  for 
high  social  position,  and  influence  and  example  in  the  village 
lie  chose  for  his  later  residence,  was  Col.  Walker.  Colonel 
Benjamin  Walker,  was  born  in  1753,  in  England,  and  it  is  be- 
lieved in  the  city  of  London,  and  was  a  pupil  in  his  youth  of 
the  Blue  Coat  School.  He  did  not  receive  a  brilliant  but  a 
solid  education,  though  having  afterward  passed  some  time  in 
France,  he  became  a  master  of  the  French  language.  At  an 
early  age  he  entered  the  service  of  a  respectable  mercantile 
house  in  London,  under  whose  patronage  he  came,  while  yet  a 
youth,  to  this  country,  and  resided  with  an  eminent  merchant 
in  New  York.  He  was  still  in  the  service  of  this  gentleman 
when  the  Revolutionary  war  commenced.  At  the  beginning 
•of  the  contest  he  entered  warmly 'into  the  cause  of  American 
independence.  He  was  serving  in  the  rank  of  captain  in  the 
Second  regiment  of  New  York  when  he  was  appointed  to  act 
as  aid-de-camp  to  the  Baron  Steuben.  It  was  at  Valley  Forge, 
on  the  25th  of  April,  1778,  that  Steuben  took  him  into  his  fam- 
ily as  his  first  aid.  In  this  situation  he  gained  the  warmest 
friendship  and  most  intimate  confidence  of  the  Baron,  and  was 
ever  after  regarded  by  him  with  the  affection  of  a  son.     Mr. 


OLD  FORT  SCHUYLER.  67 

Frederick  Kapp,  in  his  life  of  Steuben,  informs  us  that  Walker 
superintended  all  bis  correspondence  and  writing  from  1778  to 
1782.  Steuben  dictated  to  liim  in  French,  and  Walker  wrote 
it  out  in  English.  Thus  almost  all  the  drafts  of  Steuben's 
reforms  and  plans  are  written  in  Walker's  neat  handwriting. 
He  accompanied  his  General  to  all  the  inspections  and  reviews, 
acted  as  translator  in  case  of  need,  and  often  extricated  him 
from  difficulties.  There  is  an  old  anecdote,  somewhat  exagger- 
ated perhaps,  which,  while  it  pictures  the  utter  despair  of  the 
inspector  general  in  presence  of  his  awkward,  undisciplined 
soldiery,  characterizes  his  dependence  on  Walker  during  the 
first  year  of  his  service  in  America.  After  having  exhausted 
his  rich  store  of  German  and  French  oaths,  he  is  said  to  have 
called  Walker  to  his  assistance,  vociferating,  "Viens,  Walker, 
mon  ami,  viens,  mon  bon  ami,  sacre,  God  dam  de  gaucheries  of 
dese  badauts,  je  ne  puis  plus,  I  can  curse  dem  no  more."  But 
be  this  as  it  may,  continues  Mr.  Kapp,  we  know  that  even  in 
the  most  difficult  matters  Steuben  relied  chiefly  on  Walker's 
sound  judgment,  and  that  the  success  of  Steuben's  reforms  is 
in  a  great  measure  due  to  his  able  and  indefatigable  aid- de-camp. 
In  the  year  1781-2,  Walker  joined  General  Washington's  suite, 
and  acted  as  his  aid  to  the  close  of  the  war.  "  He  was  one  of 
the  persons  so  strongly  recommended  to  the  patronage  of  Con- 
gress in  the  letter  of  Washington  accompanjang  his  resignation ; 
and  was  for  many  years  honored  with  an  epistolary  correspond- 
ence with  that  great  man."  "After  the  conclusion  of  peace 
he  was  at  first  secretary  to  the  Governor  of  New  York,  but  soon 
after  established  himself  "  in  the  wholesale  hardware  and  com- 
mission business  in  company  with  Major  Benjamin  Ledyard. 
He  was  also  naval  officer  of  the  port  of  New  York,  and  con- 
tinued to  hold  the  place  until  1797.  In  the  latter  year  when 
he  was  appointed  agent  of  the  Earl  of  Bath's  great  estate,  a 
landed  property  lying  chiefly  in  Madison  county,  he  removed 
to  Old  Fort  Schuyler,  where  he  resided  the  remainder  of  his 
life.  The  management  of  this  estate  as  well  as  the  care  of  the 
lands  devised  to  liim  by  Baron  Steuben,  and  which  were  situ- 
ated chiefly  in  the  northern  part  of  this  county,  occupied  much 
of  his  attention.  He  was  in  1800,  chosen  to  represent  this  dis- 
tricfin  Congress,  but  could  never  afterward  be  prevailed  upon 
to  enter  on  the  duties  of  public  life.     But  although  he  dechned 


68  THE  PIONEERS  OF  UTICA. 

the  public  services  of  his  country,  he  was  by  no  means  inatten- 
tive to  the  welfare  of  his  fellow  citizens. 

Among  those  who  took  part  in  the  organization  and  erection 
of  Trinity  Church,  he  was  perhaps  the  foremost.  The  Bleecker 
family  had  promised  the  donation  of  a  site  to  the  first  church 
of  any  kind  that  should  be  erected  in  this  place.  Lady  Bath, 
of  England,  had  also  pledged  the  gift  of  several  hundred  acres 
of  her  land  in  Madison  county  to  the  first  church  of  an  Episco- 
palian character  that  should  be  built  in  this  part  of  the  State. 
Not  only  was  it  through  the  agency  of  Col.  Walker  that  this 
latter  gift  was  realized,  but  his  name  also  heads  the  list  of  indi- 
vidual subscriptions  made  for  tlie  church,  and,  in  association 
with  Nathan  Williams  and  William  Inman,  he  was  appointed 
on  the  building  committee. 

He  built  for  himself  the  mansion  on  Broad  street,  now  occu- 
pied b}'  Abraham  E.  Culver,  which  then  had  a  large  farm 
attached.  His  house  was  the  seat  of  refined  and  elegant  hos})i- 
talit}^,  and  he  a  model  gentleman.  "  He  gave  much  of  his  time 
to  the  society  of  his  friends,  to  whom  his  gay  good  sense,  his 
unassuming  manners,  his  open,  generous  temper,  his  independ- 
ent spirit,  and  his  extensive  acquaintance  with  the  world,  ren- 
dered him  a  most  enlivening  and  instructive  companion."  For 
those  days  his  style  was  considerable  :  he  kept  three  slaves, 
employed  several  men  on  his  garden  and  grounds,  had  a  good 
deal  of  plate,  and  was  the  first  inhabitant  who  owned  a  coach. 
Of  Col.  Walker  it  is  said  that  "  it  was  his  peculiar  delight  to 
search  out  merit  m  distress,  to  cheer  the  poor  man  in  despon- 
dency, to  prove  himself  a  father  to  the  fatherless,  and  to  restore 
hope  and  comfort  to  the  breast  of  the  widow.  To  these  benev- 
olent purposes  he  appropriated  a  large  share  of  his  income  ; 
and  it  is  confidently  believed  that  no  individual  in  this  part  of 
the  country  distributed  more  in  charity  than  he.  And  yet  in 
all  this  there  was  no  ostentation  of  beneficence." 

In  person  he  was  rather  short  and  fleshy,  having  a  decided 
English  physiognomy,  and  an  expression  of  benevolence  coup- 
led with  some  degree  of  sternness.  He  had  a  fine  voice,  and 
when  he  presided  at  one  time  at  a  meeting  of  citizens  called  to 
express  their  disapprobation  of  Mr.  Jefferson's  embargo,  he  ad- 
dressed them  in  a  loud  tone,  and  with  a  curt,  martial  air,  as  he 
woidd  have  issued  oixlers  on  the  Held  of  battle. 


OLD  FORT  SCHUYLER.  69 

His  death  took  place  on  tlie  13tli  of  January,  1818.  His 
remains,  which  from  that  time  had  lain  in  the  village  burying 
ground,  were,  on  the  17th  of  June,  1875,  reinterred  with  pub- 
lic and  befitting  ceremonies,  in  Forest  Hill  Cemetery.  His  por- 
trait is  preserved  in  the  picture  of  Washington  resigning  his 
commission,  painted  by  Trumbull  for  the  Rotunda  in  the  Capitol. 

Miss  Robinson,  his  wife,  who  was  from  New  York,  and  a 
sister  of  Capt.  Thomas  Robinson  of  the  Navy,  had  died  the 
year  previous.  With  respect  to  his  earlier  acquaintance  with 
her,  the  following  anecdote  is  related  by  Peter  S.  Duponceau, 
another  of  Steuben's  aids,  who  says  he  had  it  from  Walker 
himself:  While  he  was  in  the  family  of  General  Washing- 
ton, he  asked  the  General's  leave  of  absence  for  a  few  days 
to  go  and  see  this  lady,  to  whom  he  had  already  been  long 
engaged.  The  General  told  him  that  he  could  not  at  that  time 
dispense  with  his  services.  Walker  insisted,  begged  and  en- 
treated, but  all  in  vain.  "  If  I  don't  go,"  said  he,  "she  will  die." 
"Oh,  no,"  said  Washington,  "  women  do  not  die  for  such  trifles." 
"But,  General,  what  shall  I  do?"  "What  will  you  do?  why, 
why  write  to  her,  to  add  another  leaf  to  the  book  of  sufferings." 
Baron  Steuben,  who  had  friendl}^  nicknames  for  his  aids  and 
sub-inspectors,  used  to  call  Colonel  W.  and  his  wife,  '■'' le  petit 
Walker  eisa  grande  fenime.'"  After  her  death,  her  sister-in-law, 
Mrs.  Robinson,  became  the  housekeeper,  a  son  of  her's  being 
installed  as  secretary.  Col.  Walker  had  a  niece  and  adopted 
daughter,  who  became  the  wife  of  Peter  Bours,  and  a  natural 
daughter,  who  at  first  married  a  French  gentleman,  the  Marquis 
de  Villehaut,  who  fled  from  France  at  the  time  of  the  great 
revolution  in  that  country.  He  settled  at  Morris,  in  Otsego 
county,  where  he  kept  a  store.  She  Was  divorced  from  him, 
and  after  her  father's  death  she  visited  Fi'ance,  where  she  mar- 
ried Col.  Combe,  an  officer  of  the  first  Napoleon.  Upon  the 
accession  of  Louis  Phillippe  to  the  throne  of  France,  Colonel 
Combe  returned  to  his  native  country,  and  was  soon  after  dis- 
patched to  Algiers,  where  he  was  killed  at  the  head  of  his  reg- 
iment. Mrs.  Combe  continued  to  reside  in  France  until  her 
death,  June  5,  1850. 

The  next  to  be  chronicled  is  Bryan  Johnson,  widely  known 
afterwards  as  one  of  the  foremost  merchants  of  Utica.     He,  too, 


70  THE  PIONEERS  OF  UTICA. 

was  a  native  of  England,  and  was  born  about  the  middle  of  the 
last  century.  His  literary  education  was  neglected,  although 
he  wrote  a  large,  free  and  rather  conspicuous  hand,  and  was 
well  grounded  in  the  cardinal  rules  of  arithmetic.  In  his  early 
manhood  he  travelled  over  Europe,  and  thereby  acquired  a 
fund  of  practical  information,  w^as  improved  by  contact  with 
persons  of  cultivation,  and  gained  some  fluency  in  the  German- 
language.  During  the  period  of  our  Revolutionary  war,  he 
was  married  and  living  in  Gosport.  Shortly  after  that  event 
he  removed  to  Loudon.  A  brother  of  his  had  lived  some  time- 
in  this  country,  and  was  an  enthusiast  in  all  that  related  thereto. 
Influenced  by  his  representations,  Mr.  Johnson  was  induced  ta 
relinquish  his  trade  in  Loudon,  and  to  embark  for  America. 
Leaving  his  family,  then  consisting  of  his  wife  and  one  son,  ta 
remain  until  he  should  have  secured  for  them  a  permanent 
home,  he  departed  for  Dublin,  whence  he  sailed  for  New  York. 
War  at  this  time  existed  between  France  and  England,  and  the 
ship  had  not  been  long  at  sea  when  it  was  captured  by  a  French 
privateer.  Some  of  the  passengers  were  taken  on  board  the 
latter,  which  sailed  in  quest  of  further  captures.  Others,  among 
whom  was  Mr.  Johnson,  were  left  in  the  prize,  which  received 
a  small  crew  of  French  ofi&cers,  and  was  ordered  to  put  into 
Brest  A  few  days  after  the  vessels  had  been  thus  parted,  the 
passengers  and  the  original  crew  took  advantage  of  the  French- 
men while  they  were  at  dinner,  and,  with  knives  and  other 
impromptu  weapons,  overpowered  them  and  headed  the  vessel 
toward  New  York.  This  port  they  safely  reached  without  fur- 
ther misadventure.  Proceeding  to  Albany,  and  thence  up  the 
Mohawk  on  his  way  to  Canada,  Mr.  Johnson  arrived  at  Old 
Fort  Schuyler  on  the  -ith  of  July,  171*7.  He  was  so  much 
pleased  with  the  appearance  of  the  place  that  he  decided  to 
remain  here,  and  soon  established  himself  in  a  small  building 
on  the  Whitesboro  road,  near  where  is  now  Division  street 

Ilis  earliest  advertisement  acquaints  the  {)ublic  that  he  will 
advance  ready  cash  on  all  kinds  of  produce.  He  kept  a  good 
assortment  of  goods,  which  he  sold  at  prices  unusually  low.  His 
ambition,  for  some  time,  seems  to  have  been  directed  more  to 
the  transaction  of  a  large  business  than  to  make  great  gains. 
To  attain  his  object  he  sought  the  reputation  of  selling  goods 
cheaper  than  his  village  competitors,  and  to  purchase  country 


OLD  FORT  SCHUY£eR.  71 

produce  at  higher  prices.  His  greatest  competitors  were,  how- 
ever, outside  the  village.  Messrs.  Kane  &  Van  Rensselaer,  a 
highly  respectable  and  rich  firm,  were  established  at  Canajoharie, 
and  were  transacting  a  great  business,  extending  far  beyond 
this  plaice.  Their  store  at  Canajoharie  was  near  the  Mohawk, 
and  as  their  business  kept  declining,  they  would  hail  the  boats 
passing  down  the  river  with  wheat  and  potash,  in  order  to  as- 
certain to  whom  the  freight  belonged.  The  answer  was,  to 
Bryan  Johnson  of  Old  Fort  Schuyler.  And  as  boats  re- 
turning up  the  river  loaded  with  merchandise  gave  the  same 
answer,  when  questioned  as  to  the  ownership  of  the  goods, 
Messrs.  Kane  &  Van  Rensselaer  resolved  to  go  to  the  new  em- 
porium and  to  share  in  the  same  trade.  The  rivalry  thus  pro- 
duced continued  with  unabated  force  after  Messrs.  Kane  &  Van 
Rensselaer  had  established  themselves  here,  and  as  long  as  Mr. 
Johnson  remained  in  business. 

In  the  meantime,  however,  there  arrived  from  England  the 
son  of  the  latter,  the  late  A.  B.  Johnson,  who  became  an  asso- 
ciate of  his  father.  The  following  is  their  advertisement  of  18021: 
"  New  universal  cheap  wholesale  and  retail  store.  B.  Johnson 
takes  this  opportunity  of  informing  the  public  that  he  has,  in 
addition  to  his  former  store,  opened  the  above,  adjoining  the 
printing  office  on  the  Genesee  road,  where  he  has  received  a 
large  and  fashionable  assortment  of  dry  goods,  &c.,  &c.  He 
continues  paying,  as  usual,  the  highest  prices  in  cash  for  sea- 
soned fars,  flax  seed,  wheat,  pot  and  pearl  ashes."  The  son 
never  participated  in  the  rivalry  so  far  as  to  disregard  the  great 
object  of  trade,  the  acquisition  of  property,  and  wielding  a  very 
considerable  influence  over  his  father — notwithstanding  he  was 
yet  much  under  age — he  succeeded  in  impressing  him  with  his 
own  views.  The  result  was  that  more  money  was  realized  in 
the  last  few  years  of  Mr.  Johnson's  business  than  in  all  the 
former.  But  in  1809,  soon  after  the  son  had  attained  his  ma- 
jority, and  several  years  before  his  own  death,  he  thought  best 
to  retire.  He  had  now,  for  many  ^^ears,  maintained  his  posi- 
tion as  a  leading  merchant,  and  by  trade  as  well  by  some  for- 
tunate purchases  of  real  estate,  had  acquired  a  property  rising- 
of  $50,000. 

His  earliest  place  of  residence  was  over  his  store,  which  stood 
where  is  now  the  corner  of  Whitesboro  and  Division  streets.    In 


72  THdh'lONEERS  OF  UTICA. 

1800  he  bought  and  reconstructed  a  house  standing  a  httle  further 
west  on  the  opposite  side  of  Whitesboro  street,  and  which  had 
attached  a  half  acre  of  Land,  and  here  he  lived  until  his  death. 
This  house  and  lot,  which  cost  him  $1,200,  his  son  sold  in  1863 
for  $5,000.  Mr.  Johnson  was  a  man  of  superior  judgment,  of 
great  activity  of  intellect,  and  profoundly  versed  in  mankind. 
Thorough-going  in  his  business,  he  was  invariably  truthful  and 
trustworthy.  Friendly  with  all,  his  social  rank  was  high  by 
reason  of  his  agreeable  qualities  as  a  companion,  and  with  his 
family  his  place  was  yet  more  endeared  by  his  remarkable  do 
mestic  affection.  A  more  devoted  father  scarce  lived.  Son 
and  father  were  constantly  together,  and  rarely  seen  abroad 
unless  united.  As  they  walked  the  streets,  the  father,  a  hale, 
vigorous  and  fresh  old  gentleman,  with  exuberant  silvery  locks, 
leaning  on  the  arm  of  his  slighter  son,  both  dressed  with  ex- 
tremest  care,  and  the  former  especially  conspicuous  by  his  short 
breeches  and  silk  stockings — the  costume  of  a  then  expiring 
generation — they  presented  a  picture  never  to  be  forgotten  b}- 
•  one  who  had  once  beheld  them.  Twenty  years  before  his  death 
he  placed  his  property  at  the  disposal  of  his  son  by  legal  trans- 
fer, and  made  himself  dependent  for  the  means  to  live.  U]) 
to  the  middle  of  life  his  temper  was  hasty  and  his  manner 
sometimes  gruflf,  and  thence  arose  the  waggish  soubriquet  of 
''  Old  Bear  and  Cub"  by  which  they  occasionally  went.  But 
during  his  latter  years  his  temper  was  materially  subdued. 
To  compare  him  with  the  son  who  has  so  lately  taken  his  de- 
parture, and  who  was  so  well  known  to  all  of  this  generation,  I 
would  say,  that  the  father  was  more  genial,  more  vivacious  and 
more  impulsive ;  the  son  more  equable,  more  self-reliant,  and 
more  cultured. 

At  a  joeriod  wlien  intemperance  was  the  rule,  Mr.  Johnson's 
habits  formed  a  striking  exception,  since  he  was  abstemious  in 
the  extreme.  He  died,  rather  suddenly,  April  12th,  1824,  aged 
seventy-five.  His  wife  survived  him  twenty  years,  and  died  at 
the  age  of  eighty-five,  yet  coidd  perform  needle  work  hand- 
somely, and  without  spectacles,  as  long  as  she  lived.  Her  name 
of  Leah  is  still  perpetuated  in  one  of  our  populous  streets. 

Major  Benjamin  Hinman  was  a  native  of  Southbur}",  Conn. 
He  served  several  years,  and  with  much  credit,  in  the  army  of 


OLD  FORT  SCHUYLER.  73 

the  Ee  volution,  as  captain,  commissary,  wagon  master,  and  aid 
to  General  Greene.  He  was  one  of  the  thirteen  Hinmans  who 
held  commissions  in  that  war  from  the  town  of  Woodlniry.  On 
one  occasion,  when  the  British  threatened  to  attack  the  fort  at 
Kome,  he  was  sent  thither,  and  was  so  much  pleased  with  the 
character  of  the  country  through  which  he  passed,  that  he  de- 
termined, on  the  expiration  of  the  war,  to  settle  there.  He  came 
accordingly,  about  1787,  and  purchased  a  tract  of  about  two 
thousand  acres,  at  Little  Falls.  There  he  married  the  daughter 
of  John  Keyser,  who  had  furnished  supplies  to  the  army  at 
Stone  Arabia,  and  had  distinguished  himself  during  the  war. 
This  tract  he  soon  exchanged  with  Lord  Ellis,  and  took  land  at 
Grave's  Hollow,  near  Trenton.  He  built  a  house,  a  saw  mill, 
and  a  trip  hammer,  and  stayed  a  short  time. 

Li  1797  or  '98,  he  removed  to  Fort  Schuyler.  After  occupy- 
ing two  or  three  different  residences  on  this  side  of  the  river, 
and  keeping  a  public  house  a  few  years  across  the  bridge  in 
Deerfield,  he  finally  took  up  his  residence  in  Main  street,  a  few 
doors  east  of  the  square.  He  was  principally  occupied  with 
his  works  at  Grave's  Hollow,  all  of  which  were  destroyed  by  a 
thunderstorm  attended  with  a  devastating  flood,  whereby  the 
buildings  were  consumed,  and  the  dam  washed  away.  While 
living  in  Deerfield,  he  superintended  the  construction  of  the 
dyke  across  the  flats.  The  former  road  had  been  an  ungraded 
and  meandering  one,  following  the  course  of  the  higher  portions 
of  land.  He  died  while  on  a  visit  at  Mount  Pleasant,  Pa.,  April 
7th,  1821,  in  his  sixtj^-sixth  year.  "It  is  related  of  him,  that 
he  never  drank  a  gill  of  spirituous  liquor  during  his  life."  Mrs. 
Nancy  Hinman,  his  widoAv,  died  at  Rushville,  LL,  August  20th, 
1863,  in  her  ninty-hfth  year.  His  sons  were  John  E.,  Benjamin, 
Jr.,  John  Ja}',  and  William.  His  daughter  (Annis),  married 
Dr.  Munroe,  of  Rushville,  Illinois. 

Rev.  John  Hammond  was  a  Baptist  minister.  He  was  born 
in  England,  about  the  year  1740,  and  came  of  pious  ancestry^ 
his  grandfather  having  been  also  a  minister.  As  early  as  1795 
he  was  pastor  of  the  Baptist  church  in  Schuyler,  and  in  Septem- 
ber of  that  year,  as  the  records  show,  he  was  sent  as  a  delegate 
to  the  Otsego  Association,  which  met  at  Springfield. 

In  1797  he  was  living  in  this  place,  his  house  being  on  the 
public  square,  a  little  below  Bagg's  tavern.     While  here  he 


74  THE   PIONEEES  OF  UTICA. 

preached  at  Deerfield  and  elsewhere  in  this  vicinity.  At  tliis 
time,  he  is  said  to  have  conducted  a  class  on  Sunday  for  instruc- 
tion m  the  Scriptures,  and  may,  therefore,  be  regarded  as  a 
pioneer  in  the  work  of  Sunday  scliool  teaching.  He  also  labored 
occasionally  among  the  Indians.  He  used  himself  to  tell  of  a 
squaw,  who  was  one  of  his  converts,  but  whose  knowledge  of 
the  English  language  was  so  extremely  limited  that,  however 
much  she  might  comprehend,  she  could  speak  little  more  than 
the  words  "January  and  February."  These  words  she  would 
shout  on  occasions  of  spiritual  excitement  with  a  degi'ee  of 
heartiness  that  showed  her  fervor  as  plainly  as  if  expressed  in 
plainer  terms.  He  continued  to  preach  until  toward  eighty 
years  of  age,  and  a  sermon  delivered  at  Albany,  elicited  expres- 
sions of  commendation  in  the  public  prints  as  the  effort  of  so 
aged  a  minister.  Just  before  his  death,  in  1819,  he  was  one  of 
seventeen  persons,  who,  seceding  from  the  First  or  Welsh  Bap- 
tist, united  in  establishing  the  Second  Baptist  or  Tabernacle 
Church. 

But  Elder  Hammond  was  not  solely  and  exclusively  devoted 
to  ministerial  labors.  He  was  also  a  land  surveyor,  as  were  his 
tliree  sons.  Assisted  by  these  sons,  he  surveyed  the  tract  in 
the  northern  part  of  the  State,  purchased  by  John  Brown,  of 
Providence,  and  known  as  Brown's  tract.  His  wife,  about  the 
year  1804,  kept  a  school  for  children,  near  the  lower  end  of  Hotel 
street.  His  sons  lived  here  during  the  greater  part  of  their  lives, 
and  all  were  chiefly  occupied  in  surveying.  Many  a  conveyance 
of  land  in  this  and  adjoining  counties  bases  its  description  on  the 
maps  of  Calvin,  Worden  and  John  D.  Hammond.  Competent 
authority  bears  testimony  to  the  accuracy  of  their  work. 

In  the  course  of  this  year  Captain  George  Macomber,  con- 
ducts hither  his  eldest  son,  and  leaves  him  to  manage  for  him- 
self, while  he  goes  back  to  Taunton,  in  Massachusetts,  and  after 
a  year  or  more,  comes  again,  bringing  with  him  the  remainder  of 
his  family.  This  family  claim  to  be  descendants  of  one  of  the  his- 
toric company  of  the  Mayflower,  and  still  cherish  as  a  sacred 
heir  loom  a  ring  that  bears  the  name  of  Mary  Standish. 

Captain  George  Macomber  had  previously  followed  the  sea, 
but  leaving  this  hazardous  pursuit,  now  that  he  is  past  middle 
life  and  responsible  for  the  settlement  of  a  family  of  ten  child- 


OLD  FORT  SCHUYLER.  75 

ren,  he  immigrates  with  them  to  the  new  countiy.  As  for  him- 
self, it  being  too  late  to  acquire  a  new  profession,  he  spends  the 
remainder  of  his  days  in  gardening.  His  house  and  garden 
were  on  the  lower  end  of  Genesee  street,  a  little  below  Post's. 
Here  he  died  April  5,  1813,  in  his  sixty-second  year — his  wife 
four  days  afterward.  His  sons  were  George,  Levi,  Stephen,  Hor- 
ace, Calvin  and  David  O. 

There  came  as  assistant  to  Talcott  Camp,  a  carpenter  named 
Hiel  Hollister,  who  presently  returned  to  Connecticut,  in  order 
to  bring  his  family.  He  built  a  house  on  "Whitesboro  street, 
adjoining  the  one  occupied  by  Abijah  Thomas,  and  afterward 
by  his  brother,  B.  W.  Thomas,  This  house  he  sold  to  the 
former  about  the  year  1803,  and  went  back  to  his  native  State. 
After  the  deed  was  signed,  the  parties  were  all  day  journeying 
to  and  from  Whitesljoro,  whither  the^^  were  obliged  to  go  in 
order  to  have  the  deed  acknowledged  :  from  which  we  raaA^  jiidge 
of  the  character  of  tlie  roads  of  this  vicinity,  as  well  as  of  the 
dependence  of  Utica  upon  Whitesboro  at  the  period  in  question. 

Samuel  Hooker  was  another  carpenter  who  at  this  time  took 
up  his  residence  here.  Originally  from  Barre,  Mass.,  he  had 
settled  in  Albany  and  was  engaged  in  his  chosen  calling,  wdien 
he  was  induced  to  come  to  Old  Fort  Schuyler  to  superintend 
the  erection  by  the  agents  of  the  Holland  Land  Co.,  of  a  large 
brick  hotel  on  Whitesboro  street.  His  son  Philip  remained  in 
Albany,  and  became  emijient  as  an  architect,  having  been  era- 
ployed  in  the  erection  of  St.  Peter's  and  the  Lutheran  churches 
as  well  as  the  State  Capitol.  The  remainder  of  Mr.  Hooker's 
family  removed  with  him,  including  his  son  John,  who  was 
also  a  carpenter  and  builder.  These  two  were  the  only  persons 
resident  who  were  competent  to  project  and  carry  on  so  impor- 
tant a  structure  as  the  Hotel.  It  was  probably  begun  in  1797, 
and  was  finished  near  the  close  of  the  year  1799.  A  more 
jmrticular  account  of  it  will  be  given  hereafter.  In  June,  1803, 
when  a  subscri]3tion  had  been  started,  looking  toward  the  build- 
ing of  Trinity  Church,  the  Messrs.  Hooker  presented  plans 
which  w^ere  accepted,  and  they  were  engaged  to  go  on  with  the 
work  until  the  money  had  been  expended.  Besides  these  and 
other  more  private  undertakings,  Mr.  Hooker,  was  in  1808 
acting  as  agent  for  two  Fire  Insurance  Companies.     He  was  an 


76  THE  PIONEERS  OF  UTICA. 

unassuming,  industrious  and  upright  man.  That  he  was  much 
respected  in  his  own  church  at  least,  may  be  inferred  from  the 
fact  that  for  twenty-one  years  he  was  anually  elected  one  of  its 
officers,  two-thirds  of  which  time  a  Warden.  His  residence 
was  at  first  on  Whitesboro  street  near  the  corner  of  the  present 
Division,  and  afterward  on  the  site  of  the  store  of  O.  O'Neil, 
84  Genesee.  He  died  October  19,  1832,  at  the  age  of  eighty -six. 
His  wife,  (Rachel  Hine)  outlived  him  three  years  and  was 
ninety-three  at  her  death,  having  been  totall}'-  blind  nearly 
twenty  years.  In  her  affliction  she  was  a  remarkable  example 
of  christian  patience  and  resignation. 

John  Hooker,  son  of  the  foregoing,  after  following  some 
years  his  trade  of  carpenter  and  builder,  went  into  the  sale  of 
lumber  with  Mr.  Seth  D wight.  Their  yard  was  on  the  upper 
part  of  tbe  gore  formed  by  the  junction  of  Genesee  and  Hotel 
streets,  about  where  Liberty  now  runs.  They  also  engaged  in 
an  auction  and  commission  business,  and  were  for  a  time  pros- 
perous, but  failed  in  the  end.  Mr.  Hooker's  residence  was  op- 
posite Catherine,  on  the  west  side  of  Genesee.  This  house,  in 
1815,  he  moved  back  to  Hotel  street,  and  erected  on  its  site 
three  brick  stores,  now  standing,  one  of  which  (No.  102)  he 
occupied  at  the  time  of  his  failure. 

His  latter  years  were  clouded  by  his  reverse  of  fortune,  and  by 
occasional  attacks  of  insanity.  Practical,  stirring  and  benevolent, 
he  had  so  far  the  confidence  of  his  fellow  citizens  as  to  be  thrice 
elected  as  a  village  trustee.  Possessed  of  considerable  inge- 
nuity, lie  invented  several  useful  articles,  among  which  is  a 
window  spring  still  in  common  use.  Once,  at  least,  he  made 
his  escape  from  the  insane  asylum  in  New  York  by  adapting  to 
the  door-lock  a  spoon  or  some  other  utensil  that  he  turned  into 
a  key.  He  died  here  July  31st,  1829,  aged  sixty.  His  wife 
Ann,  daughter  of  Matthew  Derbyshire,  of  Hartwick,  Otsego 
county,  to  whom  he  was  married  in  1802,  died  three  years  be- 
fore him,  August  17,  1826.  Their  children  were  William,  lost 
at  sea  in  182-1 ;  Rachel  (Mrs.  G.  H.  Starr,  Pleasant  Prairie,  near 
Kenosha,  Wis.) ;  Sophia  Ann  (relict  of  Geo.  D.  Foot,  of  the 
.same  place)  ;  Phillip  J.,  of  Camden,  Nebraska. 

The  remaining  children  of  Samuel  Hooker  were  as  follows  : 
James,  a  merchant  here  and  a  military  man,  wIk^  married  a 
daughter  of  Silas  Clark,  and  subsequently  removed  with  his 
family  to  New  York ;  William,  went  early  to  New  York,  and 


OLD  FORT  SCHUYLER.  77 

became  a  hydrographer  and  engraver;  Samuel  R,  a  resident  of 
various  places,  merchant  here  in  1815  ;  Susan,  widow  when 
she  came  of  Caspar  Hewson,  of  Albany,  became  afterwards  the 
second  wife  of  Seth  Dwight ;  Sarah,  married  William  Fellows, 
and  after  his  death,  Killian  Winne. 

Seventy  acres  of  lot  No.  96  were,  on  the  2d  of  January,  1797, 
bought  by  Eichard  Kimball  from  Jedediah  Sanger,  of  New 
Hartford,  who  had  himself  bought  of  James  S.  Kip.  This 
farm,  which  Mr.  Kimball  occupied  until  1804,  lay  chiefly  on 
the  eastern  side  of  Grenesee  hill,  but  extended  in  part  across  to 
the  western  side  nearly  as  far  as  the  present  Aiken  street,  where 
it  bordered  on  the  southern  line  of  Judge  Cooper's  purchase. 
The  farm  house,  which  since  Mr.  Kimball's  day  has  been  the 
home  of  numerous  successive  tenants,  stood  nearly  on  the  site 
of  the  sumptuous  mansion  of  Irvin  A.  Williams.  At  present 
it  stands  on  the  street  which  in  after  years  was  named  in  allu- 
sion to  the  early  owner  of  the  territory  it  traverses,  though  in 
allusion  merely,  since  contempt  for  a  name  so  wanting  in  hon- 
orable belongings  as  Kimball  has  changed  it  to  Kemble.  This 
owner,  having  sold  his  farm,  went  back  to  Connecticut. 

And  now  I  have  brought  forward  all  the  men  of  Old  Fort 
Schuyler  of  whom  I  am  at  all  assured  that  they  were  residents. 
And  yet  there  is  one,  who,  though  his  home  was  outside  the 
limits,  was  seen  daily  within  them,  and  whose  service  was  so 
useful  that  he  cannot  in  justice  be  omitted.  This  is  James 
Fhisky  who  lived  next  above  the  ford  on  the  high  bank  at 
the  north  side  of  the  river.  He  brought  fish  into  market, 
served  sometimes  as  a  cooper,  and  still  more  as  cartman,  be- 
sides acting  as  ferryman  when  the  river  was  too  much  swol- 
len for  fording.  By  way  of  opposition,  his  domicil  was  known 
as  Fort  Flusky. 

The  occurrences  of   years  that  immediately  succeed  reveal 
additional  names,  which  it  may  be,  should  of  right,  here  be  re 
corded.     Not  to  trust  to  conjecture  where  positive  knowledge 
is  wanting,  I  pass  them  by  for  the  present. 

We  have  arrived  at  the  spring  of  1798, — a  period,  which,  to 
their  successors,  is  an  entirely  arbitrary  one,  yet  which  to  the  in- 
habitants of  our  settlement,  was  the  beginning  of  a  new  epoch. 


78  THE  PIONEERS  OF  UTICA. 

They  had  begun  to  realize  the  need  of  a  more  formal  civil 
organization,  and  moreover,  aspired  to  have  their  place  recog- 
nized by  a  name  tliat  should  be  both  more  distinctive  and  more 
easy  to  speak  than  the  accidental  one  it  had  thus  far  borne. 
As  a  curious  illustration  of  the  nature  of  fame,  the  originator 
of  the  name  of  Utica  cannot  be  admitted  as  past  all  doubt. 
The  common  report  goes,  that  the  inhabitants  were  assembled 
in  the  public  room  of  Bagg's  tavern,  and  the  question  was 
raised  of  a  designation  for  their  soon-to-be-incor})orated  village. 
A  number  of  names  were  pro})osed.  Some  of  those  present 
were  in  favor  of  retaining  the  present  one ;  one  individualliked 
Indian  names,  and  wished  that  the  village  should  take  the 
patron3an.ic  of  the  noble  Oneida  chief,  Scenandoa ;  another  pre- 
ferred a  more  national  hero,  and  would  have  it  called  Washing- 
ton ;  another,  who  was  in  search  of  briefness,  would  call  it  Kent, 
a  euphonious  term,  and  full  of  pleasing  memories  to  the  descend- 
ant of  English  ancestry.  This  latter  had  strong  advocates,  but 
was  defeated  by  the  ridicule  of  a  citizen,  of  whom  we  now  hear 
for  the  first  time,  but  of  whom  I  can  pick  up  nothing  more,  ex- 
cept that  his  name  was  Little,  and  that  he  afterward  went  and 
drowned  himself. 

Finding  agreement  by  other  means  impossiljle,  it  was  resolved 
to  decide  the  name  l^y  lot.  Each  person  present  deposited  in  a 
hat,  the  name  of  his  preference,  written  on  a  slip  of  paper,  and 
of  these  there  were  thirteen.  The  name  first  drawn  was  to  be 
the  accepted  one.  And  so  the  lot  fell  u])on  the  heathen  name 
of  Utica,  the  choice  of  that  eminent  classical  scholar,  Erastus 
Clark. 

In  due  time,  came  from  tlie  State  Legislature,  the  act  of  incor- 
poration, already  applied  for.  This  act,  passed  April  3d,  1798, 
defined  the  boundaries  of  the  village,  and  gave  the  citizens  the 
right  of  self-government  under  five  freeholders,  dulj^  elected  as 
trustees,  and  who  were  invested  with  tlie  powci's  usually  granted 
to  small  incorporated  vilkiges.  And  yet  these  powers  were  quite 
restricted,  amounting  to  little  more  than  protection  against 
nuisances  on  the  highways,  and  the  jirevention  and  extinction 
of  fires,  fn  its  title  the  village  is  named  by  the  name  it  had 
previously  borne,  in  the  body  of  the  act  it  is  named  only  by  its 
new  one. 

And  thus  was  Old  Fort  Schuyler  merged  into  Utica  ! 


CHAPTER  11. 


THE    FIRST   CHARTER   OF    UTICA. 


Not  the  settlement  of  Old  Fort  Schuyler  alone  dropped  at 
this  time  the  name  which  had  previously  attached  to  it,  the  ter- 
ritory in  which  it  was  located  received  likewise  a  new  christening 
in  the  spring  of  1798.  The  former  county  of  Montgomery  had 
already,  by  successive  acts  of  the  Legislature,  been  curtailed  of 
its  vast  dimensions,  and  the  counties  of  Chemung,  Ontario, 
Tioga,  Otsego,  Herkimer  and  Onondaga  had  been,  one  after 
another,  erected.  Whitestown,  at  the  date  in  question,  was  still 
a  part  of  Herkimer  count}^,  though  diminished  in  size  by  the 
setting  off  of  several  independent  towns.  But  by  an  act,  passed 
March  15th,  1798,  Herkimer  was  itself  divided,  and  the  additional 
counties  of  Chenango  and  Oneida  were  formed.  Whitestown 
now  fell  to  the  belongings  of  Oneida,  and  Utica  was  but  an  in- 
considerable, though  incorporated  village,  in  this  still  extensive 
township.    The  inner  life  of  the  hamlet  let  us  continue  to  follow. 

Of  the  first  seven  years  of  its  corporate  life  all  records  are 
lost ;  they  were  burned  in  the  fire  which,  on  the  7th  of  De- 
cember 1848,  consumed  the  council  chamber  and  the  most  of 
its  contents.  A  like  fate  has  befallen  the  early  town  records  of 
Whitestown.  The  times  of  adoption  of  a  few  streets  of  Utica, 
which  were  copied  from  the  latter  before  their  destruction,  are  the 
sole  items  saved.  The  newspapers  of  that  date  are  quite  bar- 
ren of  news  merely  local ;  engrossed  with  foreign  concerns, 
their  editors  gave  little  heed  to  events  that  hkppened  directly 
around  them,  still  less  did  they  think  to  cater  for  those  who  at 
this  day  might  study  their  sheets  to  seek  out  the  past.  Thus 
of  village  affairs  our  ignorance  is  nearly  complete,  and  we 
know  scarce  one  of  the  names  of  those  who  then  were  in  rule. 
From  a  manuscript  saved  we  gather  that  Francis  A.  Bloodgood 
was  Treasurer  in  1800  and  1801,  and  Talcott  Camp  in  1802. 
We  know  also  from  subsequent  minutes  that  at  the  first  free- 
holders meeting  held  under  the  charter  of  1805  the  Trustees 
were  present.     But  who  the  Trustees  were  and  what  had  been 


80  THE  PIONEERS  OF  UTICA. 

their  official  acts,  has  perished  forever.  On  the  occasion  of  the 
fire  which  burned  the  store  of  Messrs.  Post  and  Hamlin  in  Feb- 
ruary, 1804,  a  card  was  issued  by  the  Trustees  of  the  village, 
in  which  they  present  "  their  warm  thanks  to  the  Fire  Com- 
pany, and  to  the  citizens  and  strangers  in  general,  for  their  eager 
exertions  in  saving  the  property  of  the  sufferers,  and  in  extin- 
guishing the  flames."  So  far  as  we  know  this  card  is  the  only 
evidence  left  us  that  as  a  corporate  body  the  Trustees  ever 
existed,  and  the  thanks  accorded  the  firemen  the  only  proof 
that  their  powers  had  once  been  in  exercise,  as  they  would  seem 
to  have  been  in  organizing  the  company.  For  associate  enter- 
prise the  time  was  much  too  new,  and  institutions,  commercial, 
manufacturing  or  benevolent,  awaited  a  more  established  order 
of  things. 

Dismissing,  then,  the  expectation  of  obtaining  any  light  from 
records,  written  or  printed,  upon  this  infantile  portion  of  the 
civic  life  of  Utica,  we  must  go  on  as  we  have  begun  with  the 
narrative  of  the  component  parts  of  the  population,  and  be  con- 
tent to  infer  the  tenor  of  the  public  acts  from  the  character  of 
the  actors.  To  notice  in  full  every  member,  of  whatever  de- 
gree of  standing  and  importance,  would  be  manifestl}^  useless 
and  irksome,  even  were  the  data  at  hand  to  elaborate  the  task. 
Their  names  and  occupations  must  serve  as  the  whole  story  of 
many.  Yet  as  the  smaller  the  household  the  more  potent  the 
influence  of  each  of  its  inmates,  historic  interest  requires  that 
we  devote  a  certain  space  to  some  who,  in  larger  communities, 
would  fail  of  a  notice,  and  that  we  develop  them  the  more  in 
proportion  to  their  nearness  in  time  to  the  origin  of  the  settle- 
ment Moreover,  as  no  register,  either  written  or  printed,  of 
the  constituent  people  of  Utica  before  tlie  year  1817,  has  ever 
existed,  it  is  not  wholly  idle  to  gather  up  and  preserve  as  many 
names  even  as  can  now  be  unearthed. 

It  so  happens,  besides,  that  the  period  of  the  first  charter 
covers  the  advent  of  many  whose  healthful  influence  was  felt 
throughout  the  entire  village  history,  who,  like  some  already 
sketched,  were  men  of  nerve,  fortitude  and  energy,  honest  in 
principle  and  in  conduct,  wise  and  diligent  in  their  own  behalf, 
yet  zealous  for  the  interests  of  the  place  of  their  adoption. 
These,  for  their  private  worth  and  their  public  deeds,  should 
be  held  in  peqjetual  honor.     And  though  of  the  period  in 


THE  FIRST  CHARTER  OF  UTICA.  81 

question  there  is  little  of  the  heroic  to  relate,  though  it  may 
have  been  "a  day  of  small  things,"  its  actors  were  steadily  lay- 
ing the  foundation  of  a  greater  future,  were  forming  for  them- 
selves and  their  village  a  reputation  for  thrift,  enterprise  and 
virtue  which  their  descendants  glory  to  inherit,  and  were  pre- 
paring to  become  partakers  in  most  of  those  local  and  general 
undertakings  that  have  given  prosperity  to  town  and  county. 

While  thus  following  out  the  career  of  individuals,  I  shall 
turn  aside,  as  occasion  ma}^  present,  to  view  the  aggregate  and 
its  surroundings  as  these  may  have  presented  themseKes  to 
foreign  eyes,  and  are  recorded  in  the  traveller's  note  book. 
Notices  of  public  affairs  and  institutions  will  be  interwoven  with 
those  of  the  persons  who  were  the  principal  participants  therein. 

Resuming,  then,  where  we  left  it,  our  account  of  individual 
citizens,  I  find  that  during  the  year  1798  the  following,  in  addi- 
tion to  those  before  mentioned  as  men  of  Old  Fort  Schuyler, 
made  their  home  in  the  newly  incorporated  village.  For  aught 
we  know  to  the  contrary,  they  may  have  lived  here  before  its 
incorporation  ;  indeed,  from  the  nature  of  their  callings,  their 
presence  would  seem  to  have  been  indispensable. 

Jonathan  Evans,  a  mason,  lived  near  the  present  residence  of 
John  Thorn,  and  at  one  time,  though  this  was  at  a  somewhat 
later  period,  he  kept  the  tavern  which  once  stood  on  that  site, 
known  formerly  as  the  Globe,  and  afterward  as  Pegg's.  He  was 
an  honest  man  and  a  careful  and  good  workman,  and  laid  the 
brick  for  several  of  the  stores  on  Genesee  street,  below  the  canal. 
In  1812  he  advertises  the  sale  of  rights  in  an  improved  pump. 
This  was  a  force  pump  of  his  invention.  One  of  these  pumps 
he  engaged  to  put  up  at  Salt  Point,  which,  it  is  said,  worked 
well ;  but,  because  the  maker,  in  breach  of  his  patent,  for  its 
valve  substituted  a  ball  as  a  clapper,  payment  was  refused  and 
a  law  suit  ensued,  whereby  Evans  was  ruined.  He  moved  then 
to  Westmoreland. 

Another  brick-layer  was  Enoch  Cheney,  and  he  acted  as  stone 
mason,  plasterer,  and  dauber  of  whitewash.  He  was  thought  to 
be  rather  feeble  of  intellect,  but  this  was  accounted  for,  as  he 
was  stunned  at  one  time  by  lightning  while  plastering  a  house. 

Barnard  Coon  was  a  cooper,  and  followed  Nathan  Williams 
as  a  drummer  boy  to  Sacketts  Harbor.     On  his  return  he  lived 


82  THE   PIONEERS  OF  UTICA. 

in  the  fii-st  house  erected  by  Major  BelHnger  before  he  put  up 
his  tavern.  He  was  introduced  to  Governor  Tompkins,  when 
the  Governor  was  a  guest  at  this  tavern,  as  "  de  man  dat  makes  . 
de  major's  dubs  and  baiTels,  and  a  tam  goot  democrat."  After 
hving  manv  years  in  the  place  and  rearing  a  family,  Coon  moved 
to  Whitesboro,  and  there,  in  1822,  he  died. 

The  painter  and  glazier  of  the  time  was  Charles  Easton,  Jr., 
and  he  continued  in  the  business  for  thirty-five  years  at  least, 
though  it  was  conducted  throughout  on  a  limited  scale.  He 
was  a^ood  natured  man,  quite  moderate  of  capacity  and  scanted 
in  his  education.  One  of  his  sons,  who  lived  afterward  in  New 
York,  was,  if  not  the  founder,  at  least  a  very  eai-ly  and  fortunate 
adept  in  the  trade  in  yankee  notions. 

A  tailor  named  Thomas  Davis  is  remembered  by  the  older 
inhabitants  as  preaching  at  times.  He  did  not  stay  long. 
Somewhere  in  Lewis  county  he  was  turned  out  of  church,  when 
a  meeting  was  held  of  indignant  townsmen  and  the  offender 
replaced.  He  came  back  to  Utiea  in  1818  and  opened  anew, 
opposite  the  Ontario  Bank;  in  1821  he  turned  auctioneer,  but 
the  next  year  was  again  at  his  trade.  His  brother  Sylvanus, 
also  here,  soon  settled  near  Graefenljerg. 

Another  tailor,  named  William  S.  Warner,  left  the  place  in 
November.  John  Watley,  barber,  was  gone  before  1804  ;  and 
Jemmy  Howdle,  gardener,  and  a  stalwart  son- of  Erin,  lived  here 
much  longer. 

Turning  from  these,  who  perchance  were  earlier  residents,  to 
the  fresh  comers  of  the  newly  named  village,  the  first  we  notice 
is  Thomas  Skinner,  a  student  of  law.  He  was  the  son  of 
Thompson  Skinner,  of  Williamstown,  Mass.,  where  he  was  born 
in  the  year  1778.  A  graduate  of  Williams  College  in  the  year 
1797,  we  find  him  the  next  year  prosecuting  his  studies,  and 
boarding  at  the  house  of  Talcott  Camp,  on  Whitesboro  street,  in 
company  with  his  prec^cptor  and  former  fellow-townsman,  (at  Wil- 
liamstown.) Nathan  Williams.  It  was  not  long  before  they  were 
partners  in  practice,  and  were  still  further  united  by  the  marriage 
of  the  latter  to  Mary,  the  sister  o^  Mr.  Ski  nner.  Far  short  of  Mr. 
Williams  in  force,  learning  or  legal  acumen,  he  sui-passed  him 
in  fluency  and  grace  as  a  speaker.  He  had  a  line  imagination, 
and  a  classical  taste  improved  by  the  choicest  reading.     Possess- 


THE  FIRST  CHARTER  OF  UTICA.  83 

ing  skill  also  as  a  writer,  he  became  one  of  tlie  principal  contrib- 
utors to  the  Columbian  Gazette.  In  1807  he  was  the  attorney  of 
the  village,  and  somewhat  later,  held  similar  relations  to  the 
Utica  Bank.  For  some  years  he  acted  as  treasurer  of  the  Pres- 
byterian church,  and  was  also  a  village  trustee.  His  oratorical 
repute,  and  his  skill  as  an  advocate,  secured  him  at  one  time  a 
nomination  to  Congress,  but  he  was  beaten  by  that  much  abler 
man,  Thomas  R  Gold.  Unfortunately,  Mr.  Skinner  was  infirm 
of  resolution,  became  addicted  to  habits  of  intemperance,  and 
lost  his  business  and  his  property.  Aside  from  this  infirmity, 
Avhich  caused  his  partial  retirement  from  active  life,  and  dark- 
ened his  declining  years,  he  was  a  man  of  pure  morals  and  ami- 
able disposition,  nor  did  he  ever  relinquish  the  studies  that  had 
given  culture  and  elevation  to  his  character.  To  the  last  he 
panctuall}^  attended  the  meetings  of  the  trustees  of  the  Utica 
Academy,  of  w4hch  he  liad  been  a  member  thirty-five  years, 
and  whose  orator  he  was  at  the  first  annual  exhibition.  But, 
in  the  language  of  a  later  orator  of  this  same  institution, — "  by 
the  prime  of  life,  though  still  an  interesting  talker,  and  a  shrewd 
observer,  he  was  a  discomfited  man,  and  rusted  away  like  an 
unused  weapon,  despite  the  excellence  of  his  quality." 

His  earlier  residence  was  on  Whitesboro  street,  near  the  Bank 
of  Utica.  He  likewise  lived  many  years  on  Broadway  just 
above  Whitesboro  street,  and  afterward  at  No.  82  Broad  street. 
Here  his  excellent  wife,  by  making  her  house  a  most  desirable 
home  for  a  few  aspirants  of  the  law  and  others,  procured  for 
them  a  livelihood  which  the  profits  of  a  justiceship  held  by  her 
husband  scarcely  afforded.  This  wife,  who  was  Fanny  Smith, 
of  Litchfield,  Conn.,  was  a  lady  of  uncommon  intelligence, 
benevolence,  cheerfulness,  and  courage.  She  died  Dec.  3d, 
1844,  aged  sixty-four.  Mr.  Skinner  survived  her  three  years 
and  a  half,  and  died  June  19th,  1848.     They  had  no  children. 

The  year  1798  is  signalized  as  that  in  which  was  established 
the  first  newspaper  of  Utica.  This  was  the  Whitesix)wn  Gazette, 
which  its  publisher,  Wm.  McLean,  had  first  set  up  at  New 
Hartford  in  1794.  Four  years  later  he  removed  it  here,  chang- 
ing its  name  to  the  Whitestoum  Gazette  and  Catos  Patrol^  the 
addition  having  reference  to  the  younger  Cato,  who  was  the 
defender  of  ancient  Utica.  Mr.  McLean  was  a  native  of  Hart- 
ford, Conn.,  where  he  was  born  Dec.  2d,  1774,  and  could  not 


84  THE  PIONEERS  OF  UTICA. 

have  been  long  f)Ut  of  his  apj)renticcslii|i  wlicn  he  started  liis 
paper.  He  was  assiduous  in  his  devotion  to  business,  until  the 
year  1803,  when  he  sold  out  to  two  of  his  apprentices,  Messrs^ 
Seward  and  Williams,  and  moved  back  to  New  Hartford.  In. 
that  place,  and  in  the  village  of  Cazenovia,  he  was  for  many 
years  a  tavern  keeper.  But  in  1818  he  removed  to  Cherry  Val- 
ley, where  he  started  the  Cherry  Valley  Gazetfe,  a  paper  that  is 
still  puljlished,  and  until  recently  Ijy  his  son  Charles.  He  acted 
also  as  })ostmaster  of  that  place.  Mr.  McLean  died  there  March 
12th.  1848,  where  he  had  "  enjoyed  to  an  unusual  degree  the 
good  will  and  esteem  of  the  community."' 

His  first  wife  was  Susan  Williams,  by  Avhom  he  had  Albert, 
born  in  Utica,  1798,  and  who  died  about  1872,  Adaline,  born  in 
1802,  who  still  resides  here,  Thos.  Dana,  who  died  in  1833,  and 
one  daughter,  who  died  in  infancy.  Mr.  McLean  afterwards 
married  Louisa  Andrews  and  had  six  children,  of  whom  five 
were  hving  in  1871. 

Under  date  of  November  22,  1798,  John  C.  Hoyt  "  begs  to- 
inform  the  public"  (through  the  columns  of  the  Wldtedown 
Gazette^)  "that  he  has  commenced  business  as  a  toyfor,  at  the 
shop  formei'ly  occupied  by  William  S.  Warner,  opposite  Bagg's 
inn,  Utica,  where  he  hopes  to  give  satisfaction  to  all  who  may 
favor  him  with  their  commands,"  His  shop  was  on  the  south 
west  corner  of  the  Genesee  and  Whitesboro  roads.  That  he 
did  give  satisfaction  is  to  be  inferred  from  the  fact  that  he  stuck 
faithfully  to  his  business,  nearly  on  the  spot  where  he  began,  for 
upwards  of  twenty  years,  during  which  he  was  the  foremost 
man  thcn-ein,  that  he  married  and  reared  a  family,  acquired  prop- 
erty, and,  what  is  more,  acquired  the  respect  and  confidence  of 
his  fellow  townsmen.  He  was  twice  a  trustee  of  the  village, 
and  was  likewise  a  trustee  of  the  Presbyterian  Church,  and 
was  an  upright  and  benevolent  man.  His  native  place  was 
Danbury,  Coim.  Mr.  Hoyt,  died  in  August  1820,  aged  forty- 
four.  His  wife  was  Sarah  Hicks,  sister  of  the  wife  of  John 
House  before  mentioned.  His  children  were  Franklin  C,  Eliz- 
abeth (Mi-s.  Sylvanus  Holmes),  Sarah  Ann  (Mrs.  E.  M.  Gilbert), 
Adaline,  (Mrs.  Roundey,  of  Bound  Brook,  N.  J.) 

Elisha  Burchard,  brother  of  Gurdon  Ijefore  noticed,  was  another 
who  arrived  in  1798,  bringing  with  him  a  3'oung  family.  He 
was  a  farmer,  and  lived  near  what  is  now  the  corner  of  Court 


THE  FIRST  CHARTER  OF  UTICA.  85 

and  Schuyler,  a  little  west  of  Claudius  Woolcot,  that  portion 
of  Court  street  being  then  on  the  line  of  the  only  road  to 
Whitesboro.  He  was  prominent  as  a  fireman,  and  was  for 
some  years  foreman  of  the  fire  company.  His  four  sons  were 
Peleg,  Jedediah,  Jabez  and  Elisha.  The  former,  after  being- 
clerk  for  John  C.  Devereux  and  others,  went  into  business  in 
Jefferson  count}^  He  was  for  many  years  clerk  of  that  county, 
and  a  man  of  standing  and  influence.  Jedediah,  at  first  a  clerk 
for  the  Messrs.  Bloodgood,  became  subsequently  the  noted 
revival  preacher.  Of  the  daughters,  Jerusha  and  Eunice,  the 
latter  is  living  in  Jefferson  county,  whither  the  family  all 
removed.  The  mother  was  a  somewhat  eccentric  woman,  w^ith 
many  redeeming  qualities.    Elisha  Burchard  died  in  March,  1811. 

The  appearance  of  the  place  at  the  period  in  question,  we 
have  a  picture  of  from  the  pen  of  an  intelligent  and  trustworthy 
traveller.  In  the  year  1798,  Rev.  Timothy  Dwight,  D.  D., 
President  of  Yale  College,  made  a  tour  through  this  portion  of 
the  State,  and  in  the  published  volumes  of  his  travels,  wherein 
he  has  condensed  the  results  of  this  and  a  somewhat  later  jour- 
ney, he  thus  discoui'ses  of  Utica :  "  TJtica,  wdien  we  passed 
through  it,  was  a  pretty  village  containing  fifty  houses.  It  is 
built  on  the  spot  where«Fort  Schuyler  formerly  stood.  Its  site 
is  the  declivity  of  the  hill  wliich  bounds  the  valley  of  the 
Mohawk;  and  here  slopes  easily  and  elegantly  to  the  river. 
The  houses  stand  almost  all  on  a  single  street  parallel  to  the 
river.  Generally  those  which  were  built  before  our  arrival 
w^ere  small,  not  being  intended  for  permanent  habitations.  The 
settlers  were  almost  wholly  traders  and  mechanics  ;  and  it  was 
said  that  their  business  had  already  become  considerable.  Their 
expectations  of  future  prosperity  were  raised  to  the  highest 
pitch ;  and  not  a  doubt  was  entertained  that  this  village  would 
at  no  great  distance  of  time  become  the  emporium  of  all  the 
commerce  carried  on  between  the  ocean  and  a  vast  interior. 
These  apprehensions,  though  partially  well  founded,  appeared 
to  me  extravagant.  Commerce  is  often  capricious,  and  demands 
of  her  votaries  a  degree  of  wisdom,  moderation  and  integrity, 
to  fix  her  residence  and  secure  her  favors,  which  is  much  more 
frequently  seen  in  old,  than  in  new  establishments. 

"  We  found  the  people  of  Utica  laboring,  and  in  a  fair  way  to 
labor  a  long  time,  under  one  very  serious  disadvantage.     The 


86  THE  PIONEERS  OF  UTICA, 

lands  on  which  they  live  are  chiefly  owned  by  persons  who 
reside  at  a  distance,  and  who  refuse  to  sell  or  to  rent  them 
except  on  terms  wdiich  are  exorbitant.  The  stories  which 
we  heard  concerning  this  subject  it  was  difficult  to  believe,  even 
when  told  by  persons  of  the  best  reputation.  A  company  of  gen- 
tlemen from  Holland,  who  haye  purchased  lai-ge  tracts  of  land  in 
this  State  and  Pennsjdvania,  and  who  are  known  b}^  the  name 
of  tlie  Holland  Land  Company,  have  built  here  a  large  brick 
house  to  serve  as  an  inn.  The  people  of  Utica  are  united 
with  those  of  Whitesboro  in  their  parochial  concerns." 

With  reference  to  the  sanguine  and  seemingly  fallacious 
expectations  of  the  settlers,  and  to  the  obstacle  which  in  the 
opinion  of  this  author  hindered  the  I'apid  growth  of  their  place,. 
I  add  a  single  sentence  from  the  recorded  notes  of  an  early  res- 
ident. He  says  :  "  The  inhabitants  always  entertained  a  very 
hopeful  opinion  of  their  village,  and  real  estate  was  in  more 
request  and  at  higher  prices  than  in  the  surrounding  villages. 
This  was  much  induced  by  the  witholding  from  sale  of  the 
Bleecker  estate,  which  covered  a  large  part  of  Utica." 

A  noteworthy  fact  mentioned  by  Dr.  Dwight  is  the  existence 
of  a  large  brick  house  then  recently  erected  for  an  inn.  The 
magnitude  of  the  structure  for  the  time  and  place,  the  expec- 
tations of  its  owners,  and  the  fact  that  it  remains  to  day  almost 
the  only  landmark  of  Utica  as  it  was  eighty  years  ago,  will 
justify  us  in  devoting  a  few  paragraphs  to  its  histor}^ 

On  the  second  of  November  1795,  the  agents  of  the  Holland 
Land  Co.,  bought  of  Thomas  and  Augustus  Corey,  two  hun- 
dred acres  of  Great  Lot  No.  95,  which  purchase,  or  a  part  of 
it,  was  commonly  known  afterwards  as  the  Hotel  lot.  Within 
two  years  the  company  proceeded  to  erect  upon  it  a  large  brick 
hotel,  which  was  not  only  the  first  brick  house  in  the  village, 
but  the  first  of  its  size  in  the  county  and  prolnibly  in  the  State 
west  of  Albany.  Indeed  it  may  be  scarcely  an  exaggeration 
to  say  there  was  not  its  like  any  where  between  the  Hud- 
son and  the  Pacific  Ocean.  The  site  selected  was  near  the 
shingle-sided  farm  house  of  the  Coreys  on  Whitesboro  street, 
and  was  probably  as  swamp}'  a  spot  as  any  in  the  village,  a  ver- 
itable flag  pond.  It  is  related  that  the  workmen,  while  excav- 
ating for  a  foundation,  lost  a  crowbar  by  leaving  it  during  their 


THE  FIRST  CHARTER  OF  UTICA.  87 

absence  at  dinner,  standing  on  the  spot  where  they  had  been 
dig-ging.  According  to  one  story,  not  merely  this  tool,  but  the 
corner  stone  itself,  which  the  gentlemen  of  the  Company  in  the 
mornino-  laid  with  due  form  and  ceremony,  had  in  the  afternoon 
disappeared  from  mortal  ken.  The  contract  for  the  erection  of 
the  building  was  made  with  Samuel  Hooker,  and  John  his  son. 
As  we  have  seen  they  were  carpenters  and  architects  of  Albany 
who,  being  invited  to  undertake  the  job,  came  here  and  made 
the  place  their  subsequent  home.  The  bricks  were  made  by 
Heli  Foot  of  Deerfield,  but  who  was  the  mason  that  superin- 
tended the  laying  of  them  we  are  unable  to  say.  After  suffi- 
cient earth  had  been  removed,  there  w^ere  laid,  as  foundations 
for  the  superincumbent  stone  and  brick,  hemlock  logs  placed 
lengthwise  along  the  sides  and  ends.  It  is  well  known  that  in 
soils  like  that  of  New  Orleans,  or  the  marshy  city  of  Amster- 
dam, some  such  anchorage  for  buildings  is  required,  though  not 
often  necessitated  here.  But  that  tlie  practice  was  a  customary 
one  with  the  Hooker  family  may  bejnferred  from  the  proced- 
ure of  Philip  Hooker,  the  architect  of  St.  Peter  s  in  Albany,, 
who  laid  down  planks  to  support  the  weight  of  that  structure. 
And  if  the.  Cathedral  of  Antwerp  was  based,  as  it  is  said  to 
have  been,  on  nothing  more  durable  than  a  layer  of  hides,  and 
the  church  of  Albany  on  one  of  planks,  why  should  not  a  less 
pretentious  editice  be  secured  on  a  layer  of  hemlock  logs? 
Perishable  as  it  seems,  it  served  well  for  a  while,  but  in  pro- 
cess of  time  these  timbers  settled  considerably.  Fortunately 
this  settling  was  uniform,  so  that  while  it  diminished  the  height 
of  the  building,  it  did  no  material  injury  to  the  walls  or  the 
flooring.  The  thorough  repairs  made  upon  it  from  time  to  time, 
and  more  especially  by  its  late  owner,  William  Baker,  and  the 
measures  he  took  to  improve  its  substructure,  have,  it  is  hoped, 
insured  it  a  goodly  future.  When  completed  it  was  a  square, 
three  storied  structure,  with  a  four-sided  roof.  It  contained 
besides  the  usual  public  rooms  and  numerous  lodging  apart- 
ments of  a  house  of  this  nature,  a  large  ball  room  in  the  second 
story  of  the  west  end,  and  a  room  which  was  soon  occupied  by 
the  Masonic  Lodge.  It  was  an  immense  edifice  for  the  time 
and  place,  and  loomed  above  all  the  story  and  a  half  wooden 
houses  of  the  village  like  a  palace  among  hovels.  Upon  its 
front  was  displayed  in  chiselled  letters  which  no  subsequent 


oo  THE  PIONEERS  OF  UTICA. 

repamtings  have  been  able  to  wholly  obliterate:  Hotel.  Its 
chief  purpose  was,  of  course,  to  entertain  travellers.  For  this 
the  four  other  inns  of  the  place  might  seem,  perhaps,  in  view 
of  the  smallness  of  the  settlement,  and  the  comparative  scanti- 
ness of  the  neighboring  population,  ampl}^  sufficient.  But  when 
it  is  remembered  that  Utica  formed  a  resting  place  on  the  only 
line  of  transit  to  the  west,  and  when  we  consider  the  flood  rtf 
emigration  that  was  now  setting  thitherward,  we  may  realize 
the  need  of  houses  of  entertainment  for  the  numerous  travel- 
lers who  daily  passed. 

Ten  years  before,  in  July,  1788,  Messrs.  Phelps  and  Gorham 
bought  from  the  State  of  Massachusetts,  the  title  to  the  Genesee 
countrj',  so  called,  containing  more  than  a  million  of  acres,  now 
included  in  several  counties,  and  began  to  offer  these  lands  foi- 
sale.  Within  two  years,  as  w^e  learn  from  the  census  of  1790, 
there  were  already  settled  upon  them  a  population  of  u]jwards 
of  one  thousand;  and  this  amount  w^as  annually  augmenting. 
The  Military  Tract,  southw^est  from  Utica,  and  the  Holland 
Land  Company's  Purchase,  lying  beyond  that  of  Phelps  and 
Gorham,  were,  soon  after,  likewise  thrown  upon  the  market,  and 
like  it  were  being  speedily  peopled.  The  rapidity,  in  fact,  with 
w^hich  Western  New  York  w^as  now  filling  up  is  without  a  par- 
allel in  the  history  of  new  settlements.  Another  evidence  of 
the  tide  of  emigration  that  was  now  flowing  tow^ard  this  w^estern 
El  Dorado  may  be  seen  in  the  following,  culled  from  the  "An- 
nals of  Albany" :  In  the  winter  of  1795,  twelve  hundred  sleighs, 
loa^led  with  furniture  and  with  men,  women  and  children,  passed 
through  Albany  in  three  days,  and  five  hundred  were  counted 
between  sunrise  and  sunset  of  February  28th  of  that  year.  All 
of  them  were  moving  westward.  We  are  not  then  surprised  to 
leai-n  that,  in  the  experience  of  the  small  taverns  of  Utica,  it 
was  by  no  means  uncommon  to  have  not  only  all  the  beds  of 
the  bouse,  but  the  floors  also  crow^ded  with  guests,  and  are 
ready  to  believe  that  a  hotel  of  large  dimensions  was  a  thing  (»f 
necessity.  But  the  Holland  Land  Company  had  another  object 
in  view.  They  were  owners  of  extensive  tracts  of  land  north 
and  also  southwest  of  Utica,  and  still  broader  ones  at  the  west, 
and  it  is  to  be  presumed  they  were  desirous  of  a  house  where 
they  could  detain  some  of  these  many  emigrants  and  more  easil}^ 
tempt  them  to  a  pui'chase  and  a  settlement. 


THE  FIRST  CHARTER  OF  UTICA.  89 

The  precise  era  when  work  w^as  begun  upon  the  hotel  cannot 
be  accurately  determined,  though  it  was  probably  in  1797.  A 
new  comer  of  that  year,  who  was  then  a  boy,  remembered  the 
piles  of  brick  and  lumber  that  were  lying  in  readiness,  and  re 
lated  also  an  accident  that  occurred  during  the  erection.  By 
the  fall  of  a  scaffold  three  men  were  thrown  to  the  ground,  and 
one  of  them  was  killed.  The  narrator  attended  the  funeral  of 
this  hod-carrier,  who  was  buried  on  the  land  of  Mr.  Alverson 
in  West  LTtica,  near  what  is  now  Wiley  street,  this  being  an 
early  burial  place. 

But  if  there  is  a  doubt  as  to  the  time  of  commencement  of  the 
work,  there  is  none  as  to  the  date  of  its  completion  and  occu- 
pancy as  a  hotel.  On  the  second  of  December,  1799,  it  was 
formally  opened  by  its  iirst  landlord,  Philip  J.  Schwartze.  He 
was  a  fat  Dutchman,  who  had  previously  been  in  the  employ  o£ 
the  company,  and,  as  steward  or  cook,  had  accompanied  Mr. 
John  Linklaen,  one  of  their  agents,  in  his  expedition  made  in 
]  793,  to  effect  a  settlement  at  Cazenovia.  For  a  short  time  pre- 
vious to  the  date  now  under  consideration,  he  had  occuj)ied  the 
shingle  sided  house  of  the  Coreys,  where  he  boarded  the  work- 
men employed  on  the  building.  Mr.  Schwartze  informs  the 
public  that  "  the  hotel  in  the  village  of  Utica  is  now  open  for 
the  reception  of  such  ladies  and  gentlemen  as  choose  to  honor 
the  proprietor  with  their  patronage.'' 

About  three  weeks  later  the  opening  was  celebrated  by  a  ball, 
which,  as  appears  from  the  card  of  invitation,  was  to  be  the  first 
of  a  series  of  such  entertainments  given  at  the  hotel,  though  not 
under  the  auspices  of  its  keeper.  The  following  is  a  copy  of 
one  of  these  cards  now  lying  before  me : 


''TVhiteftoivii Dancing  AJfemhly.  i 

%        X     HE  HONOR  OF 'S    COMPANY  IS    REQUESTED,  AT     Q^ 

(J)   THE  Hotel  Assembly  Room  in  Utica,  for  the  Season.       \ 

J  B.  Walker,  W.  G.  Tracy,  ^  |f, 

$J.  S.   Kip,  C.  Platt,  >  Alanagers.      ^ 

)^  A.  Breese,  N.  Williams,  ) 

Dec.  2oth,  1799. 


% 


90  THE   nONEEKS  OF  UTICA. 

These  managei'S,  if  it  will  be  observed,  were  prominent  citi- 
zens of  Utica  and  Wliitesl)oro,  tliree  from  eacb  place.  Though 
not  otherwise  connected  with  the  Holhmd  Land  Company  than 
as  personal  friends  of  its  agents,  their  assembly  was  in  harmony 
with  so  august  an  event  as  the  opening  of  a  great  hotel,  having 
a  room  large  enough  to  accommodate,  and  to  invite  to  social 
enjoyment,  the  leading  inhabitants  of  the  county.  That  such 
were  gathered  on  the  occasion  may  well  be  inferred  from  the 
later  and  better  known  experience  of  the  house,  wherein  many 
a  gay  and  joyous  gathering  has  been  held,  as  well  as  from  the 
character  of  the  managers,  and  the  high  social  standing  they 
maintained  throughout  the  neighborhood. 

Not  long  after  the  inauguration  of  the  hotel,  probably  in  the 
year  following,  a  street  was  opened  southward  from  it,  and  in- 
tersecting the  Genesee  road  at  the  upper  part  of  the  village. 
This  it  was  hoped  would  divert  the  travel  from  the  west,  and 
bring  it  directly  to  the  doors  of  the  comj^any.  Naturally  it 
took  the  name  of  Hotel  street. 

The  proprietorship  of  Mr.  Schwartze  was  of  short  continu- 
ance, for  within  a  year  he  was  succeeded  by  Mr.  Hobart  Ford, 
a  gentlemanly  man  from  Norwich  in  Connecticut,  and  was  him- 
self soon  after  installed  in  the  House  tavern,  on  the  corner  of 
Grenesee  and  Main.  The  stay  of  Mr.  Ford  would  seem  to  have 
been  as  brief  as  that  of  his  predecessor,  since  he  died  on  the  first 
of  December,  1801.  The  subsequent  history  of  the  house  will 
be  resumed  when  we  come  to  speak  of  its  later  landlords. 

Returning  once  more  to  the  Joui-nal  of  Dr.  Dwight,  we  observe 
that  he  speaks  of  the  people  of  Utica  as  united  with  those  of 
Whitesboro  in  their  pai'ochial  concerns.  Up  to  the  year  1801, 
the  only  existing  (and  continuous)  religious  society  was  that 
w^hich  had  been  organized  at  Whitesboro  in  1793  under  the 
title  of  The  United  Society  of  Whitestown  and  Old  Fort 
Schuyler ;  and  over  this  there  was  settled  on  the  twenty - 
first  of  August,  1794,  the  Rev.  Bethuel  Dodd.  One-third  of 
the  services  were  to  be  bestowed  at  Utica,  and  two-thirds  at 
Whitesl)oro,  and  tlie  salary  of  the  minister  was  to  be  raised  in 
rateable  proportion  from  the  two  parts  of  his  parish.  After  a 
few  months  the  connection  seemed  to  be  dissolved ;  the  preaching 
at  Utica  was  discontinued,  because  there  was  no  place  in  which 


THE  FIRST  CHARTER  OP  UTICA.  91 

public  worship  could  be  attended.  In '1797  this  obstacle  was 
removed  by  the  enlargement  of  a  scliool-house  on  Main  street- 
And  to  this  building  for  a  period  of  several  years  repaired  all 
the  church-going  inhabitants  of  Utica  of  whatever  denomina- 
tional persuasion.  Up  to  the  3'ear  1800  there  were  not  above 
four  members  of  the  church  who  resided  in  the  place,  but  as 
this  number  increased,  Mr.  Dodd  preached  here  more  frequently, 
and  before  his  death,  in  1804,  onedialf  of  the  time.  On  days 
when  his  duty  called  him  elsewhere,  the  congregation  were  as- 
sembled to  listen  to  the  reading  of  a  sermon  by  Talcott  Camp, 
Hiel  Hollister,  Solomon  P.  Goodrich,  or  others.  Nathan  Wil- 
liams, with  becoming  taste  and  propriety,  conducted  the  sing- 
ing, and  was  assisted  in  the  bass  by  the  stentorian  lungs  of 
Richard  Kimball.  Rev.  Bethuel  Dodd  was  a  native  of  Bloom- 
field,  N.  J.,  and  was  born  in  1767.  He  was  graduated  at  Queens? 
now  Rutgers,  College  in  1792,  and  then  devoted  himself  to  the 
study  of  theology.  Licensed  the  following  year  by  the  Pres- 
bytery of  New  York  and  New  Jersey,  he  followed  the  tide  of 
emigration  to  the  "  Whitestown  country,"  where  his  preaching 
being  received  with  favor,  he  was  called  to  assist  in  forming  the 
first  Presbyterian  church  that  was  established  in  Oneida  county, 
those  of  Clinton  and  New  Hartford  being  Congregational.  Re- 
turning eastward,  he  married  Sarah,  daughter  of  Dr.  Pierson,  of 
Orange,  N.  J.,  and  then  came  to  Whitesboro  to  enter  upon  his 
duties.  With  Jonas  Piatt  and  wife,  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Dodd  began 
house-keeping  in  a  log  house,  but  ere  long  erected  a  large  house 
which  is  still  standing.  He  continued  in  charge  of  the  united 
societies  during  the  remainder  of  his  short  but  useful  career,  and 
died  April  12th,  180'!.  He  is  represented  as  an  amiable,  judi- 
cious, systematic  and  intelligent  man,  of  pleasing  appearance 
and  polite  manners,  and  eminentl}^  pious  and  devoted  in  his 
calling.  Dr.  Dwight,  who  knew  him  personally,  and  heard  him 
preach  at  Whitesboro,  says  "  he  was  a  very  worthy  and  excellent 
person,  who  left  behind  him  a  name  which  is  as  the  odor  of 
sweet  incense."  From  one  who  was  but  a  child  during  his  pas- 
torate we  learn  that  for  a  few  months  Mr.  Dodd  held  at  Utica? 
during  the  intermission  between  the  morning  and  afternoon  ser- 
vices, a  meeting  for  the  children.  Requiring  of  them  lessons 
from  the  New  England  Primer,  and  especially  the  catechism,  he 
commented  and  taught  them  thereupon. 


92 


THE   PIOXEEKS  OF  UTICA. 


The  old  school  house,  once  the  sanctuary  of  the  fathers  of 
Utica,  and  the  seat  of  learning  for  their  sons,  as  well  as  the  or- 
dinary place  of  assembly  for  secular  as  well  as  sacred  purposes, 
still  exists,  now  degraded  to  a  shed.  This  lingering  memento 
of  the  past  stands  on  the  south  side  of  Main  street  about  mid- 
way between  First  and  Second  streets.  AVheeled  around  from 
Its  former  position  it  now  stands  endwise  toward  the  street. 
Then  its  longer  side  was  parallel  thereto,  and  its  entrance  was 
on  the  northwest  corner.  The  desk  or  pulpit  was  at  the  eastern 
extremity,  and  was  a  ])lain  slab  or  shelf.  The  seats  were  in 
part  actual  slabs  of  rough  boards,  without  backs,  and  resting  on 
legs  inserted  in  auger  holes  ;  though  some  were  a  little  more 
finished.  The  room  was  imperfectly  warmed  by  a  box  stove, 
the  counterpart  of  the  one  which  stood  in  the  store  of  Mr.  Post. 
The  teacher  who  presided  on  week  days  over  the  village  school 
ensconced  himself  in  a  seat  at  the  left  of  the  entrance.  As  a 
place  of  worship  the  building  was  used  until  the  completion  of 
Trinity  Church,  in  1806,  when,  for  a  brief  period,  the  two  con- 
gregations alternately  worshipped  in  the  latter  edifice.  As  a 
school  house,  and  for  town  meetings,  it  held  out  a  little  longer, 
but  after  its  stove  and  lamp  had  been  sold  at  auction  in  1808, 
its  usefulness,  we  may  presume,  had  departed. 

But  there  was  another  religious  society  that  worslii]~)]ied  for  a 
time  in  the  old  school  house.  Not  quite  so  early  as  the  society 
just  noticed,  it  dates  its  origin  from  the  year  1798,  the  very 
period  we  now  contemplate.  This  was  Trinit}^,  whose  history 
has  latel}'  been  shown  in  the  very  full  and  interesting  discouivses 
of  its  rector,  Eev.  S.  H.  Coxe.  D.  J).  Its  actual  beginning  he 
gives  us  in  the  words  of  its  founder,  Eev.  Philander  Cliase,  after- 
wards Bishop  of  Illinois.  In  1798,  Mr.  Chase  was  occupied  in 
missionary  labors  in  this  State,  and  while  thus  engaged  arrived 
at  Utica.  "  This  now  flourishing  cit}^  was  then,"  he  says,  "  but 
a  small  hamlet.  The  stumps  of  the  forest  trees  were  yet  stand- 
ing thick  and  sturdy  in  the  streets,  if  streets  they  may  be  termed, 
where  scarcely  two  of  them  were  fenced  out  Even  Colonel 
Walker's  house,  for  some  time  the  best  in  the  place,  was  not 
then  built.  That  worthy  christian  gentleman  received  the 
writer  in  a  small  tenement  which  he  then  occupied,  and  it  was 
by  his  encouragement  that  the  writer  succeeded  in  organizing  a 


THE  FIRST  CHARTER  OF  UTICA.  93 

parish,  according  to  the  act  of  tlie  Legislature  passed  two  or 
three  winters  before.  The  parish  was  named  '  The  Rector, 
Wardens  and  Vestrymen  of  Trinity  Church,  Utica.'  "  Mr.  Chase 
having  thus  formed  the  few  Episcopalians  of  the  place  into  a 
society,  persuaded  them  to  meet  together  every  Sabbath  and 
read  the  prayers  of  the  church  and  sermons.  This,  the  church 
record  assures  us,  was  for  some  time  done.  "But  the  people 
of  other  persuasions  increasing  fast,  and  having  engaged  the 
Presbyterian  minister  of  Whitesboro  to  attend  regularly,  the 
meeting  of  the  Episcopalians  was  discontinued."  And  thus  the 
society  would  appear  to  have  slumbered  until  the  year  1803, 
when  a  reorganization  was  effected,  and  measures  were  taken  to 
erect  a  church  building  of  their  own. 

The  settlement,  as  we  have  learned  from  Dr.  Dwight,  was 
mainly  confined  to  a  single  street.  This  was  known  as  Main 
street,  the  western  end  being  called  the  "  Whitesboro  road."  A 
few  settlers  were  located  on  the  lower  end  of  the  "  Genesee  road," 
and  a  few-  were  scattered  about  in  the  vicinity.  Manuscript 
maps  of  this  date  show  two  or  three  additional  streets,  bat  as 
yet  unoccupied  and  without  a  name.  The  principal  difference, 
as  respects  its  course,  between  the  Main  street  of  that  day  and 
the  present  one  is  this,  that  instead  of  ending  where  is  now  the 
intersection  of  Bridge  and  Third  streets,  it  was  continued  south- 
easterly until  it  reached  the  line  of  the  present  Broad  street, 
where  descending  into  the  gulf  formed  by  Ballou's  creek,  and 
crossing  the  creek  at  the  site  of  the  basin  bridge,  it  turned  east- 
ward along  the  path  of  Broad  street,  which  at  this  end  is  its 
true  successor.  The  westward  course  of  the  road  to  Whitesboro 
was,  after  leaving  Potter's,  along  the  lines  of  the  present  Varick 
and  Court  streets.  The  public  square  formed  at  the  intersec- 
tion of  the  Genesee  and  Whitesboro  roads,  and  now  known  as 
Bagg's  square,  was  then  more  deserving  of  the  name  of  square 
ihan  in  recent  times,  since  its  western  side  instead  of  diverg- 
ing from  the  eastern  one  as  it  now  does,  ran  up  from  the 
river  nearly  parallel  with  it,  until  it  reached  a  point  a  little 
short  of  the  northern  line  of  Main,  when  it  curved  west-ward 
in  a  quarter  circle  towards  the  Whitesboro  street  corner.  Thus 
its  shape,  in  place  of  being  triangular  as  at  present,  approxi- 
mated to  that  of  an  oblong  whose  greatest  length  was  east  and 


94  THE  PIONEERS  OF  UTICA. 

west,  and  having  an  arm  extending  from  its  eastern  end  toward 
the  river. 


1799. 

Of  the  3'ear  1799  the  folhjwing  are  to  he  reckoned  additional 
residents,  though  it  is  impossible  to  assign  a  date  for  their 
coming : 

Nathaniel  Butler  was  at  this  time  an  inmate  in  the  family  of 
Ezekiel  Clark  and  in  this  year  he  married  Miss  Tafft,  a  sister 
of  Mrs.  Clark.  He  was  a  watchmaker  and  established  him- 
self on  the  southwest  corner  of  Genesee  and  Whitesboro  streets, 
his  shop  being  on  either  side  of  Mr.  Hoyt,  who  occupied  the 
actual  corner.  Thence  he  removed  within  a  few  years  to  the 
corner  of  Genesee  and  Broad.  His  earliest  partner  was  John 
Osborn,  but  after  their  dissolution,  in  1807,  he  remained  alone 
some  years  and  then  connected  himself  with  Cliarles  J.  J 
BeBerard.  Neither  of  these  latter  partners  was  al^le  to  speak 
without  a  stutter,  and  a  story  like  the  following  was  currentl}^ 
reported  of  them.  A  stranger  dropped  in  at  the  store  one  day  and 
asked  directions  to  some  place  he  was  in  search  of.  The  watch- 
maker soon  became  confused,  and  referred  the  apphcant  to  his 
partner.  The  latter  made  no  better  work  than  the  former,  and 
after  struggling  to  reply,  at  length  burst  out  with  vehemence  : 
"go  along — you'll  get  there,  before  I  can  tell  yoiu'' 

In  1815  Mr.  Butler  gave  up  his  watchmaking  and  became  a 
merchant  in  company  with  Truman  Smith.  But  goods  fell  in 
value  after  the  war,  othei's  undersold  him  and  his  trade  died 
out.  He  had  laid  the  foundation  of  a  fine  property,  having  in 
addition  to  his  store  at  the  lower  end  of  Genesee  street,  become 
possessed  of  quite  a  tract  above  Bleecker.  Tliis  reached  from 
the  corner  of  Charlotte  and  Bleecker  along  the  latter  to  Genesee, 
as  fai'  up  Genesee  as  the  Bradish  block,  and  thence  through  to 
Cliarli)tte.  Here  he  had  his  residence,  which  was  a  two  story 
wooden  house  fronting  on  Genesee,  but  standing  back  from  the 
street  and  with  considerable  open  ground  about  it.  But  Mr. 
Butler  could  not  bear  the  thought  of  being  in  debt,  and  to 
relieve  his  embarrassment,  he  sold  all  his  property  at  a  low 
figure,  and  removed  to  Madison  county,  and  thence  to  Mexico 


THE  FIRST  CHARTER  OF  UTICA.  95 

in  Oswego  county.  Here  he  pnrcliased  fourteen  or  fifteen  acres, 
of  wliicli  lie  retained  only  a  corner  lot  and  disposed  of  tlie 
remainder,  too  earl}/-,  however,  to  realize  any  thing  from  the 
sul)sequent  rise  of  the  propert3\  In  1803  he  was  made  a  Trus- 
tee of  the  Presbyterian  Church,  and  continued  throughout  his 
residence  in  Utica  to  be  recognized  as  a  prominent  member  and 
officer  of  that  society,  and  was  moreover  greatly  respected  for 
his  uprightness  and  his  consistent  religious  character.  When 
on  a  visit  to  the  city  after  he  had  ceased  to  live  here,  a  friend 
was  conversing  with  him  of  the  changes  that  had  taken  place 
since  the  time  of  his  residence.  In  view  of  the  greatly  increased 
value  of  the  property  that  had  once  been  his,  the  friend  re- 
marked that  he  might  have  been  better  off  had  he  remained 
all  this  time  asleep.  To  this  Mr.  Butler  replied  in  his  stumb- 
ling way,  but  with  a  pathos  that  was  touching  to  one  who  knew 
his  history,  that  "he  thought  he  might  have  been  better  off — 
had  he  remained  asleep  all  his  life."  His  children  were  George, 
who  was  interested  in  the  stage  business  between  Mexico  and 
Oswego,  and  failed.  Eawson,  merchant  in  Mexico ;  Maria,  an 
invalid,  who  died  young ;  and  Mary  Ann. 

A  Scotch  merchant  named  John  Smith,  who  during  the  Eev- 
olutionary  war  had  been  living  in  New  Brunswick,  came  here 
some  time  afterward  and  commenced  business.  The  first  of 
his  advertisements  that  we  have  seen,  is  dated  December  1799, 
and  in  this  he  announces  a  fresh  assortment  of  goods.  In  1802 
he  removed  to  the  Ked  Store  next  above  Kane  &  Van  Eensse- 
laer,  that  is  to  say,  about  the  site  of  the  lower  corner  of  Broad 
and  Genesee.  Before  the  end  of  the  year  his  store  is  occupied 
by  another,  though  Mr.  Smith  remained  some  time  longer. 
But  on  the  prospect  of  a  war  with  England,  he  returned  to 
Canada.  He  was  a  man  of  much  intelligence  and  integrity. 
He  had  a  son  Eobert,  who  was  his  clerk,  and  a  daughter,  Han- 
nah, who  married  Thomas  Wentworth  of  St.  John's,  and  some 
years  later  was  living  with  her  husband  near  where  Fayette 
opens  into  Genesee. 

Pharez  Barnard,  a  machinist  by  trade,  a  man  of  good  abilities 
and  well  informed,  erected  a  house  nearly  opposite  the  present 
Lunatic  Asylum,  where  he  made  fanning  mills.     He  was  gone 


96  THE   PIONEERS  OF  UTICA. 

before  1S16.  and  died  at  Pulaski,  Tenn.,  Nov.  9.  1819.  His 
sons  were  John  and  David,  the  former  a  merchant  here  in  1816, 
and  the  latter  a  Baptist  minister,  and  the  author  of  "Light  on 
Masonry." 

Sjdvanus  P.  Dj^gert,  gunsmith,  early  moved  down  the  Mo- 
hawk; Evan  Owens,  butcher  and  tallow  chandler,  was  a  short 
time  in  })artnership  with  John  Roberts,  a  much  longer  resident ; 
Asa  Sprague,  carpenter  and  Avheel-right,  lived  here  many  years, 
and  has  grandchildren  still  in  Utica ;  Preserved  Hickox  was  a 
mover  of  buildings,  &c.,  and  David  Brebner  a  journeyman  baker. 

John  Bissell  arrived  in  the  village  in  July  1799,  and  soon 
opened  a  store  on  the  corner  of  Genesee  and  Whitesboro.  In 
December  he  offers  cash  for  shipping  and  hatting  furs.  The 
following  year  he  has  "just  received  an  assortment  of  dry  goods 
and  groceries,  which  will  be  sold  low  for  cash  or  flax  seed. 
Cash  paid  for  wheat,  pot  and  pearl  ashes,  and  all  kinds  of  hat- 
ting and  shipping  furs."  His  brother,  Heman  Bissell,  a  hatter, 
was  at  this  time  established  in  manufacturing  hats,  in  a  little 
shop  on  the  north  side  of  Whitesboro,  near  the  present  corner 
of  Seneca.  It  was  for  his  use,  doubtless,  that  the  hatting  furs 
were  in  request.  The  latter  removed  to  Water ville.  In  1802, 
John  Bissell,  as  we  learn  from  his  annonncement,  "has  estab- 
lished business  in  the  town  of  Bridge  water,  "and  two  years  later 
he  dissolved  partnership  with  Henry  Ward  of  New  Hartford, 
and  is  again  settled  in  Utica,  his  place  of  business  being  oppo- 
site Watts  Sherman.  He  remained  until  1812,  but  having 
failed  the  year  previous,  he  removed  to  New  York. 

He  was  a  stirring  business  man,  although  not  always  success- 
ful, and  stood  well  in  ])ublic  estimation.  It  is  said  that  while 
on  the  limits  at  Whitesboro,  where  debtors  were  then  restricted 
of  their  liberties,  he  once  trespassed  two  or  three  feet  beyond 
his  allotted  bounds,  in  order  to  avoid  a  snow  bank  that  lay  in 
his  path.  For  this  his  bail  was  obliged  to  pay,  and  was  ruined 
in  consequence. 

His  wife  was  the  daughter  of  a  clergyman  living  in  the  vicin- 
ity of  Litchfield,  Conn,,  and  there  Mr.  Bissell  died.  Two  of 
his  sons  were  baptized  in  Trinity  Church,  John  and  Edward. 
One  of  them  became  a  lawyer  in  New  Yoi'k  cit3\ 


THE  FIRST  CHARTER  OF  UTICA. 


97 


1800. 

The  year  1800  furnislies  the  first  tax  hst  of  the  popnhxtion 
of  Utica  that  is  now  extant.  Merely  as  a  hst  of  inhabitants  it 
is  of  interest,  and  more  especially,  as  the  names  follow  pretty 
nearly  in  the  order  of  residence,  beginning  at  the  eastern  limits 
of  the  settlement  and  proceeding  along  Main  street  and  the 
northern  side  of  Whitesboro  as  far  as  Potter's,  thence  back  on 
the  southern  side,  and  a  little  way  up  Genesee.  The  extreme 
smallness  of  amount  of  the  tax,  when  compared  with  the  course 
of  modern  taxation,  would  lead  one  to  question  whether  it  com- 
prises the  whole  levy  of  the  year,  or  whether  it  is  not  rather 
some  special  assessment.  -It  is  entitled,  however,  "Utica  Village 
Tax  List  for  1800,"  and  is  as  follows : 


Silas  Clark, 

J.  D.  Petrie,  .... 

Matthew  Hubbell,     . 

Beujamiu  Walker,  Esq.,       .     1 

J.  Bockiug, 

Peter  Smith,  Esq., 

Benjamin  Ballon. 

James  S.  Kip,  Esq., 

Widow  Dawson  (Murphy,) 

Samuel  Carriugton,    .       .         1 

Sylvauus  P.  Dygert,    . 

Samuel  Forman, 

Clark, 

John  Curtiss, 

John  Hobby,         .         .  .1 

Benjamin   Ballou,  Jr., 

Jere.  Cowden, 

Richard  Smith,  .         .         1 

Joseph  Ballou, 

0.&  J.  Ballou,   . 

John  House,  .         .         .     1 

John  Post,         ...         2 

Daniel  Badlong,  .         .         .     1 

William  Pritchard,  . 

Nichols,  Bagg's  house, 

James  Bagg, 

Moses  Bagg,  .         .         .     1 

Worden  Hammond, 

John  Smith, 

Bryan  Johnson,  .         .         1 

Administrator  of  Dan"l  Banks, 

Clark  &  Follows, 

Remsen, 
Proprietors  of  Hotel,         .         1 


cu. 
50 
25 
25 
00 
25 
75 


25 

121:^ 

371? 

37^ 

37  lo 

131.? 

371;-^ 

25" 

12i.< 

75" 

87i.< 

00 

00 

25 

123:^ 

75  " 

1232' 

00 

50 

873^ 

00 

621.^ 

871? 

50  " 

00 


Nathan  Williams, 
Barnabas  Brooks, 
J.  Bissell, 
John  Bellinger, 
John  C.  Hoyt, 
Samuel  Rugg,     . 
Barnabas  Coon, 
John  Cooper, 
Jeptha  Buell 
Stephen  Potter, 
Ramsey  &  Co., 
Gurdou  Burchard, 
Francis  Bloodgood, 
William  Halsey, 
Nathaniel  Butler, 
William  Williams, 
Peter  Cavender, 
Jan  Garrett, 
Jonathan  Foot, 
Simon  Jones, 
Joseph  Peirce, 
G.  Boon's  house 
Apollos  Cooper, 
John  Watley, 
Gurdon  Burchard, 
William  McLean, 
Jas.  P.  Dorchester 
Samuel  Hooker, 
Watts  Sherman,    . 
Erastus  Clark, 
Charles  Easton,     |. 
Van  Sykes, 


D0II3.  Cts. 

75 
50 
25 

62M 
50 
25 
■        1-^M 

25 

25 
.     1  25 

75 
.     1  00- 
1  00 

.     1  12K 
75 
50 
25 
25 

12K 

25 

25 

25 

25 

25 

75 

50 

mi 

50 
50 

37M 
12M 


$40  00 


A  few  names,  as  will  be  observed,  occur  on  this  list  that  have 
not  before  been  met  with.  Two  or  three  are  the  names  of  non- 
residents ;  some  are  of  parties  who  made  but  a  brief  stay ;  and 


98  THE  PIOXEEES  OF  UTICA. 

of  some  we  can  get  no  trace. Clark  doubtless  represents 

Ezekiel  Clark,  already  mentioned.    Remsen  is  Simeon  Rem- 

sen,  a  tailor,  near  the  hotel,  wliose  house  was  advertised  for  sale 
in  1802,  and  who  is  not  rememljered  bj  settlers  of  two  years  later, 
for  he  had  gone  to  Cazenovia.  Simon  Jones  should  be  Simon 
Johns,  who  lived  many  years  in  Marcy,  and  whose  daughter, 
(Mrs.  Llewellyn  Howell,)  is  still  in  LTtica.  Peter  Cavender  (or 
Cavana)  also  moved  to  Marcy,  where  his  son,  a  prosperous 
farmer,  still  resides.  Samuel  Rugg,  a  jeweler,  has  likewise,  as 
a  Utican,  but  a  brief  history,  not  remaining  over  four  or  five 
years  longer,  and  in  September,  1806,  having  a  shop  in  the  vil- 
lao^eof  Hamilton,  with  "lots  for  sale  in  the  centre  of  the  town." 
The  longest  resident  of  any  of  them  was  William  Williams,  a 
Welshman,  wlio  occupied  for  many  years  the  house  still  stand- 
ino;  on  the  south-east  corner  of  Whitesboro  and  Hotel,  where 
he  manufactured  tallow  candles.  An  industrious  and  quiet  man 
in  general,  he  was  made  very  indignant  when  in  the  course 
of  the  war  of  1812-15,  a  rifle  company  was  quartered  in  the 
hotel  opposite  him,  and  wanted  them  driven  out  by  force  of 
cannon.  He  died  in  1824.  One  of  his  daughters,  who  was 
considered  quite  handsome,  married  Dr.  James  Douglass,  and 
went  to  Quebec.  After  her  death,  the  doctor  sent  for  another 
of  the  family,  educated  and  married  hei'.  A  third  married 
Elisha  Lee.  There  was  a  son,  Henry,  and  a  daughter  married 
in  Detroit. 

A  more  noticeable  person  in  one  particulai-  than  any  of  the 
preceding  was  John  Curtiss,  the  baker.  He  weighed  from  two 
hundred  and  eighty  to  three  hundred  pounds,  and  was  remark- 
able for  his  great  strength.  It  is  related  of  him  that  on  one 
occasion  when  a  carman  asked  more  than  he  was  willing  to  pay 
for  the  transpoi'tation  of  two  barrels  of  flour  to  his  bakery,  he 
raised  a  barrel  endwise  to  each  hip  and  carried  them  safely  h(jme. 
At  another  time,  when  a  man  was  about  to  transfer  a  barrel  of 
beer  from  his  cart  to  a  cellar,  and  had  set  up  a  board  at  the  tail 
of  the  cart  in  order  to  roll  it  to  the  ground,  Curtiss  being  at 
hand,  and  j)erha])s  asked  to  assist,  grasped  the  barrel  by  the 
chimes  and  did  not  halt  until  he  had  deposited  it  on  the  floor  of 
the  cellai-.  He  was  an  Englishman  and  had  once  lived  on  the 
estate  of  Elwes  the  miser,  but  left  him  because  Elwes  insisted 
on  liis  taking  charge  of  some  of  his  sick  hounds.     Here  he  lived 


THE  FIRST  CHARTER  OF  UTICA.  99 

for  tlie  most  part  in  the  neighborhood  of  Division  street,  at  one 
time  at  its  upper  end  and  at  another  at  its  lower,  though  in 
1805  he  occupied  a  tavern  stand  on  the  Deerlield  side  of  the 
river  with  several  acres  of  meadow.     He  died  December,  1819. 

A  few  other  persons  not  included  in  the  preceding  list  should 
likewise  be  here  enumerated,  since  we  have  proofs  that  they 
had  already  obtained  a  residence.  That  their  names  were  not 
on  the  list  may  be  due  to  their  recent  arrival,  or  to  their  lack  as 
yet  of  worldl}'  goods  subject  to  taxation. 

A  carpenter  and  joiner  of  this  date  was  a  Welshman  named 
John  Adams.  He  li^-ed  here  some  dozen  years,  and  found  con- 
siderable work  to  do,  having  been  the  builder,  among  other 
houses,  of  the  row  of  brick  ones  on  the  west  side  of  Washington, 
below  Liberty  street,  where,  in  1810,  he  had  a  lumber  yard, 
and  of  a  st(n-e  which  replaced  the  House  tavern  on  the  lower 
j^art  of  Genesee  street. 

His  partner,  William  Francis,  lived  much  longer  in  Iltica, 
and  has  left  descendants  still  resident.  He  was  the  son  of  Eich- 
ard  Francis,  who  had  been  a  midshipman  in  the  British  navy, 
and  sailed  to  this  countrv  in  the  expedition  of  Sir  Peter  Parker. 
Obtaining  afterwards  a  two  years'  leave  of  absence,  he  travelled 
in  the  United  States,  and  in  1798  came  here  to  settle.  He  fixed 
himself  on  Frankfort  Hill,  and  was  a  surveyor  and  justice  of 
the  peace.  His  son  William,  after  the  end  of  his  connection 
with  Adams,  formed  a  second  one  with  John  Reed,  and  was  a 
carpenter  and  builder,  or  a  sash-maker,  until  his  death,  in  1845. 
He  was  one  of  the  original  trustees  of  the  Utica  Savings  Bank, 
and  was  otherwise  a  trusted  and  respected  citizen.  In  1803  he 
married  Eleanor  James  and  became  the  father  of  a  large  familj^, 
of  whom  the  late  John  J.  Francis  was  one. 

Another  carpenter  who  may  be  set  down  as  of  this  date, 
though  not  yet  out  of  his  apprenticeship,  was  Abraham  Culver. 
He  came  from  the  same  place  as  William  Halsey,  before  men- 
tioned ;  with  him  he  learned  his  trade,  and  from  1800,  at  least, 
was  working  under  his  direction.  He  became  afterwards,  and 
continued  for  many  years,  a  leading  builder  of  the  place,  exe- 
cuting man}'  important  works.  His  brother,  John,  was,  after 
the  year  1806,  for  many  years  associated  with  him.  Not  less 
as  a  man  than  as  a  workman  Mr.  Culver  was  esteemed.  Quiet 
and  retiring  in  manners,  he  could  be  trusted  for  his  integrity 


100  THE   PIONEEES  OF  UTICA. 

and  his  sense.  He  lived  on  Whitesboro  street,  next  west  of. 
Burcliard.  of  which  row  of  buildings  he  was  the  fabricator  and 
the  owner.  His  shop,  at  first,  in  the  rear,  was  afterwards  on 
Water  street,  nearly  0}>pGsite.  His  grave  but  amiable  counte- 
nance and  his  one  sided  progression  many  present  residents  must 
remember.  He  died  January  Gth,  1852,  aged  seventy-three.  His 
first  wife,  Ruth  Ellis,  and  the  mother  of  his  son  Abraham  E.,  now 
resident,  died  June  1st,  1814,  in  her  twenty-fourth  year.  His 
second  wife  died  April  19th,  1839,  aged  fifty-eight. 

Yet  another  man  of  this  era  who  dealt  in  lumber  was  a  for- 
eigner who  had  been  bred  to  a  wholly  different  pursuit.  This 
was  Moses  Marshall,  once  chaplain  to  some  German  prince.  He 
was  sufficiently  educated  to  translate  from  a  German  Bible  aloud 
to  his  congregation,  into  English,  or  with  an  English  Bible  to 
read  off  good  German.  He  preached  occasionally  in  Deerfield,, 
receiving  a  dollar  a  day  for  his  services.  He  also  taught 
a  Sunday  school  there  somewhere  between  1801  and  1806. 
But  though  a  minister  in  practice,  he  was  not,  it  would  appear, 
above  betting,  or  even  an  oath  ;  for  it  is  reported  that  he  boasted 
once  that  "he  bet  |50  that  he  would  be  dominie  at  Stone  Arabia," 
and  said  he,  "By  Gott,  I  beat."  Another  story  goes  that  he 
was  called  at  one  time  to  Deerfield  to  baptize  a  ch'ing  child, 
when  others  were  brought  in  for  the  same  purpose,  and  although 
his  price  was  fifty  cents,  3'et,  in  consideration  of  the  numbers, 
he  did  it  at  three  shilHngs  a  head.  Besides  his  lumber  deal- 
ings, Dominie  Marshall  kept  a  toy  store  aboat  on  the  site  of  the 
store  of  James  Sayre's  Sons,  which  property  he  sold  to  Chas.  C. 
Brodhead.  On  removing  from  here  he  bought  land  in  Steuben 
county,  where  his  son  became  afterward  a  man  of  standing. 

William  Smith,  commonly  known  as  "  nailer  Smith,"  manu- 
factured wrought  nails  on  the  edge  of  Nail  creek,  where  is  now 
the  south  side  of  Varick  street.  Purchasing  the  iron  in  the  vil- 
lage, he  carried  it  home  on  his  back,  and  returned  laden  with 
the  product ;  but  it  was  probably  not  his  factory  as  it  certainly 
was  not  the  dog  nail  factory  of  Joseph  Masseth  in  after  years 
that  gave  the  name  to  this  creek.  It  bore  the  name  before 
either  of  them.  Settlers  of  1794  and  1797  tell  us  that  it  came 
from  the  circumstance  of  a  wagon  loaded  with  nails  having 
been  overturned  in  the  creek  and  the  nails  spilled  out  during 
the  war  of  the  Revolution,  (if  not  in  the  French  war.)     It  was 


THE  FIRST  CHARTER  OF  UTICA.  101 

known  to  tlie  Germans  as  Nagel  (Nail)  creek.  However,  it 
should  be  added  that  there  is  reason  to  believe  that  Smith  was 
himself  a  resident  early  in  the  nineties.  He  occupied  a  leased 
farm  of  toward  a  hundred  acres  adjoining  Potter  and  Alverson, 
of  which  a  large  part  was  at  this  time  under  cultivation.  About 
1810  he  removed  to  Scipio  in  Cayuga  county,  and  from 
thence  to  Scipio  in  Ohio,  where  on  his  death  a  large  landed 
property  was  divided  among  several  descendants. 

John  Koberts  was  a  butcher  and  tallow  chandler,  long  located 
on  the  lower  end  of  Genesee  street,  west  side,  and  afterward  on 
Division  street.  At  first  in  company  with  Evan  Owens,  he  sep- 
arated from  him  in  1805,  and  continued  his  craft  alone,  being 
also  inspector  of  beef  and  pork.  An  upright  man  he  was  held 
in  mueli  credit  as  well  for  his  character  as  for  the  meats  he  fur- 
nished. His  son  is  now  president  of  a  bank  in  Detroit,  and 
( thers  of  his  family  living  in  the  same  neighborhood  are  pros- 
perous. 

Another  Welshman  named  John  Nicholas,  and  among  the 
most  intelligent  of  his  countrymen,  took  a  part  the  following 
j^ear  in  the  organization  of  the  Welsh  Baptist  Church,  though 
his  residence  was  in  Frankfort  rather  than  in  Utica,  being  in  the 
the  neighborhood  of  Welshbush.  He  died  about  1810,  and  his 
widow  a  few  years  after  married  Watkin  Powell.  For  some  cause 
a  dispute  arose  between  him  and  Dr.  Coventry  and  hard  words 
were  exchanged  between  them.  Soon  after  Nicholas  met  Col. 
Walker,  wdio  said  to  him,  ''  I  understand  that  you  and  Dr 
Coventry  have  had  some  hard  words  between  you.'"  "Some- 
thing of  the  kind  has  happened,"'  said  Nicholas.  "  Wh}^,"  said 
the  Colonel,  "  you  ought  to  have  remembered  that  the  doctor  is 
a  Scotchman.'"  "Yes,  sir,"  replied  Nicholas,  "and  he  ought  to 
have  remembered  that  I  am  a  Welshman." 

Windsor  Stone,  a  shoemaker,  was  better  known  as  the  father 
of  two  stalwart  sons  than  for  any  thing  that  respected  himself 
alone.  These,  Luther  and  Windsor  by  name,  were  twins,  weigh- 
ing some  two  hundred  pounds  apiece,  and  so  much  alike  as  to 
be  distinguished  with  difficulty.  As  boatmen,  rather  coarse  in 
stamp  and  given  to  gambling,  tliev  were  Victorious  up  and  down 
the  Mohawk. 

There  remain  two  or  three  more  of  whom  it  must  suffice  to 
sav  that  Jacob  Blackden  was  the  colored  fiddler,  and  an  import- 


102  THE  PIONEERS  OF  UTICA. 

ant  personage  on  occasion  of  festivities,  and  that  Jcnimy  Bnrns 
was  a  store  porter,  rather  addicted  to  tlie  cnj). 

Before  proceeding  to  treat  of  the  new-comers  of  the  year,  let 
us  pause  to  consider  the  brief  notes  of  another  traveller,  and  to 
add  a  few  words  by  way  of  comment  and  elucidation.  This 
was  an  Englishman,  named  John  Maude,  whose  "  visit  to  the 
Falls  of  Niagara  in  1800"  was  published  at  Wakefield  and  Lon- 
don in  1826.  And  this  is  what  his  journal  contains  under  date 
of  Thursday,  July  3d,  1800  :  "  Utica,  (Fort  Schuyler)  ninety- 
six  miles.  Schwartz's  hotel ;  excellent  house  and  miserably 
kept ;  built  by  Boon  &  Linklaen,  (agents  for  the  Holland  Land 
Company,)  the  proprietors  of  a  considerable  number  of  the  ad- 
joining building  lots.  Those  east  of  these  are  the  property  of 
the  Bleecker  family,  on  which  the  principarpart  of  the  present 
town  is  built, — built,  too,  on  short  leases  of  fourteen  years,  after 
which  the  houses  become  the  property  of  the  owners  of  the  soil, 
to  the  certain  loss  and  proljable  ruin  of  the  present  residents. 
Utica  is  in  the  township  of  Whitestown,  and  contains  about 
sixty  houses.  No  genteel  family,  save  Col.  Walkers,  and  he 
resides  at  a  small  distance  east  oi  the  village.  The  great  Gen- 
esee road  turns  off  at  this  place.  An  act  has  lately  passed  for 
making  it  a  turnpike  road  to  Genesee  and  Canandaigua,  a  dis- 
tance of  one  hundred  miles  and  upwards ;  the  expense  is  esti- 
mated at  $1,000  per  mile ;  the  road  to  be  four  rods  in  width. 
The  inhabitants  of  Utica  subscribed  to  finish  the  first  mile  ;  they 
formed  twenty  shares  of  fifty  dollars  each ;  these  shares  they 
afterwards  sold  to  Col.  Walker  and  Mr.  Post  for  forty-four  cents 
the  dollar,  who  have  finished  the  first  mile ;  thirty  miles  it  is 
expected  will  be  finished  before  the  winter  sets  in.  Bridge  here 
over  the  Mohawk  ;  the  river  narrow,  clear  and  shallow  ;  no  fish ; 
seven  boats  at  the  w^harf ;  heai'd  a  bull  frog ;  groves  of  sugar 
maple,  a  tree  very  common  here."  Friday,  Jul}''  4th,  Mr. 
Maude,  "  mounted  his  horse,  passed  Inman's  at  noon,  and 
arrived  at  Whitesboro,  100  miles." 

With  reference  to  the  great  Genesee  road  here  spoken  of  by 
Mr.  Maude,  and  whose  construction  was  so  important,  not  to 
Utica  alone,  but  to  the  whole  western  country,  a  few  additional 
/  facts  may  be  subjoined.  -^As  earlv  as  1790  a  road  along  the 
course  of  the  Great  ^J"'rail  liad  been  opened  by  Wm.  and  Jas. 
Wadswoi'th  on  their  way  to  the  Genesee  country,  where  they 


THE  FIRST  CHARTER  OF  UTICA.  103 

planted  a  colony.  The  State  afterward,  in  the  year  1794, 
appointed  three  commissioners  to  lay  out  a  road  from  Utica,  by 
Cayuga  ferry  and  Canandaigua,  to  the  Genesee  river  at  Avon, 
and  in  this  and  the  following  year  made  appropriations  for  its 
construction.  Though  laid  out,  it  seems  not  to  have  been  con- 
structed at  this  time,  for  in  June,  1797,  Col.  Williamson,  of 
Ontario,  represents  the  road  from  Old  Fort  Schuyler  to  the 
Genesee  as  little  better  than  an  Indian  trail.  In  this  latter  year 
a  law  was  passed  by  the  State  authorizing  the  raising  of  $45,000 
by  lotteries,  which  was  to  be  expended  in  improving  various 
roads  in  the  State,  of  which  sum  $13,900  was  to  go  toward  the 
betterment  of  the  Genesee  road  in  all  its  extent.  The  improve- 
ments now  made  uj)on  it  were  such  that  on  the  30tli  day  of 
September,  1797,  a  stage  started  from  Old  Fort  Schuyler  and 
arrived  at  Geneva  in  the  afternoon  of  the  third  day.  The  ex- 
tension of  this  thoroughfare  to  the  most  westerly  county  of  the 
State,  and  the  unexampled  passage  of  a  stage  in  three  days  a  dis- 
tance of  nearly  one  hundred  miles,  sixty  of  which  had  been  the 
same  season  in  their  original  state,  were  to  the  dwellers  along 
the  western  terminus  just  causes  of  gratulation.  This  road  was 
as  yet  a  simple  highway  of  earth ;  and  through  swamps  and  in 
low  places  the  crossing  was  made  over  layers  of  logs,  such  cause- 
ways occurring  even  within  the  limits  of  the  village.  There 
was  therefore  great  need  of  still  further  improvement;  and  in 
the  year  1800  the  Seneca  Turnpike  Company  was  chartered  to 
effect  it.  The  capital  stock  was  to  be  $110,000  in  shares  of 
fifty  dollars  eacli.  Jedediah  Sanger,  of  New  Hartford,  and 
Benj.  Walker,  of  Utica,  were  associated  with  Messrs.  Chas.  Wil- 
liamson and  Israel  Chapin,  of  Ontario,  as  commissioners.  Ac- 
cording to  our  traveller,  one  mile  of  the  road  was  finished  in 
July,  1800.  A  citizen,  who  rode  over  it  in  April  following  as 
far  as  New  Hartford,  tells  us  that  he  met  squads  of  men  at  work 
along  the  way,  and  that  this  portion  of  it  was  then  a  good  pass- 
able road. 

The  thoroughfare  leading  eastward  from  the  settlement  would 
seem  to  have  been  at  this  time  in  no  greater  forwardness  than 
the  western  one,  if  we  may  infer  the  truth  from  an  advertise- 
ment of  the  Mohawk  Turnpike  and  Bridge  Company  that  ap- 
peared in  tlie  village  paper,  bearing  date  Oct.  21st,  1800.  The 
company  therein  solicits  pi'oposals  until  the  first  of  January  fol- 


104  THE  PIONEERS  OF  UTICA. 

lowing  for  the  building  of  a  bridge  across  the  Mohawk  at  Schen- 
ectada,  and  also  for  completing  ten  miles  of  turnpike  road,  or 
any  ])art  of  the  said  ten  miles,  beginning  at  the  bridge  at  the 
village  of  Uticaand  running  easterly,  as  well  as  for  completing 
other  portions  of  the  road  towards  its  eastern  end.  As  the  re- 
sult of  the  efforts  of  this  company  a  beneficial  change  was 
effected.  The  portion  of  the  road  lying  between  Utica  and  Deer- 
field  was  straightened,  it  having  before  been  a  devious  way  that 
meandered  carefully  from  point  to  point  along  the  swampy  in- 
tervale. But  it  was  not  until  after  many  years  had  elapsed  that 
this  section  of  the  road  was  ]:)ut  in  a  state  fit  to  be  traversed 
with  ease  and  comfort. 

Another  work  of  tlie  year  1800,  wholly  local  in  its  nature  and 
perhaps  trivial  in  comparison  with  those  just  considered,  is  yet 
entitled  to  mention.     This  was  an  attempt  of  the  citizens  to 
supply  themselves  with  water,  and  it  was  accomplished  through 
1  the  agency  of  two  men  named  Samuel  Bard  well  and  Oliver 
I  Bull     By  means  of  hollowed  logs  they  brought  water  into  the 
'  village  from  two  springs  located  on  its  western  borders,  one  near 
wdiere  now  stands  the  Oneida  Brewery,  and  the  other  on  the 
1  Asvlum  hill.     To  these  men  each  inhabitant  enjoying  the  ben- 
efit paid  a  quarterlv  tax.     Besides  Messrs.  Bardwell  and  Bull, 
Colonel  Benjamin  Walker  and  Silas  Clark  were  members  of 
this  so  called  aqueduct  company. 

Among  the  new  arrivals  of  the  year  we  notice,  lirst,  one  whose 
remarkable  previous  experience,  his  long  residence  of  fifty 
years  and  the  conspicuous  position  he  held,  as  well  as  his  marked 
and  singular  character  justify  ample  consideration.  We  refer 
to  Charles  C.  Brodhead.  Our  notice  is  based  upon  an  obituary 
article  which  ajopeared  in  the  Christian  Intelligencer^  to  which 
are  added  facts  obtained  from  various  sources.  Mr.  Brodhead's 
ancestry,  originally  from  Holland,  had  for  some  years  found  a 
home  ill  Yorkshire,  England,  whence  one  of  the  family  came  to 
this  country  in  1664  in  company  with  Colonel  Richard  Nichols, 
who  took  New  Amsterdam  from  the  Dutch.  The  grandfather 
of  the  sul>ject  of  our  sketch,  Daniel  Brodhead,  removed 
from  Marble  town  in  Ulster  County,  to  Northampton,  Penn., 
in  1737.  He  was  a  man  of  considerable  political  importance 
in  the  colony,  being  one  of  the  royal  superintendenis  of  In- 
dian affairs.      His  son    Charles  was  an  officer   in  the  British 


THE  FIRST  CHARTER  OF  UTICA.  105 

arm}',  and  was  with  Braddock  at  the  time  of  liis  memorable' 
defeat.  He  afterwards  commanded  with,  the  rank  of  captain 
at  Fort  Pitt,  which  he  defended  against  a  desperate  attack  of 
Indians.  On  the  breaking  out  of  the  Eevolution  he  took  the 
colonial  side  in  the  struggle,  although  he  declined  a  colonelcy 
which  was  offered  him  by  the  government ;  his  scruples  with 
regard  to  the  oath  he  had  taken  when  he  received  his  royal 
commission  forbidding  him  to  serve  in  opposition.  His  five 
brothers,  however,  joined  the  army  and  held  continental  com- 
missions. Just  before  the  war  Captain  Brodhead  removed  to 
New  Paltz,  Ulster  county,  where  his  son  Charles  C.  was  born 
November  10th,  1772.  He  was  the  fourth  son  of  a  family  of 
eight  children,  one  of  whom  was  afterward  a  member  of  Con- 
gress from  Ulster  county.  Their  mother's  maiden  name  was 
Oliver.  Charles,  while  jet  a  lad,  began  the  business  of  survey- 
ing, serving  under  the  instructions  of  W.  Cockburn,  an  eminent 
surveyor  of  Kingston  in  his  native  county.  Iu_J/793i  Messrs. 
Desjardins  and  Pharoux,  agents  of  a  French  company,  owning 
a  large  tract  of  land  on  the  Black  river,  and  known  as  the  Cas- 
torland  Company,  employed  him  to  assist  in  laying  out  this 
tract.  This  appointment  was  regarded  as  a  high  com23liment  to 
young  Brodhead  both  as  a  surve^^or  and  an  honorable  man ; 
and  the  manner  in  which  he  fulfilled  his  engagements  pleased 
his  employers  so  well  that,  in  addition  to  the  covenanted  remu- 
neration, they  gave  him  a  valuable  lot  of  land  as  a  testimonial 
of  their  appreciation  of  his  scientific  and  moral  worth.  In  the 
course  of  this  survey,  wdiich  occupied  about  three  seasons,  Mr_ 
B.  encountered  several  hazardous  adventures,  and  made  more 
than  one  hair-breadth  escape  from  death.  Once  his  life  was 
attempted  b}^  an  Indian  in  the  service,  and  he  was  onl}^  saved 
by  the  prompt  action  of  another  of  the  part}'  who  knocked 
down  the  savage  while  in  the  act  of  striking  at  Mr.  Brod- 
head's  back.  But  the  most  perilous  adventure,  and  the  one  of 
which  he  spoke  with  the  greatest  reluctance,  because  it  involved 
an  act  of  personal  heroism,  was  this :  In  running  the  great  lines 
of  division,  the  party  had  to  cross  the  Black  river  several  times, 
the  men  and  instruments  being  ferried  across.  On  one  occa- 
sion, when  having  journeyed  through  the  woods  without  noting 
tlieir  course  by  the  compass,  they  arrived  at  a  part  of  the  river 
which  they  thought  they  recognized,  and  knew  to  be  a  safe 


106  THE   PIONEERS  OF  UTICA. 

place  for  crossing.  Makiug  a  raft  of  logs,  they  started  from 
the  bank  and  began  to  pole  their  way  over.  When  in  the 
midst  of  the  current  their  poles  failed  to  reacli  bottom,  and, 
simultaneously  with  the  discovery,  the  noise  of  the  waters 
below  them  revealed  the  fact  that  they  had  mistaken  their  fer- 
rying place  and  were  at  the  head  of  the  Great  Falls  of  the 
river,  now  known  as  Lyons  Falls.  Thus  threatened  with 
almost  certain  death,  Mr.  Brodhead  ordered  every  one  who 
could  swim  to  make  for  the  shore,  and  he  liimself  prepared  to 
swim  for  his  life.  But  the  jtiteons  appeals  of  M.  Pharoux, 
who  could  not  swim,  arrested  him,  and  he  remained  to  assist 
him,  if  possiVjlc,  in  the  awful  passage.  Directing  M.  Pharoux, 
and  the  others  who  remained,  to  grasp  firmly  to  the  logs,  he 
laid  himself  by  the  side  of  his  friend.  The  raft  passed  tlie 
dreadful  falls  and  was  dashed  to  pieces.  The  Frenchman  and 
others  of  the  party  were  drowned.  Mr.  Brodhead  was  himself 
thrown  into  an  eddy  near  the  shore,  whence  he  was  drawn 
senseless  b}'  an  Indian  of  the  party. 

After  the  expiration  of  his  term  of  service  with  the  Castor- 
land  Company,  he  was  employed  as  a  dejmty  by  the  Hon.  Sim- 
eon DeWitt,  Surveyor  General  of  the  State  of  New  York,  and 
to  him  were  confided  all  important  surveys  and  negotiations. 
He  likewise  canned  on  one  or  more  treaties  with  the  Indians,  and 
these  he  conducted  with  singular  ability  and  discretion,  in  every 
case  winning  the  confidence  of  the  red  men.  After  a  negotia- 
tion of  this  kind  with  the  St.  Regis  Indians  of  the  northern 
border  of  the  State  he  was  adopted  as  a  member  and  honorary 
chief  of  the  tribe.  The  name  conferred  u])Ou  him  was  a  com- 
pound one,  being  derived  in  part  from  the  name  of  their  prin- 
cipal chief,  and  in  part  having  reference  to  his  rapid  move- 
ments in  running  lines,  and  also  to  his  skill  in  settling  disputes. 
It  was  as  follows :  Onogauleus  Jacawbus  Sadatalate.  When 
not  engaged  elsewhere  Mr.  Brodhead's  headquarters  during  this 
period  would  seem  to  have  been  at  Whitesboro.  In  the  year 
1800  he  received  from  the  Governor  and  Couneil  the  appoint- 
ment of  sheriff  of  the  county.  To  this  office  he  was  com- 
mended by  several  of  the  leading  men  of  the  county  as  in 
every  resj;)ect  qualilied,  "b}*  possessing  ability,  property,  repu- 
tation and  integrity."  The  fact  that  he  was  a  bachelor  was, 
it  is  said,  a  cause  cf  hesitation  on   the  part  of   Governor  Jay, 


THE  FIEST  CHARTER  OF  UTICA.  lOT 

who  "disliked  a  man  that  did  not  boil  his  own  pot.''  The 
appointment  was  conferred,  however,  and  soon  afterward  Mr. 
Brodhead  removed  to  Utica.  In  August  of  the  following  year, 
it  was  required  of  him  to  officiate  at  the  first  execution  which 
took  place  in  the  county.  The  criminal  was  an  Indian,  a  na- 
tive of  Montauk  Point,  but  who  with  the  remnant  of  his  tribe 
and  the  fragments  of  other  coast  tribes,  formed  a  new  one  called 
the  Brothertons.  He  was  convicted  of  having  killed  his  wife 
and  was  hung  on  the  hill  west  of  Whitesboro  in  presence  of  a 
large  assembly  of  people.  Rev.  Samuel  Kirkland,  the  celebra- 
ted Indian  missionary,  was  the  spiritual  comforter  of  the  crim- 
inal, and  prayed  for  him  in  the  Oneida  language,  while  several 
Indians  were  near  and  sang  psalms  in  their  native  tongue. 
The  sheriff  had  scruples  about  evading  a  duty,  and  rather 
than  have  the  execution  performed  by  a  deputy,  he  himself 
attached  the  halter  to  the  neck  of  the  prisoner  and  let  go  the  drop. 
When  the  construction  of  the  Erie  canal  was  resolved  on,  the 
surveyor  general  was  charged  with  the  preliminary  surveys,  and 
Mr.  Brodhead  was,  in  the  year  1816,  entrusted  by  him  with  the 
eastern  section,  extending  from  Albany  to  Rome,  a  part  of  the 
work  of  greater  extent,  importance  and  difficulty  than  any  other, 
and  requiring  great  discretion,  science  and  practical  skill.  That 
his  report  and  plan  evinced  the  judgment  and  ability  which  Mr. 
DeAYitt  expected  of  him,  no  practical  engineer  will,  at  this  day, 
deny.  One  fact  will  fully  demonstrate  this,  after  Mr.  Brod- 
head had  made  his  preliminary  survey  and  report,  he  retired 
from  the  work,  and  it  was  committed  to  other  hands.  His  suc- 
cessors changed  several  of  his  levels,  bringing  them  down  nearer 
to  the  level  of  the  Mohawk  river ;  but  in  the  progress  of  the 
enlargment  of  the  canal,  the  rectification  of  the  levels  brought 
them  whei'c  Mr.  B.'s  report  had  suggested.  He  was  himself 
fully  persuaded  that  his  original  suggestions  must,  in  the  end, 
be  adopted,  and  that  a  large  amount  of  money  would  have  been 
saved  to  the  State  had  there  been  no  deviation  from  his  plan. 
From  the  earliest  period  of  his  residence  here,  Mr.  Brodhead 
was  often  called  on  to  survey  lands  for  individuals  both  in  town 
and  county.  His  accuracy  of  work  was  much  confided  in,  and 
numerous  are  the  land  holders  of  the  vicinity  who  are  indebted 
to  him  for  the  carefully  executed  and  trustworthy  maps  which 
define  the  limits  of  their  property.     His  familiar  accjuaintance 


108  THE  PIOXEERS  OF  UTICA. 

witli  lands  lying  within  the  confines  of  the  city,  and  tlieir  suc- 
cessive ownerships  and  partitions  rendered  him  an  undisputed 
authorit}^  on  all  questions  of  local  boundaries  In  la3ung  out 
the  lines  of  the  Bleecker  and  other  estates,  which  Utica  now 
embraces,  he  manifested  ingenuity,  as  well  as  care,  in  attaining 
correctness  of  measurement  At  that  time  the  instruments 
chiefly  employed  in  measuring,  were  the  rod  and  the  chain.  For 
the  purpose  of  determining  horizontal  distances  on  an  inclined 
surface,  he  devised  an  expedient  of  his  own :  he  used  rods  with 
sliding  upright  pieces  at  either  end.  To  one  of  these  perpen- 
diculars he  attached  a  cord  beset  with  pins  at  equal  intervals, 
and  stretched  it  over  the  rod,  as  the  latter  lay  upon  the  ground, 
towards  its  further  end.  And  thus  he  ascertained  from  the  cord 
the  horizontal  distance,  at  the  same  time  that  he  learned  fi'om 
the  rod  the  distance  along  the  surface  of  the  ground.  Mr.  Brod- 
head  was  one  of  the  commissioners,  who,  with  William  Jones, 
Morris  S.  Miller,  E.  S.  Cozier  and  E.  S.  Barnum,  ran  the  lines 
of  the  town  of  Utica  when  it  was  set  off  from  Whitestown,  in 
1817.  From  this  period  he  ceased  to  act  professionally,  except 
when  Mr.  DeWitt,  in  the  fullness  of  his  confidence,  pressed  him 
into  the  service  of  the  State  to  execute  some  work  demanding 
great  accuracy  and  prudent  negotiations.  For  a  few  of  his  more 
cherished  friends,  he  would  consent  to  run  the  lines  of  their 
estates,  but  otherwise  engaged  in  no  occupation,  and  for  thirty 
years  lived  almost  a  recluse.  Previous  to  the  war  of  1812,  he 
had  accumulated  a  com23etent  fortune,  but  had  invested  a  large 
jDortion  in  business,  becoming  a  partner  with  "William  B.  Savage, 
a  merchant  of  this  village  and  of  Ellisburgh.  The  reaction  of 
the  peace  caused  the  failure  and  dissolution  of  the  firm.  By 
economy  and  prudence,  as  well  as  by  the  rise  in  tlie  value  of  real 
estate,  he  however  retrieved  his  loss,  so  that  for  the  last  twenty 
years  of  his  life  he  lived  in  comparative  affluence. 

His  character  was  a  singular  one,  and  full  of  contradictory 
qualities :  while  there  was  much  that  was  praiseworthy,  there 
were  blemishes  also,  and  these  ofttimes  so  obscured  the  picture 
as  to  hide  from  view  its  real  excellence.  Possessed  of  a  high 
sense  of  honor  and  inflexible  in  integrity,  he  spurned  anything 
that  deviated  from  rectitude.  When,  on  one  occasion,  there 
was  pending  in  one  of  our  Legislatures  a  bill,  wholly  reasonable 
and  just,  the  enactment  of  which  would  be  especially  beneficial 


THE  FIRST  CHARTER  OF  UTICA.  109 

to  himself,  he  was  strongly  urged  to  aid  its  passage  by  the  gift 
of  some  small  douceur  to  those  who  might  be  likely  to  oppose  it. 
To  all  entreaty  he  was  resolute  in  refusal,  and  while  admitting 
that  he  had  much  at  stake  in  the  bill,  declared  that  he  would 
not  give  one  cent  for  a  bribe.  At  another  time,  such  was  his 
conscientiousness,  that  he  parted  with  his  interest  in  the  canal 
packet  boats,  because  the  company  would  run  their  boats  on 
Sunday,  sold  stock  that  was  bringing  three  hundred  per  cent., 
and  took  part  in  a  new  week-day  line.  lie  knew  men  well  and 
selected  his  friends  with  judgment.  His  own  mind  was  too 
noble  to  treat  with  friendship  any  one  devoid  of  honesty,  or 
regardless  of  the  great  moral  obligations.  Strongly  social  in 
his  tastes,  when  in  his  prime  he  was  a  favorite  with  the  gentle- 
men who  were  his  compeers,  and  his  ringmg  laugh  might  be 
heard  at  all  the  dinner  parties  that  were  so  abundant  in  days 
gone  by.  A  note  from  Colonel  Walker  to  one  of  his  friends, 
inviting  him  to  come  and  take  a  dish  of  asparagus  with  him, 
seems  incomplete  without  the  added  injunction  to  bring  Brod- 
head  along,  for  Brodhead  was  in  truth  a  companion  to  be  de- 
sired.* 

And  if  in  later  years  his  visits  were  more  restricted,  his  relish 
for  the  society  of  his  intimates  was  still  unabated,  and  his  com- 
pany, so  long,  at  least,  as  he  was  in  humor,  as  highly  prized. 
For,  if  the  truth  must  be  told,  he  was,  as  age  advanced,  cheer- 
ful only  when  the  fit  was  on  him ;  but  when  his  moodiness  was 
in  the  ascendant,  he  was  crusty  in  the  extreme,  and  fell  out 
even  with  his  dearest  friends.  With  or  without  sufficient  cause, 
he  would  take  a  pique,  which  for  months  together  would  restrain 
him  from  the  commonest  courtesy  towards  the  ofiiender,  and 
then  as  suddenly  he  would  resume  the  old  relations.  In  the  fits 
of  despondency  to  which  he  was  subject,  there  was  no  one  who 
could  cheer  him  like  the  sister  of  his  landlady,  and  on  her  he 
was  accustomed  to  call,  insisting  at  times  on  her  presence  when 

*  And  when  we  read  of  the  dinner  he  is  to  have  and  reflect  upon  what  a 
delicacy  asparagus  must  have  been  in  a  country  where  gardens  were  rare, 
and  markets  for  vegetables  not  yet  in  being,  we  bethink  ourselves  of  the 
meal  of  dog's  meat  he  once  partook  of  while  among  the  Indians.  Never 
suspecting  what  he  had  eaten,  he  spied  while  getting  into  a  canoe  to  take 
his  departure,  the  head  and  entrails  of  the  animal  still  lying  on  the  shore, 
and  in  response  to  his  inquiry,  learned  that  they  were  the  remains  of  what 
had  been  prepared  for  his  breakfast. 


110  THE  PIONEERS  OF  UTICA.     . 

her  duties  made  it  inconvenient  that  she  should  respond.  On 
one  of  these  occasions,  ^vord  came  that  she  must  go  at  once  to 
Mr.  Brodliead,  that  he  was  dying  and  would  sec  her  immedi- 
ately. "Tell  him,"  said  she  in  reply,  "that  he  must  wait  'till  I 
get  my  tarts  out  of  the  oven."  The  tarts  w^ere  baked  and  taken 
out,  and  when  Miss  D.  started  to  minister  to  the  afflicted  suf- 
ferer, she  found  that  his  hufhness  had  woi'ked  a  cure,  for  he  was 
below  stairs  in  the  reading  room.  When  past  middle  life,  and 
under  the  influence  of  the  revival  that  attended  the  preaching 
of  Rev.  Mr.  Finney,  Mr.  Brodhead  made  a  profession  of  re- 
ligion, and  became  beyond  doubt  a  sincere  and  humble  follower 
of  his  Saviour.  He  united  with  the  Presbyterian  Church,  and 
when  shortly  afterwards  the  Reformed  Dutch  Church  was  or- 
ganized, he  attached  hmiself  to  it  and  was  one  of  its  ardent  sup- 
porters. Yet  so  emotional  and  impulsive  was  he,  so  little  were 
his  feelings  under  control,  that  his  surliness  would  betray  itself 
in  the  most  unseemly  times  and  places ;  and  even  his  church 
associates  were  not  beyond  the  range  of  his  testy  outbursts.  A 
single  incident  will  show  the  estimate  formed  of  him  by  a  casual 
acquaintance.  He  was  sitting  one  day  in  the  bar  room  of 
Bagg's  Hotel  in  company  with  several  gentlemen,  who  were 
engaged  in  animated  conversation.  Among  them  was  M.  Yicat, 
a  polished  Frenchman,  then  temporarily  resident,  who  took  a 
prominent  part  in  the  conversation,  and  was  gesticulating  with 
all  the  animation  of  his  countrymen.  During  a  brief  pause,  Mr. 
Brodhead  was  overheard  to  mutter:  "Monkey  !"  "Vat  is  dat 
you  say — monkey?"  retorted  the  Frenchman,  "monkey  is  bet- 
ter dan  cross  old  bear."  By  way  of  apology  for  his  humiliating 
infirmity,  let  it  be  borne  in  mind  that  much  of  his  earlier  life 
was  passed  chiefly  among  his  subordinates,  accustomed  to  yield 
in  everything  to  his  commands ;  moreover,  he  was  never  mar- 
ried, and  thus  taught,  by  the  discipline  of  mutual  forbearance 
and  support,  to  shape  his  inclinations  to  those  of  others.  In  his 
declining  years,  while  feeling  keenW  the  void  occasioned  b}'  the 
departure  of  the  associates  of  middle  life,  there  was  none  to  com- 
fort him  in  his  loneliness,  to  calm  his  perturbations,  and  to  assist 
him.  in  the  exercise  of  that  self-control,  the  want  of  which  caused 
him  many  bitter  regrets  and  much  humble  penitence.  These 
years  were  passed  in  public  boarding  houses,  where  those  he 
met,  intent  each  on  his  individual  interests,  were  apt  to  be  neg- 


THE  FIRST  CHARTER  OF  UTICA.  Ill 

ligent  of  the  courtesies  of  domestic  life,  or  perchance  took  pleas- 
ure in  wounding  the  morbid  sensibilities  of  a  solitary  old 
bachelor.  Mr.  Brodhead  died  at  the  National  Hotel,  after  a 
]»ainful  illness,  September  10,  1852,  aged  eighty. 

Under  date  of  July  iOth,  1800,  there  appeared  in  the  Colum- 
hian  Gazette  the  following  announcement :  ''Archibald  Kane 
and  Jeremiah  Van  Eensselaer,  Jr.,  under  tlie  firm  name  of  Kane  & 
Van  Rensselaer,  have  opened  a  house  at  Utica,  where  may  be 
had  a  general  assortment  of  dry  goods  and  gi'oceries  on  moderate 
terms."  This  brief  announcement  preludes  the  establishment 
here  of  one  branch  of  a  wideh'  ramified  and  prosperous  mercan- 
tile house  that  long  held  a  leading  place  in  the  village,  and 
which,  from  its  far-reaching  and  successful  enterprise,  was  well 
known  throughout  the  State.  Its  resident  member  and  his  fam- 
ily were  conspicuous  in  society,  and  contributed  Ijy  their  intel- 
ligence and  refinement,  by  their  liberality,  pulilic  spirit  and 
moral  purity,  not  less  than  by  their  wealtli  and  aristocratic  con- 
nections, not  a  few  of  tliose  traits  that  gave  a  charm  to  early 
Utica.  Mr.  Kane,  it  is  true,  never  lived  in  the  place,  and  was 
known  to  its  inhabitants  only  in  his  business  relations.  But  as 
elder  member  of  the  firm,  and  still  more  as  intimately  allied  in 
marriage  both  with  Jeremiah  Yan  Rensselaer  and  his  brother 
James,  an  adjunct  of  the  house,  his  memory  is  linked  with  our 
annals.  The  courtesy  of  John  C.  Van  Rensselaer,  son  of  the 
last  named,  has  supplied  me  with  many  of  the  particulars  of  the 
family  story.  Those  which  concern  the  Kanes  he  has  drawn 
from  a  communication  made  to  him  by  the  Hon.  Chancellor 
Kent,  their  near  relation. 

A  few  years  before  the  breaking  out  of  the  Revolutionary  war, 
there  was  living  in  the  southeast  of  Dutchess,  now  a  part  of 
Putnam  county,  N.  Y.,  witliin  the  compass  of  a  dozen  miles,  a 
polished  and  delightful  familj-  connection.  Its  head,  and  the 
venerable  patriarch  of  the  parish,  was  Rev.  Elisha  Kent,  a  Pres- 
byterian minister.  He  was  educated  at  Yale  College,  and  had 
been  minister  of  the  Oblong,  so  called,  near  the  town  of  South- 
East,  since  about  the  year  17-10.  Near  him  lived  his  son,  Hon. 
Moss  Kent,  the  father  of  Chancellor  Kent,  and  not  far  distant  his 
four  sons-in-law.  Three  of  these  were  thrifty  country  ti-aders, 
and  one  a  Scotch  officer  of  the  lr2d  Highlanders,  livine"  on  his  lialf 


112  THE  PIONEERS  OF  UTICA. 

pay.  Among  the  former  were  John  Kane,  father  of  the  Kane 
of  whom  we  are  to  treat,  and  Charles  Cullen,  whose  daughter 
became  afterwards  the  wife  of  James  Van  Rensselaer.  They 
were  both  natives  of  Ireland,  and  both  had  been  brought  up  as 
merchants.  " Here,  then,'' says  the  Chancellor,  "on  a  line  of 
twelve  miles  lived  uncle  Cullen,  on  Croton  river,  where  he  had 
a  very  pleasant  and,  for  that  day,  elegant  house  and  store, — 
next  grandfather  Kent,  on  a  fine  farm  with  house  and  orchard 
situated  on  high  ground, — next  my  father, — next  uncle  Mor- 
rison, a  Scotch  merchant, — next  uncle  Grrant,  and  next  uncle 
Kane,  a  prosperous  merchant  in  Pawling  Precinct,  near  (Quaker 
Hill.  From  1760  to  1776  they  were  living  most  respectable 
and  happ3^  as  a  family  circle ;  but  alas  !  tlie  American  war  came 
on  and  dispersed  them.  All  of  them,  (my  grandfather  exce})ted, 
who  died  in  1776,)  were  shipwrecked  in  their  business  and  for- 
tunes by  the  tempest  of  the  Revolution.''  The  Kents  and  the 
Cullens  took  sides  with  the  Color  ies.  Grrant,  recalled  to  service, 
fell  at  the  storming  of  Fort  Montgomery.  Mi-.  Kane  adhered 
to  the  crown  and  forfeited  his  possessions,  for  which  he  was  in 
part  remunerated  by  the  British  Government.  After  the  war 
he  removed  to  the  Province  of  New  Brunswick,  whence  after  a 
time  he  returned  to  settle  in  New  York  city.  His  sons  in  their 
turn  embarked  in  commerce.  John  Kane,  the  eldest,  established 
an  extensive  business  in  New  York ;  his  brother  James  located 
himself  in  Albany,  Charles  in  Schenectady,  while  Archibald, 
associating  himself  with  Jeremiah  Van  Rensselaer,  who  had 
married  his  sister,  opened  a  branch  of  the  house  at  Canajoharie. 
Another  brother  of  this  adventurous  and  thriving  family  was 
Elisha  Kane,  who  married  Alida,  sister  of  the  Van  Rensselaers, 
and  settled  himself  in  Philadelphia.  He  was  the  father  of  Hon. 
John  K.  Kane,  and  grandfather  of  Dr.  Kane,  the  Arctic  ex- 
plorer. Still  another  l)rother  was  Elias  wlio  was  also  doing  bus- 
iness as  a  merchant  at  Whitesboro,  as  early  at  least  as  1792,  and 
was  the  father  of  Hon.  Elias  K.  Kane,  of  Illinois.  Of  the  sis- 
ters of  this  family,  Maria  married  Judge  Joseph  C.  Yates,  after- 
ward Governor  of  New  York,  and  anotlier  Thomas  Morris,  son 
of  the  famous  banker  of  the  Revolution,  and  himself  a  law3'erof 
much  personal  consequence  at  Canandaigua. 

Having  thus  traced  one  member  of  the  firm  until  they  were 
united  in  business  at  Canajoharie,  let  us  now  see  who  was  his 


THE  FIRST  CHARTER  OF  UTICA.  118 

partner.  Jeremiali  Van  Rensselaer,  Ji-.,  was  descended  from  tlie 
Greenbush  braiicli  of  the  noted  proprietary  family  of  Rensse- 
laerswyck.  His  father,  the  grandson  of  the  fourth  Patroon,  was 
General  Robert  Van  Rensselaer,  of  Claverack,  who  fought  in 
the  Revolution,  and  afterward  filled  with  honor  many  public 
offices.  Jeremiah,  when  a  boy,  lived  for  a  time  with  Major 
General  Philip  Schuyler,  who  was  the  husband  of  his  father's 
sister.  General  Schuyler,  who  was  an  adej)t  in  the  exact  sci- 
ences and  versed  in  them  from  an  early  age,  wished  to  train  him 
as  an  engineer.  But  the  youth  found  the  stud}^  and  exercise  in 
figures  distasteful  and  irksome  to  him,  and  one  day,  being 
examined  by  his  uncle,  proved  so  untractable  or  indifferent  that 
the  General,  Mdio  was  a  stern  man  and  impatient  of  any  lack  of 
effort  or  want  of  success,  became  vexed  and  called  him  "block- 
head." This  so  enraged  the  high-spirited  nephew  that  he  at 
once  left  the  house  and  returned  to  his  father's  to  continue  his 
education  in  company  with  his  brother.  We  have  seen  that 
Elisha  Kane,  of  Philadelphia,  had  married  his  sister  ;  he  himself 
was  afterward  united  to  Sybil  Adaline  Kane ;  John  Kane  was 
now  a  prosperous  merchant  in  New  York.  Some  one  or  moj'e 
of  these  circumstances  resulted  in  Jeremiah's  engaging  in  mer- 
cantile pursuits.  Uniting  with  Archibald  Kane,  he  settled  at 
Canajoharie,  Montgomery  county,  in  1795.  Here  they  soon 
commanded  a  trade  which  was  the  largest  in  the  interior  of 
the  State.  Their  house  and  store,  known  as  "  Arch  Hall,'" 
was  still  standing  a  very  few  years  since.  With  them  as  as- 
sistants were  James  Van  Rensselaer  and  John  Cullen,  nephew 
of  Mr.  Kane.  Ere  long,  however,  encroachments  were  made 
upon  their  custom  by  stirring  rivals  at  Utica,  and  they  deter- 
mined to  repair  thither.  Mr.  Kane  did  not,  as  we  have  said, 
himself  remove,  though  he  contimied  a  partner  in  the  house. 
The  store  here  was  conducted  by  Mr.  Van  Rensselaer,  assisted 
at  the  outset  by  his  brother  James,  with  whom  was  presently 
associated  Fortune  C.  White,  and  subsequently  many  later 
clerks.  It  was  situated  on  the  east  side  of  Genesee,  a  little 
north  of  the  corner  of  Broad,  and  was  graced  by  the  sign  of  the 
"Eagle."'  It  was  oblong  m  shape,  presenting  its  broader  side 
to  the  street.  When  on  the  laying  out  of  Broad  street,  its 
upper  end  was  found  to  encroach  upon  the  projected  higlnvay, 
and  it  became  necessary  to  turn  it  half  way  round,  this  was 

H 


114  THE  pioxep:rs  of  utica. 

accomplislied  by  balancing  the  building  on  a  cannon  ball  as  a 
pivot,  after  which  it  was  easily  swung  into  place.  The  store 
soon  became  popular  and  the  business  an  extended  one.  From 
the  relations  maintained  with  the  parent  house  in  New  York 
and  its  several  branches,  the  partners  must  have  had  facilities 
in  importing  goods  and  in  shipping  and  selling  produce,  as  well 
as  in  the  use  of  capital,  which  were  enjoyed  by  few  if  any  of 
their  competitors.  Theirs,  too,  was  the  fountain  head  whence 
many  a  country  store  drew  its  constant  supplies.  They  adver- 
tised freely  and  constantly,  occupying  a  conspicuous  place  in 
the  weekly  papers  for  a  long  series  of  3'ears.  At  the  begirming 
of  their  career  in  Utica  the  most  dangerous  rival  with  whom 
the}'  had  to  contend  was  Bryan  Johnson,  and  old  settlers  relate 
with  zest  the  strife  that  prevailed  between  them.  That  the  con- 
testants could  sometimes  unite  in  pursuance  of  their  common 
interest,  the  following  expedient  to  bring  down  the  jDrice  of 
wheat,  if  it  is  to  be  relied  on  as  true,  may  be  cited  as  a  sample. 
"When  wheat,  at  one  time  was,  through  competition,  rated  much 
above  its  real  value,  Messrs.  K.  &  V.  E.  sent  out  by  night  upon 
the  New  Hartford  road  several  wagon  loads  of  the  article. 
These  coming  in  by  daylight  were  driven  to  the  store  of  Johnson, 
who,  after  considerable  chaffering,  would  become  the  purchaser. 
Mr.  Van  Kensselaer  built  himself  an  elegant  mansion  on 
what  were  then  the  outskirts  of  the  village,  on  grounds  as 
remarkable  for  then*  extent  as  for  the  taste  expended  upon 
them.  They  were  situated  on  the  east  side  of  Genesee  street, 
and  included  nearly  the  whole  space  that  is  now  bounded  by 
Devereux,  Genesee,  Caruahan  and  Charlotte.  The  main  entrance 
to  them  was  by  a  large  gate- way  at  what  is  now  the  junction  of 
Genesee  and  Devereux.  The  house  which  was  a  wooden  one, 
painted  white,  with  two  oval  wings,  was  situated  some  hundred 
feet  back  from  the  street  and  was  approached  by  a  circular 
drive  to  the  right  and  the  left.  The  grounds  were  well  laid 
out  and  ornamented  with  shade  irees.  In  the  rear  were  stables 
and  a  nicely  kept  garden.  Here  Mr.  A^an  Rensselaer  lived 
during  the  most  of  his  career,  in  the  enjoyment  of  am})le  means, 
dispensing  abundant  hospitality,  and  making  the  nearest  ap- 
proach of  any  person  to  Colonel  Walker  in  his  personal  and 
family  equipments.  But  when  several  years  of  prosperity  had 
rolled  over  him  tliere  came  at  length  a  chan<ire :    the  firm  of 


THE  FIRST  CHARTER  OF  UTICA.  115 

Kane  and  Van  Rensselaer  encountered  the  commercial  storm 
^Yllich  followed  the  resumption  of  specie  payments  after  the 
war  of  1812-15.  It  prostrated  the  house  of  John  Kane  in 
New  York,  and  with  it  fell  all  the  associate  houses.  Resuming 
business  alone,  Mr.  Van  Rensselaer  carried  it  on  for  a  few  years, 
but  was  at  length  obliged  to  suspend.  He  parted  wdth  his 
beautiful  home,  and  moved  into  the  house  before  occupied  by 
Rev.  Dr.  Cartiahan.  About  1825  he  left  the  village  and  went 
to  Canandaigua,  w^here  his  son-in-law  Mr.  Granger  resided,  and 
was  there  secretary  of  a  fire  insurance  company.  His  wife  gave 
her  services  to  the  care  of  the  Ontario  Female  Seminary. 
They  both  died  in  1828,  and  but  two  weeks  apart. 

As  a  foremost  participant  in  the  business  interests  of  the 
place  as  well  as  in  its  benevolent  and  religious  affairs,  not  less 
than  as  a  dignified  and  courtly  gentleman,  Mr.  Van  Rensselaer 
ranked  high.  He  was  of  the  first  board  of  village  trustees  un- 
der the  charter  of  1805,  and  two  years  their  president ;  of  the 
first  board  of  directors  of  the  Ontario  Branch  Bank,  and  pres- 
ident of  the  Capron  Factory ;  of  the  first  Utica  board  of  trus- 
tees of  the  Presbyterian  Church,  and  president  of  the  first 
board  of  trustees  of  the  Utica  Academy.  When  the  site  for 
the  academy  w^as  in  contemplation,  he  offered  to  give  for  the 
purpose  a  fine  lot  on  Genesee  street,  adjoining  the  grounds 
which  he  himself  occupied.  He  was  also  a  trustee  of  Hamilton 
College  until  his  removal.  Some  idea  of  the  respect  that  was 
entertained  for  his  character,  and  of  the  sympathy  that  flowed 
forth  on  his  failure,  may  be  gathered  from  the  proceedings 
which  were  had  at  that  time  in  the  board  of  the  Presbyterian 
Church.  Bj^  his  account  current  as  late  treasurer  of  the  societ}^, 
he  had  shown  himself  their  debtor  to  the  amount  of  $148.08. 
"  And  whereas  since  the  rendition  of  said  account,  the  said 
society  became  indebted  to  him  $-13.38  for  the  rent  of  his  school 
house ;  and  whereas  also  by  an  examination  of  said  Van  Rens- 
selaer's accounts  heretofore  rendered  as  treasurer,  it  clearly 
appears  that  he  had  omitted  to  charge  said  society  interest  on 
sundry  advances  made  b}^  him  for  their  benefit ;  moreover, 
had  for  many  3-ears  permitted  said  society  to  occupy  the  afore- 
said house  for  which  he  has  not  received  any  rent  or  compen- 
sation whatever :  therefore  resolved,  for  the  considerations  afore- 
said, that  said  Jeremiah  Van  Rensselaer  is  not  indebted  for  or 


116  THE  PIONEERS  OF  UTICA. 

on  account  of    the  aforesaid  $148,08  ;   and  further  that  the 
treasurer  give  him  a  full  and  ample  discharge  therefrom." 

"While  thus  relied  on  for  his  integrity  and  his  zeal  and  effi- 
ciency in  pul)lic  affairs,  esteemed  for  liis  moral  excellence,  and 
admired  for  his  liberality,  and  the  elegance  and  profuseness  of 
his  domestic  courtesies,  it  cannot  be  denied  that  there  were 
those  who  accounted  him  a  proud  man,  and  imputed  to  him  a 
higher  conceit  of  his  Van  Kensselaer  blood  than  he  actually 
felt.  It  was  the  knowledge,  mayhap,  that  he  had  cause  for 
pride  which  fathered  the  suspicion  that  he  cherished  it.  Re- 
called in  fancy,  as  he  sat  of  a  summer  evening  on  the  front 
steps  of  his  store,  divested  of  his  coat,  and  with  long  clay  pipe 
in  hand,  this  lusty,  well-conditioned,  well-favored  gentleman  of 
a  privileged  race,  does  indeed  remind  us  of  some  genuine  Dutch 
burgher  of  colonial  times  as  these  w^ere  wont  to  sit  in  aristo- 
cratic repose  on  the  stoops  of  their  dwellings.  And  could  we 
but  divine  his  musings,  we  might,  perchance,  detect  one  ele- 
ment of  content  in  the  assurance  of  being  better  born  than  the 
most  of  the  upstart  Yankees  he  saw  around  him;  but  never  a 
supercilious  thought  or  intent,  nor  an}^  lack  of  willingness  to 
do  wuth  or  for  his  neighbors  all  that  might  conduce  to  the  com- 
mon good.  His  wife,  who,  as  has  been  said,  was  Sybil  Ada- 
line  Kane,  was  a  very  lovely  woman  in  every  relation  of  life, 
and  was  moreover  possessed  of  much  beauty.  She  and  her 
family  held  for  many  years  the  nnchallenged  leadership  in  the 
societ}''  of  Utica,  her  daughters  being  as  eminent  for  their  beauty 
and  their  accomplishments  as  herself.  The  family  was  a  numer- 
ous one,  and  consisted  of  Cornelia  B.  (Mrs.  Francis  Granger 
of  Canandaigua) ;  Alida  M.  (Mrs.  Charles  Carroll  of  Mt.  Morris) ; 
Catharine  S. ;  Robert  a  lawyer  of  N.  Y. ;  Archibald  and  Jacob 
R,  merchants  of  New  Orleans;  Jacob  of  Detroit;  Carnahan, 
who  died  young.  Alida  has  earned  an  honorable  remembrance 
among  the  benefactors  of  Utica  as  one  of  the  five  3'oung  ladies 
who  founded  the  L'tica  Sunday  school. 

There  came  in  the  vear  1800,  from  Coleraine,  Mass.,  a  young 
man  who  opened  a  department  of  business  which  is  still  prose- 
cuted by  later  members  of  the  famil}'",  and  which  is  doubtless 
tlie  oldest  establishment  of  any  kind  in  Utica.  This  was  Jesse 
Newell.     He  had  been  brought  up  a  tailor,  but  on  his  arrival 


THE  FIRST  CHARTER  OF  UTICA.  117 

set  up  as  a  painter  and  glazier,  taking  as  a  partner  George 
Macomber,  eldest  son  of  Captain  Macomber  before  noticed.  As 
Macomber  &  Newell  they  began  tlie  practice  of  their  art,  to 
which  was  added  the  sale  of  materials  pertaining  thereto,  and 
ere  long  the  mannfacture  of  brushes.  This  partnership  con- 
tinued during  the  long  period  of  twenty-eight  years,  and  was 
only  broken  np  by  the  ill  health  of  Mr.  Macomber.  At  the 
outset  they  were  almost  the  only  painters  of  this  region,  and 
not  unfrequently  were  called  as  far  as  Lowville  to  execute  a 
job.  Mr.  Macomber  retired  in  1828,  removed  to  Sauquoit,  and 
was  engaged  in  farming  until  his  death  in  1861,  at  the  age  of 
eighty.  His  first  wife,  Cynthia,  daughter  of  Jason  Parker,  died 
within  two  or  three  3^ears  of  their  iinion;  his  second,  Miss 
Shephard,  of  Paris,  was  the  mother  of  his  nine  children,  of 
whom  the  only  representative,  now  in  Utica,  is  the  wife  of  S- 
S.  Lowery.  The  place  of  business  of  this  long-lived  firm,  at 
first  on  the  corner  of  Broad  and  Genesee,  w^as  many  years  since 
removed  to  its  present  site,  just  above  Catherine,  and  there  it 
was  continued  by  Mr.  iSTewell,  after  the  retirement  of  his  partner, 
in  company  with  his  son  Norman  C.  Newell,  and  until  his  own 
death,  April  19th,  1843.  He  was  a  man  of  some  singularities,  not 
mingling  much  in  public  matters,  but  devoted  to  his  own  con- 
cerns. His  first  wife  (Ruth  Allen,  from  Danlour}^,  Conn.,)  died 
October  2d,  1813.  Their  children  were  Oliver,  Mrs.  Hoch- 
strasser,  Mrs.  John  R.  Jones  and  Norman  C.  His  second  wife  bore 
him  two  sons  and  a  daughter,  AYilliam  of  California,  Heiny  of 
Kansas,  and  Mrs.  Wilson  of  Yernon. 


1801. 

Passing  on  to  the  year  1801,  we  find  evidence  of  the  residence 
of  the  following  persons,  and  yet  are  unable  to  say  they  had  not 
an  earlier  citizenship,  viz:  Aylmer  Johnson,  Martin  Dakin, 
James  Ure,  Bela  Hubbard,  and  Francis  Dana. 

Captain  A3dmer  Johnson  had  been  an  oflicer  in  the  army  of 
England,  though  rumor  says  only  an  orderly  sergeant.  But  his 
education  and  his  manners  justified  his  pretension  to  the  title  of 
captain,  and  so  he  was  called.  Before  corning  to  Utica  he  had 
lived  at  Oriskany,  as  agent  for  William  Green.  While  here  he 
■was  for  some  time  confidential  secretary  of  Col.  Walker,  and 


118  THE  PIOXEEES  OF  UTICA. 

lived  east  of  the  Colonel  in  the  house  previously  occupied  by 
Silas  Clark.  Losing  the  confidence  of  his  employer,  he  lost  also- 
his  position.  For  a  short  time  also,  he  constituted  one  of  the 
firm  of  E.  Smith  &  Co.,  brewers,  though  this  was  prior  to  his 
connection  with  Col.  Walker.  He  was  a  tall,  powerful  and  fine 
looking  man,  and  formed  an  important  element  in  the  social 
gatherings  of  early  times,  for  he  was  a  cheerful  companion  and 
played  skillfully  at  cards,  which  were  then  almost  always  a  part 
of  an  evening's  entertainment.  He  took  an  active  part  in  poli- 
tics and  in  all  public  affairs.  One  of  the  agents  in  the  erection 
of  Trinity  Church,  he  was  for  three  successive  years  one  of  its 
earlier  wardens.  His  Avife,  whom  it  is  said  he  met  sitting  on  a 
fence  in  some  provincial  town  in  Ireland  where  he  was  stationed, 
and  whom  he  educated  before  marriage,  was  quite  lady-like  in 
dress  and  address,  bright  and  social,  and  as  much  a  favorite  in 
company  as  himself.  Captain  Johnson's  later  history  is  a  pain- 
ful one  to  record.  The  Directory  of  1817  contains  his  name, 
but  with  no  occupation  attached.  He  became  very  poor,  and 
was  often  seen  in  the  streets  miserably  clad  and  leaning  on  the 
arm  of  his  wife,  for  he  was  almost  bent  double  with  rheumatism. 
It  is  related  that  when  Col.  Walker  died.  Captain  Johnson  was 
unable  to  attend  the  funeral,  but  that  after  it  was  over,  a  scarf 
was  sent  him  by  the  family  like  those  which  had  been  furnished 
to  the  bearers.  His  own  funeral,  with  military  honors,  followed 
on  the  28th  of  August,  1824,  when  he  had  reached  the  age  of 
fifty-seven.  He  was  childless,  but  had  an  a(lo])ted  daughter 
named  Alma. 

Martin  Dakin,  brother-in-law  of  Francis  H.  Bloodgood,  was 
by  him  employed  in  the  county  clerk's  office,  and  was  deputy 
clerk  from  1 802  to  1808.  His  native  brilliancy  of  talent  had 
been  improved  by  a  good  education  in  the  old  country  and 
in  his  own  home,  and  to  these  were  added  many  sociable  and 
companionable  qualities.  In  the  war  of  1812,  he  took  up  arms. 
Later  in  life,  he  was  associate  editor  of  the  Charleston  Courier^ 
and  in  that  city  he  died  many  years  ago,  having  fallen  into  habits 
which  men  organized  as  he  was,  so  often  contract.  His  skill  in 
verse,  of  which  a  few  })roofs  are  still  preserved,  is  shown  in  tlie 
following  lines ;  and  it  is  a  gratification  to  be  assured  that  his 
last  hours  were  cheered  by  the  teachings  of  that  Book,  to 
which  he  so  fondly,  yet  almost  ho^Delessly  clung. 


THE  FIRST  CHARTER  OF  UTICA.  119 

THE    FAMILY   BIBLE. 

How  painfully  pleasing  the  fond  recollection 
Of  youthful  connections  and  innocent  joys, 
When  blessed  with  parental  advice  and  protection, 
Surrounded  with  mercy,  with  peace  from  on  high, 
I  still  view  the  chairs  of  my  sire  and  my  mother, 
The  seats  of  their  offspring  as  ranged  on  each  hand, 
And  that  richest  of  books  which  excels  everj'^  other, 
The  Family  Bible  which  lay  on  the  stand. 

That  Bible,  the  volume  of  God's  inspiration, 
At  morn  and  at  evening  could  yield  us  delight, 
And  the  prayers  of  our  sire  were  a  sweet  invocation, 
For  mercy  by  day  and  for  safety  through  night. 
Our  hymns  of  thanksgiving  with  harmony  swelling. 
All  warm  from  the  hearts  of  a  family  band, 
Half  raised  us  from  earth  to  that  rapturous  dwelling, 
Described  in  the  Bible  that  lay  on  the  stand. 

Ye  scenes  of  tranquility — long  have  we  parted, 
My  hopes  almost  gone — my  parents  no  more; 
In  sorrow  and  sadness  I  roam  broken-hearted. 
And  wander  unknown  on  a  far  distant  shore; 
Yet  how  can  I  doubt  a  dear  Saviour's  protection, 
Forgetful  of  gifts  from  His  bountiful  hand? 
Then  let  me  with  patience  receive  His  correction. 
And  think  of  the  Bible  that  lay  on  the  stand. 

Near  where  Nail  creek  crosses  Varick  street,  on  the  same  spot 
where  E.  Smith  &  Co.  began  brewing  in  1804,  James  Ure  had 
brewed  before  them.  He  was  a  Methodist  of  the  noisy  kind, 
and  rehgious  meetings  were  sometimes  hekl  in  his  brewery,  to 
which  the  young  people  would  occasionally  resort  when  there 
were  no  services  elsewhere.  After  the  breaking  down  of  his  suc- 
cessors b}'  the  absconding  of  Smith,  he  would  seem  to  have  re- 
sumed thC'  concern,  having  as  a  partner  William  Alverson, 
But  in  1811,  his  brew  and  malt  house  with  four  and  a  half  acres 
of  land  was  sold  under  execution.  He  was  from  Scotland  and 
to  him  Scotland  was  every  thing.  When  he  encountered  what 
seemed  to  him  unusual  or  peculiar,  he  was  accustomed  to  say 
"You  don"t  see  such  things  in  Enrope."  But  if  asked  to  what 
part  of  Europe  he  referred,  his  reply  was  ''Scotland,  of  course." 

The  earliest  occupant  of  the  tannery  on  Whitesboro  street, 
where  James  Harter  now  is,  and  which  has  been  conducted  by 
several  successive  tanners,  was  Bela  Hubbard.  He  removed 
about  1809  to  Adams,  in  Jefferson  county.    His  son,  who  lived 


120  THE   PIOXEERS  OF  UTICA. 

at  Columbus,  Oliio,  was  Genera]  Grand  Commander  of  the  Gen- 
eral Grand  Encampment  of  the  order  of  Free  Masons  of  the 
United  States. 

Francis  Dana  was  engaged  in  boating  on  the  Mohawk.  He 
staved  a  short  time  only  and  removed  to  Watertown.  He 
owned  a  colored  woman,  who,  through  fear  of  being  sold, 
jumped  into  the  river  with  her  child,  and  l)oth  were  drowned. 

The  two  })ersons  next  to  he  noticed,  if  not  actual  comers  of 
the  year,  were  assuredly  recent  arrivals.  Their  standing  and 
character  justify  some  detail. 

The  former  was  Dr.  Francis  Guiteau,  Jr.,  a  descendant  of  one 
of  those  exiles  from  France,  the  Huguenots,  who  were  driven 
from  their  country  by  the  cruel  and  self-ruinous  decree  of  Louis 
XIV.  His  father  was  a  j^hysiciau  in  Pittsfield,  and  afterwards 
in  Lanesboro,  Mass.,  but  passed  his  latest  j^ears  in  Deerfield 
in  this  county.  Francis  was  the  eldest  of  several  sons,  of  whom 
two,  Calvin,  the  survej^or,  and  Dr.  Luther  Guiteau,  of  Trenton, 
became  early  denizens  of  Oneida  county.  He  moved  into  the 
town  of  Deerfield  and  assumed  his  professional  charge  as  early 
as  1792.  His  circuit  of  practice  was  extensive,  embracing  not 
merely  Utica  and  its  envu-ons,  but  sometimes  transcending  the 
present  bounds  of  the  county.  He  occupied  a  farm  east  of  the 
Corners,  the  same  w^hich  was  afterwards  held  by  Abraham 
TTalton,  and  he  was  the  first  super^-isor  of  the  town.  As  Mr. 
"Walton  was  living  upon  the  farm  in  18()1.  it  is  }irobable  this  is 
about  the  date  of  Dr.  Guiteau's  removal  to  Utica.  April  4th, 
1803,  he  announces  that  ill-health  induces  him  to  call  for  a  set- 
tlement ;  but  in  July  of  the  same  year,  he  enters  into  partner- 
ship, as  practitioner  and  druggist,  with  Dr.  Solomon  AVolcott 
Their  store  and  office  was  at  first  near  what  is  now  the  corner 
of  Burchard  and  Wliitesboro  streets,  but  was  soon  exchanged 
foi"  a  site  on  the  east  side  of  Genesee,  a  few  doors  above  the 
square.  They  built  each  a  house  on  Wliitesboro  street,  a  little 
west  of  the  present  Globe  Hotel.  Their  announcements  occur 
from  time  to  time  in  the  village  weeklies  until  January,  1807, 
when  the}'  dissolved,  and  Dr.  Guiteau  devoted  himself  exclu- 
sively to  i)ractice.  He  was  deemed  skillful,  and  held  in  high 
esteem  as  a  physician,  and  his  practice  was  considerable.  His 
only  near  rivals  were  Dr.  Alexander  Coventry,  who  was  still  a 
resident  of  Deerfield,  and  Drs.  Hasbrouck,  and  Stockman  of 


THE  FIRST  CHARTER  OF  UTICA.  121 

Utica,  botli  of  whom,  as  well  as  Dr.  Wolcot,  were  in  part  di-ug- 
gists,  also.  Dr.  Gr.  was  six  feet  in  height  and  rather  spare  of 
flesh,  erect  and  active,  of  firm  fibre,  and  well  fitted  to  endnre 
labor  and  fatigue.  In  manners  he  was  genial  and  pleasant,  but 
decided  in  his  opinions  and  free  in  the  expression  of  them.  A 
leading  man  among  the  Baptists  and  a  zealous  advocate  of  their 
principles  of  belief,  he  w\as  sensitive  to  any  opposition  to  his 
religious  views.  He  was  also  a  strong  Democrat.  During  the 
war  he  invented  an  explosive  missile  designed  for  sinking  ships, 
for  which  he  received  a  grant  from  government.  About  1814, 
he  took  up  his  residence  in  Wliitesboro,  bat  was  still  retained 
as  the  medical  adviser  of  many  families  in  Utica.  A  few  years 
before  his  death,  he  was  thrown  from  his  sulky  upon  the  frozen 
ground,  and  taken  up  insensible.  He  so  far  recovered  as  to  be 
able  to  visit  a  few  patients  about  the  village  of  Wliitesboro, 
but  was  never  able  to  support  fatigue  or  mental  excitement 
afterwards.  His  death-  occurred  about  1823.  He  had  ten  chil- 
dren, five  sons  and  five  daughters,  of  whom  one  onl}^,  Luther 
Guitean,  cashier  of  the  Freeport  Bank,  Illinois,  is  now  living. 

Although  the  home  of  Abraham  M.  Walton  was  in  Deerfield, 
and  not  in  Utica,  3'et  the  latter  was  his  place  of  business,  and 
with  its  people  he  was  in  daily  intercourse.  He  was  the  son  of 
Abraham  Walton,  of  New  York,  and  a  descendant  of  one  of  the 
old  families  of  that  city.  He  studied  law  with  Colonel  Bichard 
Yarick,  was  admitted  an  attorney  of  the  Supreme  Court  in  1791, 
and  practiced  a  shoi't  time  in  the  metropolis.  But  being  a  some- 
what fast  member  of  the  aristocratic  society  to  which  he  be- 
longed, he  had  fallen  into  wa3^s  of  dissipation  which  began  to 
alarm  his  family.  To  effect  his  reform  by  removing  him  from 
the  reach  of  temptation,  he  was  induced  to  assume  the  charge 
of  a  tract  of  land  in  Schuyler,  on  the  borders  of  Deerfield,  which 
belonged  to  the  family,  and  which  is  known  as  AYal ton's  Patent. 
As  early  as  1801  he  settled  near  this  tract,  on  a  farm  of  one 
hundred  and  fifty  acres,  lying  about  three  quarters  of  a  mile 
east  of  Deerfield  Corners.  He  opened  an  office  in  Utica,  and 
besides  the  care  of  the  estate  he  was  sent  to  manage,  did  some- 
thing in  the  practice  of  his  profession,  and  something  more  in 
the  purchase  and  sale  of  lands.  His  brother,  Charles,  was  asso- 
ciated with  him  in  a  part  of  his  transactions ;  his  law  partner  was 
Abraham  D.  Yan  Home. 


122  THE   PIOXEEES  OF  UTICA. 

With  respect  to  the  dealings  of  the  Waltoiis  in  landed  estate, 
it  is  a  fact  of  note  that  they  were  once  possessors  of  the  territory 
on  which  now  stands  the  city  of  Syracuse.  It  would  appear 
from  an  address  b}^  Hon.  George  Geddes  before  the  Onondaga 
Pioneer  Association,  that  in  order  to  secure  a  market  for  the  salt 
manufactured  at  "  Salt  Point,"  a  law  was  passed  by  the  Legisla- 
ture of  1804,  directing  the  sale  of  two  hundred  and  fifty  acres 
of  salt  reservation,  to  raise  the  money  witli  which  to  make  an 
east  and  west  road  across  it.  Mr.  Abraham  Walton, — in  as- 
sociation with  his  brother  Charles — purchased  the  two  hundred 
and  fifty  acres  for  the  sum  of  $6,550,  and  thus  the  land  became 
known  as  the  Walton  Tract.  He  immediately  laid  out  a  village, 
and  in  1805  erected  mills,  and  continued  to  sell  lots  as  ])ur- 
chasers  came,  until  1814,  when  the  remaining  interest  was  dis- 
posed of  to  Forman,  Wilson  &  Co.,  merchants  at  Onondaga 
Valley,  for  $9,000.  Joshua  Forman,  the  leading  man  in  this 
purchase,  had  by  this  time  found  out  that  here  was  to  be  the 
future  city,  and  he  wisely  resolved  to  be  its  builder.  But  he 
did  not  invent  Syracuse,  as  is  said  by  Mr.  Weed  in  his  Re- 
miniscences, he  took  it  second  hand.  The  $6,550  received 
from  the  original  purchase,  made  the  road  from  the  village  of 
DeWitt  to  the  west  line  of  the  present  town  of  Geddes,  about 
ten  miles, 

Mr.  Walton  was  not  the  man  to  succeed  in  such  undertakings. 
If  he  had  the  forethought  to  conceive,  he  lacked  the  prudence, 
the  steadiness  of  purpose,  the  regularity  of  business  habits,  and 
the  care  for  detail,  necessary  to  achieve  success.  Strongly  social 
in  his  nature,  a  pleasant  companion,  and  a  good  neighbor,  he 
had  a  respectable  position  in  the  community,  and  held  some 
ofl&ces  of  trust.  He  was  one  of  the  first  appointed  wardens  of 
Trinity  Church,  and  at  a  later  period,  after  he  had  come  to  Utica 
to  reside,  was  one  year  a  village  trustee. 

Before  his  removal,  he  sustained  a  severe  loss  in  the  death  of 
his  wife.  She  was  the  only  child  of  Lewis  Graham,  of  West- 
chester, and  is  said  to  have  been  very  beautiful  in  person,  of 
excellent  understanding,  and  graceful  and  engaging  manners. 
Shortly  after  her  decease,  which  occui-red  Febnuiiy  18th  1809, 
Mr.  Walton,  who  had  ere  this,  run  through  with  much  of  his 
property,  announced  his  farm  as  for  sale,  and  made  a  temporary 
sojourn  in  Utica.     At  his  death,  which  occurred  October  5th, 


THE  FIEST  CHARTER  OF  UTICA.  123 

1813,  his  remains  were  escorted  to  the  grave  by  some  of  the 
leading  inhabitants  of  Utica  and  its  neighborhood,  and  were 
l)Iaced,  by  the  side  of  his  wife  and  infant  child,  in  a  small  burial 
place  that  once  formed  a  part  of  the  famil}^  estate. 

A  resident  of  the  year  1801,  was  Dr.  Edward  Bainbridge,. 
hnsband  of  a  branch  of  one  of  the  families  who  were  former 
owners  of  the  Manor  of  Cosby.  He  was  the  son  of  Dr.  Absalom 
Bainbridge,  one  of  whose  ancestors  was  among  the  founders  of 
New  Jersey,  and  himself  a  surgeon,  during  the  revolutionary 
war,  of  the  loyalist  company  of  New  Jersey  volunteers.  Dr. 
Edward  was  also  the  brother  of  tlie  William  Bainbridge,  who^ 
at  this  time,  was  a  post  captain  in  the  American  navy,  and  who^ 
on  the  29th  of  December,  1812,  while  in  command  of  the  frigate, 
Constitution,  captured  the  British  frigate,  Java.  Dr.  B.  was 
already  ruined  by  habits  of  intemperance,  and  lived  not  more 
than  two  years  after  coming  to  Utica.  His  wife  was  daughter  / 
of  Charles  and  Agatha  Evans,  the  latter  being  the  daughter  and  ' 
devisee  of  General  John  Bradstreet,  one  of  the  original  proprie- 
tors of  the  Manor.  Their  residence  was  situated  a  short 
distance  west  of  Col.  Walker.  Mrs.  Bainbridge  did  not  long- 
survive  her  husband.  Several  years  later  their  son  figured  in 
Utica,  and  elsewhere,  as  "the  Commodore's  nephew."  '  Mary, 
the  daughter,  became  an  inmate  in  the  family  of  Peter  Colt,  of 
Rome,  and  removed  with  them  to  New  Jersey. 

A  much  more  notorious  member  of  this  same  pr(!)prietary 
family,  was  Martha,  daughter  of  Major  Samuel  Bradstreet,  of  , 
the  40th  Regiment  of  English  Infantry,  who  was  stepson  of 
General  John  Bradstreet.  She  was  born  on  the  island  of  Anti- 
gua, W.  I,  August  10th,  1780,  and  married  in  Ireland  to  Mat- 
thew Codd,  April  16th,  1799.  They  came  to  America  in  the 
faU  of  the  same  year,  and  not  long  after  were  living  in  Utica. 
Their  first  residence  was  on  Whitesboro  street,  a  little  distance 
west  of  Broadway,  and  their  subsequent  one  was  on  Main  street, 
next  Talcott  Camp.  If  strong  enough  to  be  the  support  and 
defender  of  his  wife,  for  he  was  over  six  feet  in  height  and  pro- 
portionately vigorous,  Codd  was  worthless  enough  to  be  her  con- 
tinual plague.  Without  employment,  he  lived  only  on  the 
drafts  she  received  from  her  friends  abroad,  and  was  besides  in- 
temperate and  quarrelsome,  driving  her  frequentl}^  from  the 


124  THE  PIONEEES  OF  UTICA. 

house.  More  tliau  once  did  she  flee  into  Squire  Camp's  for 
protection,  and  there  from  a  window  carry  on  an  altercation 
with  her  husband,  as  he  stood  on  the  stoop  of  liis  own  dwelHng. 
His  conduct  was  so  bad  that  thc}^  separated,  and  were  eventu- 
ally divorced.  She  subsequently  obtained  an  act  from  the  Leg- 
islature authorizing  her  to  assume  her  maiden  name.  Codd 
€arl3^  left  this  part  of  the  country.  His  wife  was  here  or  in  the 
vicinity  in  1809,  and  lived  afterward  successively  in  Albany, 
New  York,  &c.,  and  a  short  time,  in  her  later  life,  in  the  west- 
ern part  of  this  city. 

After  her  divorce  from  Mr.  Codd,  she  became  notorious  as  a 
strenuous  and  persevering  claimant  of  a  large  part  of  the  soil  of 
Utica.  She  harrassed  numbers  of  its  citizens  with  suits  at  law, 
and  besieged  the  courts  with  her  causes.  These  trials  are  fully 
reported  in  the  Law  Reports,  so  that  it  will  hardly  be  worth  the 
while  to  present  here  anything  more  than  the  barest  outline  of 
the  points  at  issue. 

General  Bradstreet.  one  of  the  joint  owners  of  Cosby 's  Manor, 
after  a  division  had  been  made  between  the  purchasers,  devised 
his  share  to  his  two  daughters,  Martha  and  Agatha.  Martha, 
who  died  unmarried,  devised  her  portion  as  follows  :  one-third 
to  her  sister  Agatha,  one-third  to  her  half-sister  Elizabeth,  and 
one-third  to  the  children  of  her  half  brother  Samuel,  of  whom 
one  was  Martha  who  became  afterwards  Mrs.  Codd.  Elizabeth 
wdlled  w^hat  Martha  had  left  her  solely  to  this  same  Martha. 
Thus,  \!f^  a  double  devise,  Mrs.  Codd  derived  title  to  a  large  share 
of  the  lands  of  General  Bradstreet.  The  executor  of  the  first 
above  mentioned  will  w^as  Sir  Charles  Gould,  and  he,  by  its 
terms,  was  authorized  to  sell  and  disj)ose  of  the  real  estate 
therein  devised.  Through  his  attorneys,  Edward  Gould  and 
Daniel  Ludlow,  this  was  done,  and  between  the  years  1790  and 
1794  several  of  the  earlier  settlers  thus  received  titles  to  the 
land  which  they  then  or  afterward  occupied.  Mrs.  Codd,  in  the 
suits  which  she  brought  against  the  occupants  of  these  lands, 
^insisted  that  the  conveyances  by  these  attorneys  of  Sir  Charles 
'Gould  were  not  valid  because  no  authority  for  that  purpose  was 
shown  to  have  ever  existed,  and  because  Sir  Charles  Gould  could 
not  have  legally  delegated  to  another  the  power  he  possessed 
under  the  will  of  Martha  Bradstreet.  This  position  of  the  plain- 
tiff was  off-set  by  the  production  of  a  deed  executed  by  General 


THE  FIRST  CHARTER  OF  UTICA.  125 

Philip  Schii34er,  executor  of  Genei'al  Bradstreet,  to  Agatha, 
daughter  of  General  B.  wherein  in  order  to  invest  Agatha  with 
her  portion,  he  empowers  Edward  Gould  to  sell  and  convey  the 
lands  of  the  other  devisees  and  to  divide  the  proceeds  between 
them.  This  Edward  Gonld,  who  became  a  bankrupt,  executed 
afterward  a  deed  to  Mrs.  Oodd,  conveying  to  her  all  the  real  estate 
held  by  him,  but  with  covenant  of  warranty  that  he  should  not  be 
held  responsible  for  any  sales  which  he  might  have  made  prior 
to  his  bankruptcy.  But  the  sales  to  the  occupants  of  the  lands, 
the  same  lands  which  Mrs.  Codd  was  now  laying  claim  to,  were 
made  years  before  the  bankruptcy  of  Edward  Gould,  and  while 
he  was  acting  as  attorney  of  Sir  Chas.  Gould.  Such,  in  brief, 
was  the  claim  of  Mrs.  Codd,  and  such  the  ground  of  defence 
made  by  the  defendants  in  her  suits,  which  defence  was  more- 
over strengthened  by  the  fact  of  possession  for  the  space  of 
thirt}"  years,  for  it  was  not  imtil  after  the  lapse  of  this  length  of 
time,  and  not  until  she  had  resumed  her  maiden  name,  that  the 
suits  were  in  prosecution. 

Mrs.  Bradstreet  was  a  woman  of  vigorous  natural  talent,  mas- 
culine in  features  and  in  temperament,  though  not  without  con- 
siderable of  the  refinement  and  bearing  of  a  lady.  Acquiring 
by  study  a  mastery  of  the  law  of  real  estate,  she  was  a  host  in 
herself ;  but  she  enlisted  in  her  aid  some  of  the  ablest  counsel 
of  the  State.  Her  causes  were  numerous  and  directed  against 
a  large  number  of  individual  land-holders.  They  were  tried 
chieiiy  in  the  United  States  District  Court  before  Judge  Conklino- 
but  also  in  the  old  Supreme  Court  of  the  State,  before  Judges 
Savage,  Sutherland,  &c.  She  was  herself  invariably  present,  an 
eager  witness  of  every  step,  and  a  sedulous  adviser  of  her  ad- 
vocate. It  is  related  that  on  one  occasion  a  scene  occurred 
which  must  have  been  highly  amusing  to  all  who  knew  the  parties 
concerned.  It  was  on  the  resumption  after  dinner  of  a  trial  that 
had  been  opened  in  the  morning,  and  when  court  and  lawvers 
were  in  a  pleasant  mood.  David  B.  Ogden,  who  was  sometimes 
employed  by  Mrs.  Bradstreet,  was  now  the  counsel  of  the  defend- 
ant, Chas.  C.  Brodhead,  and  was  of  course  familiar  with  both. 
Loving  a  joke  and  now  in  a  humor  to  practice  one,  he  rose 
and  addressed  the  court  as  follows :  ''  May  it  please  jonr 
honor,  it  has  occurred  to  me  that  there  is  a  possibihty  of  a  ter 
mination  of  this  suit ;  there  seems  to  be  ground  for  a  com- 


126  THE   PIONEERS  OF  UTICA. 

promise, — a  mutual,  thorough,  and  final  compromise, — in  short, 
I  mean,  for  a  complete  merging  of  interests  between  mj  client 
and  the  plaintilf.''  As  the  lady  tossed  her  plumes  in  dis- 
dain, while  her  testy  opponent,  with  an  impatient  grunt,  wheeled 
suddenly  in  his  chair  and  presented  his  back  to  the  fair  one, 
the  scene  was  so  entertaining,  so  characteristic  of  both,  as  to 
upset  all  gra\'ity  and  convulse  court  and  bar  with  laughter. 
But  though  All's.  Bradstreet  was  most  jici'sistent  in  her  efiorts, 
and  though  she  had  such  advisers  and  advocates  as  Aaron 
Burr,  John  P.  Van  Ness,  John  Wells,  David  B.  Ogden,  and 
others  equall}'  eminent, — even  Daniel  Webster,  who  was  enlisted 
in  one  battle, — they  could  not  succeed  in  establishing  lier  right 
to  recover  the  lands  :  and  this  shows  conclusively  that  she  had 
no  rights. 

Capt.  James  Hopper  was  a  native  of  England.  For  many 
years  he  was  in  command  of  vessels  in  the  Englisli  merchant 
service,  and  owned  shares  in  them  and  their  cargoes.  During 
the  war  between  his  own  country  and  France  he  commanded  an 
armed  vessel  of  sixteen  guns,  and  furnished  with  letters  of  marque 
from  the  British  admiralty,  he  cruised  in  the  South  Seas. 
Attacked  at  one  time  b}^  a  superior  force,  his  vessel  was  taken 
after  a  brave  defence,  and  lie  was  carried  a  prisoner  to  France. 
Thence  he  was  released  by  being  exchanged,  he  and  another 
captain,  for  the  celebrated  Marshal  Junot,  captured  in  Egypt. 
Some  little  time  afterward,  he  came  to  America,  his  ])rincipal 
object  in  coming  being  to  obtain  iiidenmity  for  the  loss  of  another 
and  smaller  vessel  that  had  fallen  into  the  hands  of  the  French, 
by  reason  of  infonuaticm  furnished  them  b}"  an  American,  as 
to  its  situation  and  the  practicability  of  its  seizure,  and  which, 
after  such  seizure,  was  sold  to  parties  from  America.  He  en- 
gaged General  Hamilton  as  counsel  in  New  York,  but  failed  in 
securing  the  o])ject  of  his  visit.  By  him  he  was  prevailed  on 
to  come  hither  and  see  the  country.  Shortly  after  his  arrival 
he  bought  considerable  land  on  the  southern  borders  of  the 
village.  Forty-nine  acres  of  it  were  the  cleared  farm  of  Benja- 
min Hammond  in  Great  Lot.  95,  which  the  latter  had  obtained 
from  John  Bellinger ;  in  part  it  was  a  portion  of  the  Holland 
Land  Company's  purchase,  and  other  smaller  parts  were  bought 
of  John  Post,  Richard  Kimball  and  Jonathan  Evans.     On  this 


THE  FIRST  CHARTER  OF  UTICA.  127 

purchase  Capt.  Hopper  put  up  a  bouse  that  he  enlarged  on  the 
arrival  of  his  family,  and  engaged  in  farming  and  also  in 
tanning,  both  of  them  pursuits  to  which  be  had  never  been 
accustomed.  He  imported  tanners  from  the  east,  paying  them 
high  wages,  and  as  the  stumps  on  his  farm  were  offensive  to 
him,  be  expended  freely  for  the  labor  of  having  them  grub- 
bed up  and  removed.  Hence  his  projects  failed  of  being  very 
remunerative,  and  he,  besides,  lost  considerable  in  the  Utica 
Glass  Company.  The  land  which  he  bought  increased,  how- 
ever, in  value,  and  became  ultimately,  through  the  skillful 
management  of  his  sous,  a  quite  handsome  estate.  Capt. 
Hopper  was  honest  and  highl}-  respectable,  but  as  he  lived 
a  little  apart  from  most  of  the  other  village  residents,  he  was 
not  much  concerned  in  affairs  of  general  interest.  His  death 
occurred  May  16th,  1816.  His  wife  afterwards  mai'ried  Joshua 
"Wyman,  but  died  December  11th,  1843.  It  is  remarkable  that 
she  predicted  the  day  of  her  death  full  a  month  before  its  oc- 
curence. Their  children  were  George  J.,  born  in  England,  and 
quite  recently  deceased,  Tliomas,  arid  Mary,  (Mrs.  Bradley, 
afterwards  Mrs.  McClure)  who  are  still  resident. 

On  the  25th  of  May,  1801,  tw^o  new  merchants  under  the  title 
of  Belin  &  Thomas  opened  a  store  on  the  north  side  of  Whites - 
boro  street,  third  door  from  the  corner  of  the  square.  Philip 
Belin  was  French  by  birth,  but  had  been  living  in  Western- 
^•ille  in  this  county  before  coming  to  Utica.  He  studied  law 
with  Jonas  Piatt,  and  w^as  admitted  to  practice,  but  soon 
gave  it  up  for  trade.  His  continuance  in  this  j)ursuit  w^as 
brief,  for  before  the  middle  of  1803  he  went  to  the  West  Indies 
to  recover  possession  of  a  coffee  and  sugar  plantation  that  had 
once  been  his  father's,  and  there  he  died  in  October  following. 
After  his  departure  bis  brother  Augustus  was  left  as  a  clerk 
with  Mr.  Thomas,  when  he  also  repaired  to  Martinique,  obtain- 
ed the  estate  and  lived  upon  it. 

Daniel  Thomas  was  a  native  of  Norwich,  Conn.,  where  he 
was  born  April  24th,  1778.  He  came  to  Oneida  county  in  com- 
pany with  Messrs.  George  and  Henry  Huntington  of  Eome, 
the  former  of  whom  had  married  his  sister.  He  was  for 
some  time  their  clerk,  and  left  them  to  engage  in  business  with 
Mr.  Belin.     After  the  death  of  his  partner  he  continued  at  the 


128  THE   PIONEERS  OF  UTICA. 

first  location  until  1807  or  1808,  when  he  moved  to  the  third  store 
below  Bagg's  tavern,  and  some  time  later  to  the  west  side  of 
■Genesee  above  Catherine.  He  remained  quite  a  number  of 
years  in  trade,  but  was  rather  easy  in  his  habits,  and  not  over, 
fast  to  get  rich.  He  became  owner  of  the  property  on  Hotel 
street  on  which  Mechanics  Hall  is  situated,  inckiding  a  sti-ip 
that  ran  through  to  Seneca,  and  resided  at  first  ou  the  former, 
and  then  on  tlie  latter  street.  Mr.  Thomas  was  correct  in  his 
morals,  reticent  and  retiring  in  manners,  easy-going  in  his  busi- 
ness habits,  and  an  inordinate  smoker.  His  wife  was  Sarah 
Ann,  daughter  of  Joseph  Stringham  of  IST.  Y.,  and  a  woman  of 
more  than  ordinar}^  sense  and  sweetness.  Of  their  family  of  six 
children  the  only  one  now  living  in  Utica,  is  George  R  Thomas, 
cashier  of  the  Second  National  Bank  Francis  H.  is  cashier 
of  the  Fh'st  National  of  Kome. 

A  visit  to  their  native  place  in  Ehode  Island  ,niade  this  3'ear 
by  Joseph  Ballou  and  family,  would  seem  to  have  resulted  in 
the  speedy  transference  of  three  or  four  of  their  old  neighbors 
to 'their  own  more  recent  abode  in  the  west.  These  were  Eben- 
ezer  B.  Shearman,  Miss  Mary  Flagg,  Ehsha  Cajiron  and  James 
Bro\\'n. 

Ebenezer  B.  Shearman,  who  was  born  at  South  Kingston, 
R  I.,  April  20,  1783,  was  a  descendant  from  Philip  Shearman, 
an  early  settler  of  that  Colony.  With  seventeen  others  he  left 
the  Colony  of  Massachusetts  in  1636-7,  and  associated  with 
Roger  Williams,  the  exile  from  persecution,  in  establishing  that 
of  Rhode  Island.  Mr.  Shearman  himself  was  one  of  nine  brothers, 
all  remarkable  for  their  energy  and  business  capacity,  of  whom 
four  followed  him  to  Oneida  county,  and  three  to  Utica.  He 
came  here  as  clerk  to  Jerathmel  Ballou,  whose  sister  he  after- 
ward married.  A.bout  1804  he  united  himself  in  merchandize 
with  Judah  Williams,  Jr.,  brother  of  Nathan  Williams.  In 
1810  we  find  that  he  is  alone,  and  a  few  years  later  with  his 
own  brother  Stukeley,  a  young  man  of  fine  promise  who  died 
at  an  early  age.  Subsequently  under  the  firm  name  of  E.  B. 
Shearman,  and  Co.,  liis  nephews,  Joseph  A.  Shearman  and 
Theodore  P.  Ballou,  were  successively  in  company  with  him. 
The  store  was  on  the  east  side  of  Genesee  about  three  doors 
above  the  square.     Mr.   Shearman  became  at  an  early  period 


THE  FIRST  CHARTER  OF  UTICA.  129 

largely  interested  in  the  mannfactnre  of  two  different  kinds  of 
goods,  for  tlae  sale  of  which  his  store  formed  the  agency.  These 
were  cotton  goods  and  window  glass.  After  having  been  one 
of  the  company  which,  in  conjunction  with  Seth  Capron,  set 
in  operation  at  New  Hartford,  the  first  cotton  factory  in  the 
county,  he  purchased  the  bulk  of  the  shares,  and  managed  the 
institution  with  skill  and  profit.  The  glass  that  he  sold  was^ 
made  at  the  Oneida  Glass  Factory  in  Yernon,  by  a  company  of 
which  Mr.  S.  and  his  brother  Willet  H.,  formed  the  leading- 
members.  At  one  time  he  assumed  the  superintendency  of  the 
Utica  Glass  Works,  situated  in  the  town  of  Marcy,  but  relin- 
cjuished  it  when  he  found  that  crown  glass,  which  the  company 
essayed  to  make,  could  not  be  produced  cheaply  enough  to  com- 
pete with  that  of  English  manufacture. 

He  was  alwaj^s  a  friend  and  advocate  of  manufactures  and 
a  patron  of  industry.  By  his  energy  and  assiduous  devotion  to 
business,  he  became  independently  wealthj^  Nor  was  his 
enterprise  expended  in  his  own  behalf  merely.  His  interest 
in  public  affairs  was  conspicuous,  and  the  share  considerable 
which  he  bore  in  the  civic  affairs  of  his  time.  For  three  suc- 
cessive years  he  was  village  trustee,  for  thii-ty  a  trustee  of  the 
Utica  Academy,  and  most  of  that  time  its  secretary,  while  as 
a  fireman  and  a  watchman  in  the  earlier  epochs  of  the  village 
history, — when  these  offices  were  voluntarily  assumed  by  its 
foremost  citizens, — his  sei'vices  were  arduous  and  commendable. 
From  its  foundation  he  was  so  long  as  he  lived  a  dii-ector  of 
the  Utica  Bank,  and  in  1828  he  was  one  of  the  electors  for 
President  of  the  United  States. 

He  possessed  a  judgment  of  remarkable  soundness,  a  mind  in  all 
respects  eminently  practical,  and  a  heart  ever  true  to  the  kind- 
est impulses.  To  children  he  was  especially  kind,  while  among 
associates  of  his  own  age  none  was  more  welcome  for  his  cheery 
laugh  and  his  overflowing  fun,  not  less  than  for  his  sense  and 
his  general  usefulness.  His  store  was  a  favorite  place  of  retreat 
for  the  leisure  hours  of  the  busy  men  of  the  town.  In  figure 
Mr.  Shearman  was  portly  and  imposing,  in  bearing  dignified 
and  courteous.  His  death  occurred  April  23,  1845,  when  just 
turned  of  sixty-two.  Mrs.  Shearman  was  a  daughter  of  Joseph 
Ballon,  and  had  come  with  hei*' father  to  the  settlement  in  1792. 
She  outlived  her  husband  many  years  and  reached  the  great  age  of 
I 


130  THE  PIONEERS  OF  UTICA. 

ninety-six,  dying  on  the  7th  of  Febrnary,  1877.  She  was  retir- 
ing and  domestic  in  habits,  and  gentle  in  disposition.  His  childrei  i 
were  Jane  (Mrs.  Joseph  A.  Shearman)  and  Angeline,  M^ho  died 
in  1832,  in  her  twenty-first  year. 

When  the  Ballous  returned  from  their  eastern  jaunt,  they 
found  already  here  one  who  by  their  representations  had  been 
led  to  try  her  fortune  in  this  new  country.  This  was  Miss  Mary 
Flagg,  of  Tower  Hill,  near  Narraganset,  E.  J.  Coming  a  single 
woman,  she  remained  so  during  a  period  of  upwards  of  tliirty 
years.  As  she  was  a  person  of  imposing  appearance,  sti'ong 
natural  sense  and  fair  education,  yet  followed  presistentlj^  the 
humble  career  of  nurse,  it  was  natural  to  presume  that  there 
was  some  peculiar  motive  for  her  course,  some  mysterious  rea- 
son pertaining  to  her  early  history.  And  it  was  not  uncom- 
monly thought  that  stricken  affection  had  induced  her  to  seek 
these  western  wilds,  the  better  to  hide  her  wounds  and  escape 
the  indifference  or  the  slights  of  a  heartless  world.  That  this 
was  any  thing  better  than  conjecture  is  extremely  doubtful. 
It  is  known  that  early  in  life  she  joined  the  sect  of  Friends, 
though  her  proud  spirit  could  for  a  long  time  ill  bi'ook  the  plain 
language  which  was  expected  of  her.  Moreover  she  attached 
herself  to  Jemima  Wilkeson  and  remained  with  her  until  the 
stern  requirements  of  this  shrewd  impostor,  and  especially  an 
ordinance  for  observing  a  certain  protracted  fast,  so  disgusted 
Miss  Flagg  that  she  left  her  forever.  Jemima's  insistance  on 
the  doctrine  of  celibacy  may,  however,  have  had  its  influence 
on  the  neophyte  throughout  her  life. 

As  a  nurse,  M^elcomed  in  the  best  families  of  Utica,  she  held 
almost  undisputed  sway,  for  she  was  intelligent,  kind,  attentive 
and  efficient,  and  fui'therniore  had  few  competitors.  At  the 
same  tiVne  she  was  inde])endent,  frank  and  fearless  in  the  exer- 
cise of  the  duties  of  hcu-  ])osition.  In  fact  her  authority  was 
often  exercised  in  a  way  that  would  now-a-days  be  deemed  in- 
sufferable. Yet  so  im})ortant  were  her  services,  and  so  much 
was  she  held  in  esteem,  that  lier  word  was  law,  and  from  her 
dictum  was  no  a])peal.  Once  meeting  a  gentleman  of  standing 
in  the  community  who  was  giving  his  wife  an  airing  in  his 
chaise,  after  her  recent  sickness,. she  addressed  him  thus:  "Go 
home,  Thomas !  aint  thee  ashamed  to  be  seen  with  thy  wife  in 


THE  FIRST  CHARTER  OF  UTICA.  131 

tlio  streets,  and  she  not  yet  a  fortnight  out  of  bed?"  Miss 
Flagg  hved  the  most  of  her  life  in  the  house  whicli  juts  corner- wise 
upon  the  south  side  of  Whitesboro  street  a  httle  distance  beyond 
Broadway.  Her  companion  was  her  niece  Miss  Dickens,  who 
came  several  years  later  and  who  kept  there  a  little  school. 
Miss  F.  was  buried  in  the  Friends'  grave  yard  at  New  Hartford. 
She  had  a  brother,  a  dentist,  who,  in  the  early  part  of  her 
career,  was  here  occasionally  for  several  weeks  at  a  time  on  a 
visit  to  his  sister.  Among  his  peculiarities  was  his  hat,  which 
bore  in  front,  just  above  the  brim,  a  gilded  knob  or  handle, 
wherewith  it  was  put  on  or  off  at  pleasure.  This  mode  of 
doffing  one's  beaver  was  a  source  of  fun  to  the  boys  of  the 
village,  so  one  Sunday  when  Dr.  Flagg  was  on  his  way  to 
churcJi,  a  crowd  of  youngsters  followed  him  in  single  file,  each 
with  a  corn  cob  fastened  to  his  front,  and  on  reaching  the  door, 
each  removed  his  hat  by  its  handle  v\rith  the  same  flourish  they 
had  seen  the  doctor  use. 

Two  other  Rhode  Islanders,  Elisha  Capron  and  James  Brown, 
•came  the  same  year  with  Miss  Flagg,  bringing  a  letter  of  intro- 
duction from  Dr.  Seth  Capron,  of  Cumberland,  brother  of  the 
former,  who  was  himself  soon  to  follow,  and  after  a  temporary 
sta}^  in  Utica,  find  a  longer  home  in  Whitesboro.  These  young 
men  were  blacksmiths,  and  wagon  makers,  and  in  1805-6,  their 
shop  was  nearly  opposite  the  Coffee  House  of  David  Ostrom. 
In  April,  1809,  Capron  is  alone,  and  the  "manufacturer  of 
coaches,  coachees,  chaises,  chairs,  gigs,  and  every  description 
of  carriages."  On  the  breaking  out  of  the  war  he  raised  a 
compan}'  and  went  to  Sacketts  Harbor,  -whence  we  have  no 
knowledge  of  his  ever  returning.  As  for  Brown,  a  new  resident 
takes  his  shop  in  June,  1812,  and  soon  after  his  name  appears 
on  the  list  of  disqualified  juroi's. 

On  the  25th  of  March,  1801,  John  Glitz,  "  hair-dresser,  of 
New  York,"  as  reads  his  deed,  though  reputed  to  have  been  a 
Hessian  soldier  of  Burgoyne,  bought  of  the  Bleecker  family 
for  eight  hundred  and  fifty  dollars  a  lot  near  the  corner  of  Gen- 
esee and  Maine.  The  following  year  he  was  keeping  tavern  on 
this  spot,  it  being  adjacent  to  the  stand  that  had  first  been  kept 
by  John  House.  Within  eighteen  months  he  had  moved  to  a 
farm  in  the  neighborhood   of  the  village.      And  the  reason  of 


132  THE   PIONEERS  OF  UTICA. 

the  change,  as  told  by  one  of  his  guests,  is  as  follows :  this 
guest,  after  lodging  one  night  in  the  house,  woke  in  the  morn- 
ing and  ordered  his  breakfast  sent  to  his  room.  The  mistress 
made  haste  to  fulfil  his  commands.  Her  liusband,  when  he 
heard  of  the  order,  was  higlily  incensed  that  a  traveller  should 
call  for  his  meal  while  still  in  his  bed,  and  forbade  her  to  wait 
on  him.  This  she  declared  she  would  do,  and  he  with  equal 
persistence  declared  she  should  not.  Words  led  to  words  and 
dispute  waxed  so  fierce  that  he  vowed  in  the  end  he  would  sell 
out  tlie  house  and  withdraw  from  the  place.  The  traveller, 
who  had  listened  to  all,  now  made  his  aj^pearance,  and  offered 
to  buy.  A  sale  was  soon  made,  and  the  house  and  the  lot  went 
to  that  quaint  All)any  merchant,  the  rich  William  James,  who 
paid  in  exchange  the  sum  of  $4,500. 

A  border  resident  of  this  era  was  Levi  Thomas,  who  succeed- 
ed Thomas  Norton  in  the  tavern  on  the  New  Hartford  road, 
situated  where  Mrs.  Butterfield  now  lives.  There  he  kept  public 
house  for  many  yeai's,  occasionally  letting  it  to  other  parties. 
About  1826  he  moved  into  the  village,  exchanging  his  })roperty 
with  Justin  Cooley,  for  the  lot  whereon  once  stood  the  Central 
Hotel,  and  where  now  stands  the  Parker  Block.  He  afterwards 
lived  on  Breese  street  in  a  part  of  the  house  that  had  previously 
been  the  Methodist  meeting  house  of  the  New  Hartford  road, 
and  which  he  put  in  motion  toward  its  new  resting  place.  He 
was  latterly  a  brickmaker  and  farmer.  Of  his  five  sons,  George 
was  the  last  who  retained  a  home  in  Utica. 

David  Slaj'ton,  was  likewise  a  border  resident  at  this  time, 
living  at  the  upper  end  of  lot  No.  92,  on  a  farm  which  Jerath- 
mel  Ballou  had  leased  of  Eutger  Bleecker  in  1797. 

From  1801  down  to  the  year  1818,  if  not  longer,  there  lived  in 
Utica  a  laborer  whose  name  was  Gott  Witt, — a  singular  name 
truly,  whether  presumed  to  be  German  and  declaring  the  wisdom 
of  the  Creator,  or  understood  as  literal  English  and  asserting  its 
possession  by  the  creature.  That  he  was  blessed  with  any  un- 
usual mental  capacity  does  not  appear,  though  physically  he 
was  well  enough  endowed,  being  over  six  feet  in  height,  rough 
as  a  hedgehog,  and  fitted  for  any  kind  of  coarse  work.  Nom- 
inally a  joiner,  he  made  pumps,  scythe  snathes,  &c.,  and  now 
and  then  did  a  job  as  teamster.    He  lived  not  far  from  the  north 


THE  FIRST  CHARTER  OF  UTICA.  133 

■east  corner  of  Main  and  Second  streets,  now  the  rear  end  of  the 
premises  of  Mrs.  Ah-ick  Hubl)ell,  in  the  Ginseng  House,  as  it 
was  called,  from  its  having  been  once  used  as  a  ware-house  for 
the  curing  and  store  of  ginseng.  The  business  of  preparing  this 
root  was  introduced  here  by  a  foreigner  who  worlced  at  it  in  Mr. 
Post's  house.  Afterwards  it  was  undertaken  by  Mr.  Talcott 
■Camp,  and  conducted  about  a  year  in  the  house  above  alluded 
to.  The  roots  were,  for  the  most  part,  gathered  by  the  Indians, 
who  would  bring  in  during  the  season  a  wagon  load  or  two 
every  week.  It  was  carefully  assorted  and  much  of  it  rejected. 
The  remainder,  after  having  been  scraped,  was  clarified  by  a 
process  of  steaming.  Transported  to  Hartford,  it  was  sent 
thence  to  Boston  and  shipped  for  China.  By  the  Chinese,  gin- 
seng is  highly  prized  and  largely  used  as  a  tonic.  The  native 
article  is  much  preferred  to  that  imported  from  America,  and 
commands  a  higher  price,  and  yet  even  the  latter  is  often 
worth  many  times  its  weight  in  silver. 

A  few  individuals  of  the  "Welsh  race  have  been  already  spoken 
of  as  settled  in  Utica  ere  1801 ;  there  were  Joseph  Harris  (1792), 
Thomas  and  Simeon  Jones  (1794),  Richard  Francis  (1798),  and 
John  Adams,  John  Nicholas,  John  Roberts,  and  Simon  Johns 
(1800).  But  they  were  now  coming  in  numbers,  and  formed 
the  only  considerable  foreign  immigration  to  Oneida  count}^, 
which  occurred  at  the  beginning  of  the  century.  In  a  pamphlet 
entitled  '"Settlement  and  Progress  of  the  Welsh  in  Utica  and 
Vicinity,"  which  was  published  in  1860  by  the  Rev.  Llewehyn 
Howell,  formerly  a  minister  of  Utica,  it  is  stated  that  in  Sep- 
tember, 1795,  twelve  Welsh  families  landed  in  New  York,  of 
whom  five  made  their  wa}^  up  the  Mohawk  and  settled  in  Steu 
ben.  After  relating  the  arrival  of  Richard  Francis,  accompa- 
nied, as  he  thinks,  by  several  others,  and  of  John  Adams,  the 
author  proceeds  to  say  that  these  were  followed  the  next  year 
by  about  one  hundred,  chiefly  from  South  Wales.  They  were 
poor,  but  industrious,  and  were  soon  comfortably  situated.  He 
gives  the  names  of  nineteen  only,  all  males,  and  presumed,  there- 
fore, to  be  heads  of  families.  But  as  among  them  are  included 
three  of  whom  there  is  evidence  of  prior  settlement,  as,  be- 
sides "David  Reed  and  six  sons,"  are  included  likewise  two 
of  his  sons  mentioned  separately,  there  remain  but  twelve.     Of 


134  THE  PIONEERS  OF  UTICA. 

these  it  is  probable  that  a  small  part  only  remained  in  Utica. 
The  Welsli  are  know  to  be  extremely  clannish  in  their  habits,  as- 
well  as  religious  in  their  instincts,  and  wedded  to  the  forms  of 
worship  in  which  they  were  reared.  It  was  natural,  therefore, 
that  the  new  comers  should  follow  to  Steuben  those  who  had 
preceded  them,  where,  among  their  fellows  of  kindred  speech 
and  habits,  they  M^ould  sooner  enjoy  those  religious  privileges 
so  dear  to  the  national  heart.  According  to  the  opinion  of  a 
few  of  the  older  residents  of  Utica,  it  was  through  the  agency 
of  Col.  Walker  that  individuals  of  this  pecjple  were  first  led  to 
make  their  home  in  this  region.  Appreciating  the  industry, 
thrift  and  the  many  moral  virtues  of  this  class  of  settlers,  he 
persuaded  them  to  come  and  occupy  his  extensive  wild  lands 
in  Steuben  and  its  vicinity.  Whether  they  were  thus  drawn, 
or  whether,  influenced  by  some  motive  wholly  extrinsic,  or  even 
fortuitous,  they  were  induced  to  colonize  in  Oneida  county^ 
having  once  found  their  way  hither,  others  followed  in  the  track 
of  the  leaders;  and  during  the  earlier  years  of  this  century  the 
immigration  was  considerable.  Those  who  were  farmers  dis- 
persed themselves  over  the  rich  hill  sides  of  Steuben,  Remsen^ 
and  Trenton,  while  those  who  had  trades  lingered  in  the  villa- 
ges, and  were  universally  credited  with  being  the  best  mechan- 
ics, and  especially  builders,  of  the  time.  Nor  c<nild  these  latter 
long  deny  themselves  the  enjoyment  of  their  cherished  institu- 
tions, and  the  ministry  of  the  pastors  who  accompanied  them. 

On  the  12th  of  September,  1801  twenty- two  persons  of  this 
people,  who  were  Baptists,  met  at  the  log  house  of  John  Wil- 
liams, upon  the  road  opposite  the  Lunatic  Asylum,  and  formed 
a  church.  Some  of  them  lived  probably  without  the  village, 
or,  if  resident  in  it,  were  so  for  a  short  time  only.  The  church 
they  formed  is  the  first,  exclusively  of  Utica,  whose  organiza- 
tion has  been  continuous  and  services  unbroken  to  the  present 
time.  It  is  known  as  the  First  (Welsh)Baptist,  and  is  the  pa- 
rent of  the  Broad  street,  now  Tabernacle  Church.  This  congre- 
gation erected  in  1806,  a  church  edifice  near  where  the  canal 
now  intersects  Hotel'  street.  It  was  moved  when  the  canal  was 
opened  to  the  site  of  the  present  church,  on  Broadway  a  little 
north  of  Liberty.  Among  the  twenty-two  who  united  in  its 
organization,  were  Elder  John  Stevens  and  Elder  James  Harris, 
who  officiated  as  ministers.  Elder  Abraham  Williams,  Joseph 


THE  FIRST  CHARTER  OF  UTICA.  135 

Harris,  brother  of  James  Harris  before  mentioned,  David  Reed, 
Simon  Johns,  Nathaniel  Davis,  Samuel  George,  James  Phillips, 
Daniel  Richards,  David  Thomas,  &c. 

Elder  Stephens  was  for  some  time  their  minister,  and  was 
looked  upon  bj  his  peo})le  as  a  man  of  considerable  learning.  He 
preached  alternately  in  Welsh  and  in  English,  and  some  of  the 
English-speaking  settlers,  especially  such  as  had  been  brought  up 
as  Baptists,  attended  on  his  ministry.  In  five  or  six  years  he 
removed  to  New  York,  but  returned,  about  1814,  and  was  a  sec- 
ond time  at  the  head  of  this  society. 

Elder  Abraham  Williams  became  their  second  pastor,  and 
also  preached  in  both  languages.  Later  in  life,  and  after  he  had 
closed  his  ministerial  labors,  he  acted  as  agent  for  Henry  Hunt- 
ington of  Rome, — with  whom  he  had  also,  as  it  is  said,  some 
pecuniary  interest  in  the  soil, — in  the  selling  of  sand  from  the 
sand  banks  on  Court  and  State  streets.  He  died  October  25, 
1839,  aged  nearly  seventy-five ;  his  wife,  Elizabeth  Baldwin,  in 
August,  1838.  Their  children  were  Elizabeth  (Mrs.  Ira  Chase) ; 
Abraham  B.,  long  a  merchant  tailor  in  Utica  ;  Mary  (Mrs.  John 
Reed);  Sarah  (Mrs.  Robert  Latimer),  Rachel  and  Isaac. 

David  Reed  was  not  attracted  by  the  "  dirty  village,"  and  after 
living  in  it  a  year,  moved  upon  a  farm  three  miles  eastward,  but 
returned  to  it  in  liis  later  j^ears.  Of  his  six  sons,  John,  a  plane 
maker,  lived  in  (Jtica  until  his  death  in  1870  ;  David,  Jr.,  a  car- 
penter and  joiner,  was  resident  until  1873.  After  having  been 
a  deacon  in  the  original  church,  he  became,  in  1820,  a  deacon 
of  the  church  which  sprang  from  it,  and  remained  so  until  his 
death.  "  With  undeviating  devotion  and  unaffected  simplicity 
he  served  his  Lord  and  Master,  bearing  through  his  long  life  a 
character  that  challenged  unusual  respect." 

Samuel  George,  a  shoemaker  and  partner  of  Daniel  Budlong, 
Avas  killed  the  following  year,  being  struck  by  the  thills  of  a 
sleigh  in  rapid  motion.  The  other  freshly  named  parties  men- 
tioned above  as  taking  a  pait  in  the  new  church  lived  without 
the  village. 

1802. 
On  the  first  of  January,  1802,  a  Congregational  or  Independ- 
ent Church  was  organized  by  the  Welsh  people  of  the  vicinity, 
and  this  was  the  second  religious  society,  formed  exclusively  in 


136  THE  PIONEEES  OF  UTICA. 

Utica,  whicli  has  contiiiuecl  in  uninterrupted  existence  to  tlie 
present  time.  It  consisted  at  lii'st  of  some  twenty-Jive  persons, 
of  whom  ten  had  the  year  previous  joined  tlie  church  atWhites- 
boro,  but  now  detached  themselves  from  it  in  oi'der  to  become 
members  of  this.  Their  first  ministei'  was  liev.  Daniel  Morris, 
who  arrived  early  in  1802  from  Philadelphia.  He  was  a  book- 
binder by  trade,  and  not  finding  enough  to  employ  him  in  his 
ministerial  charge,  or  not  receiving  therefrom  an  adequate  live- 
lihood, he  carried  on  his  business  of  binding,  his  shop  being  on 
Main  street,  nearly  opposite  the  school  house.  He  remained  the 
pastor  until  181T),  living  the  latter  part  of  his  stay  on  Hotel 
street.  He  married,  wdiile  in  Philadelphia,  a  daughter  of  the 
widow  James,  to  be  presently  mentioned.  His  son,  D.  J. 
Morris,  long  know^n  as  a  tailor  in  Utica,  is  now  living  in  Syra- 
cuse. Woi'shipping  for  a  time  in  private  houses,  the  congrega- 
tion erected  in  1804,  a  small  frame  house  on  the  corner  of 
Washington  and  Whitesboro  streets,  and  this  w^as  the  first 
church  that  was  completed  in  the  village,  though  Trinity  was 
previously  begun. 

The  head  of  the  James  family  just  adverted  to  died  soon  after 
tlicir  landing  in  America.  The  widow  having  married  again, 
to  one  James  Jones,  came  with  her  husband  and  six  children  to 
Utica  and  took  up  a  residence  on  Main  street,  and  it  was  in  her 
house  that  the  church  of  the  Independents  had  its  birth-place. 
Her  children,  now  almost  arrived  at  maturity,  became  them- 
selves heads  of  families.  They  were  John,  Susannah,  (Mrs. 
Daniel  Morris  and  afterwards  Mrs.  Stevenson,)  Daniel,  Eleanor 
(Mrs.  William  Francis,)  Morgan,  and  Thomas.  The  two  last 
named  sons  were  shoe  and  last  makei's,  and  in  partnership. 

Another  person  related  by  marriage  to  Eev.  Mr.  Moi'ris  was 
Stephen  Shadrach,  a  laboring  man  from  Pembrokeshire,  whose 
advent  was  nearly  simultaneous  with  his,  and  wlio  two  years 
later  married  a  sister  of  Mr.  Morris.  Daniel  Shadrach,  his  son, 
is  still  living  in  Utica. 

Among  the  early  members  of  tliis  Congregational  Church  was 
Watkin  Powell,  from  near  Cardill',  in  Glamorganshire.  SaiHng 
up  the  Mohawk,  the  sunmier  previous,  he  landed  at  the  mouth 
of  the  Starch  Factory  creek,  and  then  found  a  liome  on  the  bor- 
ders of  Frankfort,  in  the  settlement  known  as  Welshbush. 
Here  were  already  located  James  Harris,   before  mentioned, 


THE  FIRST  CHAETER  OF  UTICA.  ]  37 

William  James,  Evan  Powell,  a  Mr.  Lloyd,  J'xsiah  Morris, 
and  others.  EVom  1803  to  1809, — one  year  only  excepted, 
when  he  lived  on  First  street, — Watkin  Powell  had  the  care  of 
the  farm  of  Col.  Walker  on  the  river  flats,  and  lived  opposite 
the  Colonel  on  the  Broad  street  road.  Then  he  was  a  con  tractor 
in  laying  out  the  Minden  turnpike,  and,  in  1813,  occupied  a 
farm  and  a  mill  on  this  turnpike,  a  little  above  the  saw  mill  of 
Benjamin  Ballon.  There  his  wife  died  in  August,  1814,  and 
two  years  later  he  removed  to  Conneaut,  Penn.,  having  pre- 
viously married  the  widow  of  John  Nicholas.  Besides  being 
a  good  farmer,  he  was  known,  says  his  son,  as  an  honest,  moral 
man,  a  lirm  Calvinist  and  abolitionist,  and  was  especially  dis- 
tinguished for  his  hospitality  and  kindness  to  his  neighbors. 
This  son,  Thomas  W.,  completed  a  course  of  law  study  in  1819, 
and  settled  in  Ohio.  A  successful  lawyer,  author  of  two  treatises 
on  law  which  have  been  commended  by  the  highest  authorities; 
successively  Representative.  Senator,  and  Member  of  the  State 
Constitutional  Convention  of  Ohio,  he  is  still  living  at  Delaware 
in  that  State.  He  was  born  September  7th,  1797,  and  is  prob- 
ably the  earliest  resident  of  Utica  of  any  now  alive,  his  advent 
dating,  as  has  been  said  from  the  spring  of  1801.  Of  the  other 
sons  of  Watkin  Powell,  one  became  a  wealthy  farmer  of  Craw- 
ford county,  Penn.,  a  leading  politician,  and  a  member  of  the 
Legislature,  and  the  rest  were  machinists  and  engine  builders  of 
Cincinnati  or  Nebraska  City. 

The  William  James  above  mentioned  as  an  early  neighbor  of 
Mr.  Powell,  settled  there  the  same  year.  He  married  a  daugh- 
ter of  James  Harris  and  remained  a  farmer.  His  sons,  Joseph, 
AVilliam,  Lemuel  and  David,  were,  three  of  them,  carpenters 
doing  business  in  the  \'illage,  and  are  now,  all  of  them,  heads 
of  Utica  families.  William  is  the  father  of  Thomas  L.  James, 
the  present  acceptable  postmaster  of  New  York  city,  who  was 
bred  a  printer  in  Utica. 

A  settler  of  1802,  and  a  very  prince  among  his  fellows  was 
John  C.  Devereux,  whose  honoral)le  career  and  many  deeds  of 
charity  have  left  behind  him  a  memory  as  verdant  as  that  of 
the  green  isle  whence  he  came.  He  was  born  at  Enniscorthy  in 
tlie  county  of  Wexford,  August  5th,  1774,  and  was  the  son  of 
Thomas  and  Catharine  Corish  Devereux.      The  family  were 


138  THE   PIONEEKS  OF  UTICA. 

wealthy  and  well  connected  throughout  the  county  and  lived 
at  ease  upon  a  handsome  estate  called  "  The  Leap,"  from  the 
width  of  the  ditch  that  surrounded  it.  But  they  sympathized 
warmly  in  the  agitations  which  preceded  and  attended  the  out- 
break of  the  Irish  Rebellion  in  1798,  supplying  food  and  assist- 
ance to  the  patriot  army.  At  its  close  thev  were  overwhelmed 
with  pecuniary  and  personal  loss.  James,  one  of  the  sons,  was 
killed  at  the  battle  of  Vinegar  Hill.  Walter,  after  close  pursuit 
and  imminent  peril,  made  his  escape  and  settled  in  the  East 
Indies.  Their  parish  priest  was  shot  down  at  the  altar.  Thos. 
Devereux  himself  was  thrown  into  prison,  and  died  soon  after- 
ward. John  C.  would  appear  to  have  come  to  this  country  a 
little  while  before  the  actual  rising  of  his  countrymen,  and  prob- 
ably in  1796  or  1797.  Having  been  brought  up  as  a  gentleman 
and  without  trade  or  profession,  but,  happily,  skillful  in  dancing, 
he  gave  instruction  in  it  at  Middletown,  Norwich  and  other 
places  in  Connecticut,  and  at  Pittsfield  and  elsewhere  in  Massa- 
chusetts, and  then  at  Troy  in  New  York.  His  success  in  his 
art,  joined  to  his  natiA'^e  economy,  afforded  him  a  living  not 
merely,  but  equipped  him  with  means  to  enter  on  trade ;  while 
its  practice  concurred  with  home  training  to  give  sha])eand  per- 
sistence to  the  ])olish  of  manner  that  marked  him  through  life. 

Coming  up  to  this  count}^  in  order  to  locate  in  business,  and 
prompted  perchance  by  the  advice  of  his  fiiend  William  James, 
he  stopped  first  at  Rome,  then  known  as  Lynchville.  Mr. 
Lynch  wished  him  to  settle,  and  was  ready  to  lease  him  land 
for  the  purpose,  but  was  unwilling  to  sell.  As  this  did  not 
accord  with  his  views,  Mr.  D.  refused  to  remain  and  turned  back 
to  Utica.  From  his  first  advertisement,  dated  Nov.  8tli,  1802, 
we  learn  that  he  "  opened  an  assortment  of  dry  goods  and  gro- 
ceries at  the  store  lately  occupied  by  Jolm  Smith.'"  This  was 
upon  the  site  of  a  part  of  the  present  Bagg's  Hotel.  Somewhat 
later  his  store  was  nearly  opposite,  and  about  midway  between 
Whitesboro  and  Water,  a  store  that  jutted  out  eastward  from 
the  present  line  of  the  street  and  formed  the  west  point  of  the 
square.  When  the  street  was  afterward  straightened,  he  built 
a  brick  store  in  the  rear  of  the  above  mentioned  spot. 

The  goods  he  had  on  sale  were  unusually  handsome.  The 
salesman  had  energy,  shrewdness  and  industry,  a  temper  most 
generous,  a  tongue  that  was  persuasive  and  fluent,  and  manners 


THE  FIRST  CHARTER  OF  UTICA.  139 

benignant  anJ  polished.  These  brought  liim  quick  custom,  aud 
insured  his  success  from  the  outset.  His  business  became  so 
extensive  that  he  was  probably  as  generally  known  through 
Central  and  Western  New  York  as  any  merchant  on  the  west 
side  of  Albany.  His  sales,  as  reported  by  one  of  his  clerks, 
amounted  each  year  to  $100,000.  He  had  a  pride  in  his  calling, 
and  kept  ever  in  view  a  high  standard  of  credit  and  honor.  Un- 
sparing of  himself,  he  was  no  less  exacting  of  others.  Yet  he 
contributed  freely  his  advice  and  personal  and  pecuniary  aid  to 
young  men  engaging  in  similar  pursuits.  Among  those  he  thus 
helped  were  his  brothers,  Luke,  Nicholas  and  Thomas,  the  first 
two  being  his  clerks  in  succession  and  afterwards  partners. 
Frequent  changes  took  place  in  the  members  and  title  of  the 
firm,  whereby  settlements  were  frequent,  and  it  became  easy  to 
escape  from  the  onus  of  refusing  undesirable  credit.  That  these 
were  the  chief  motives  which  led  to  such  changes  we  do  not 
mean  to  assert ;  tliere  wei'c  causes  beside,  involved  in  the  career 
and  the  movements  of  all  the  three  brothers.  Still  it  was  con- 
venient, no  doul)t,  to  make  settlements  frequent :  it  saved  many 
dollars  otherwise  lost.  Shifting  responsibility,  too,  relieved  from 
problematical  trust,  and  retamed  the  good  will  which  it  might 
not  be  wise  to  imperil.  The  very  convenience,  perhaps,  and  not 
his  actual  habit,  suggested  the  ready  excuse  Mr.  Devereux's 
rivals  in  trade  were  wont  to  put  in  his  mouth,  when  asked  to 
give  credit  by  one  he  disliked  to  refuse  :  "  My  brother  Luke 
is  the  man;  I'm  only  a  dark."  Thus  in  March,  1807,  Luke 
became  one  of  the  firm  of  John  C.  Devereux  &  Co.,  when  debt- 
ors were  invited  to  settle,  and  failing  to  do  so  by  the  first  day 
of  July  next  ensuing,  their  accounts  were  to  "  be  put  in  train 
for  collection."  He  remained  in  the  house  until  May,  1813, 
when  the  senior  announces  that  he  has  given  up  business, 
"  payment  to  be  made  to  his  brother  Lirke,"  and  two  months 
thereafter  they  declare  they  have  no  connection  in  trade.  In 
May,  1814,  it  is  John  C.  &  N.  Devereux  who  are  united 
together,  for  Luke  is  out  of  the  village.  In  June,  1816,  the 
elder  has  again  discontinued,  and  Nicholas  and  Greorge  L.  Tis- 
dale  are  associate.  John  C.  continued  meanwhile  to  give  the 
new  firm  his  endorsements  and  presence,  for  which  and  the  rent 
of  the  store  he  received  compensation.  Some  time  before  he 
had  lent  his  aid  to  Thomas,  who  managed  the  Utica  brewery  : 


140  THE    PIONEEHS  OF  UTICA. 

and  now,  in  1818,  he  has  an  interest  with  John  O'Connor  in  the 
manufacture  and  sale  of  tobacco,  snuii'  and  cigars 

But  the  canal  was  just  opened  and  the  Mohawk  about  to  be 
left  The  current  of  business  was  setting  upward,  and  the 
lonely  and  grass-covered  square  alarmed  the  merchants  who 
were  settled  about  it.  As  Mr.  Devereux  had  a  few  j'cars  before 
jokingly  asked  of  his  up-town  fellow  trader,  John  Handy, 
"  What's  the  news  in  New  Hartford?"  so  now,  when  the  latter 
retorted  with  his  "  top  of  the  mornin'  Mr.  Devereux  !  what's  the 
news  in  Deeriield  ?"  he  acknowledged  he  had  nothing  to  say. 
Not  backward  in  action,  he  purchased  with  Nicholas,  the  laud 
next  above  the  newly  opened  canal,  where  the  modern  Devereux 
block  is  now  located,  and  there,  in  1821,  they  placed  a  large 
warehouse  and  store.  At  this  place  trade  was  conducted  many 
years  b}''  Nicholas  Devereux  and  his  various  partners,  John  C. 
continuing  as  before  to  lend  his  countenance  and  credit.  Some 
ten  or  twelve  years  later,  when  there  was  started  a  Utica  branch 
of  the  United  States  Bank,  Mr  Devereux  was  appointed  its 
president,  and  held  the  position  as  long  as  the  bank  was  in 
existence. 

He  was  strongl}-  attached  to  the  place  of  his  residence,  devoted 
to  its  interests,  and  contributing  freely  to  its  institutions.  Some 
of  them  in  fact,  owed  tlieir  existence  and  continued  support 
largely  to  his  agency.  Such  Avas  the  Utica  Savings  Bank  which 
was  established  by  the  U\'o  Messrs.  Devereux.  in  comjiany  with 
other  benevolent  citizens  of  the  period.  Ahhough  a  zealous 
adherent  of  the  Eoman  Catholic  Church,  and  in  later  years  its 
most  munificent  patron,  yet,  when  Utica  was  an  inconsiderable 
hamlet,  and  when  all  of  its  inhabitants  met  in  one  common 
place  of  worship,  be  not  only  bore  about  the  plate  which  was  to 
receive  the  donations  of  the  worshippers,  but  gave  a  contribution 
of  three  hundred  dollars  toward  the  erection  of  the  first  Presb}^- 
terian  church.  Repeatedl}",  at  later  dates,  he  contributed  freel)' 
to  many  poor  and  struggling  religious  societies.  To  his  own 
church,  once  so  small  that  he  often  had  all  of  its  members  as- 
sembled in  his  own  parlor,  he  w^as  an  early,  a  constant  and  a 
generous  benefactor.  uVmong  these  benefactions  was  the  gift 
at  one  time  of  seven  thousand  dollars  to  clear  off  the  church  debt, 
and  at  another  of  five  thousand  dollars,  liis  bi'other  Nicholas, 
giving  a  like  sum,  t(j  procure  a  lot  and  erect  a  house  for  the 


THE  FIRST  CHARTER  OF  UTICA.  141 

Sisters  of  Charity,  on  their  settlement  in  Utica  in  1832-3. 
"Charitableness  and  hospitality  were,  perhaps,  the  most  striking 
traits  in  Mr.  Devereux's  character.  He  extended  the  hand  of 
brotherhood  to  all  who  were  not  utterly  abandoned,  while  his 
house  was  always  open,  and  his  welcome  to  it  remarkably  cour- 
teous and  earnest.  The  poor  had  reason  to  bless  his  memory,  and 
upon  no  citizen  were  there  more  numerous  claims."  "  The  city 
manifested  its  sense  of  obligations  by  electing  him  its  mayor  in 
1840,  at  the  first  election  under  the  law  by  which  the  office  was 
derived  directly  from  the  people,  he  having  previously  held  it 
by  appointment  of  the  common  council."  Generous  and  kind- 
hearted  as  he  was,  unassuming  and  simple  in  his  ways  as  the 
children  whom  he  delighted  to  gather  and  to  cheer,  and.  with 
all  his  national  fondness  for  a  joke,  betrayed  at  times  into  an 
innocent  practical  hull,  yet  was  Mr.  Devereux  sagacious  and 
sliarp  in  matters  of  business,  and  a  keen  respecter  of  his  own 
interests.  And  thus  it  was  that,  despite  his  complaisance  and 
his  grace,  one  would  perforce  suspect  he  was  not  as  artless  as 
he  seemed,  and  that  under  his  show  of  politeness  there  lurked 
some  small  degree  of  policy.  Yet  whether  suspecting  only,  or 
whether  assured  of  his  failings,  to  know  him  was  to  know  his 
substantial  worth,  and  to  know  this  was  to  revere  and  love  the 
possessor. 

His  earlier  home  was  on  Main  street,  but  near  the  close  of 
the  war  with  Great  Britain,  he  erected  the  house  on  the  corner 
of  Broad  and  Second,  recently  occupied  by  Alrick  Hubbell,  and 
here  he  lived  the  greater  part  of  his  subsequent  life.  As  in  his 
younger  years  he  had  found  recreation  in  the  sports  of  hunting 
and  fishing,  so  in  his  declining  ones  he  had  recourse  to  the  pleas- 
ures of  farm  life,  and  made  his  residence  for  a  time  in  a  cottage 
on  the  Minden  road,  at  the  upper  end  of  a  tract  of  some  four 
hundred  acres,  which  had  long  been  in  his  possession.  But  he 
refused  to  call  it  The  Retreat,  as  some  person  had  named  it, 
for,  said  he,  an  Irishman  never  retreats.  He  returned  to  the  city 
to  die,  and  his  death  occurred  December  11,  1848.  He  was 
interred  in  the  grounds  of  the  Sisters  of  Charity,  in  the  rear  of 
St.  John's  Church.  He  was  twice  married.  His  first  wife,  who 
was  Miss  Ellen  Barry,  of  Albany,  died  in  1813.  His  second  one 
was  Mary,  daughter  of  Peter  Colt,  of  Rome,  a  lady,  who,  to  the 
graces  of  an  accomplished  mind  and  great  natural  wit,  joined  a 


142  THE  PIONEERS  OF  UTICA. 

spirit  of  benevolence  that  was  entirely  in  unison  with  his  own. 
She  survived  him  twenty  3'ears,  and  died  August  7, 1868.  They 
had  no  children,  but  at  different  times  adopted  two,  Ellen,  who 
became  the  wife  of  Mr.  Catlin,  of  Patterson,  N.  J.,  and  John  C, 
Jr.,  the  son  of  his  brother  Thomas,  who  died  1861. 

Another  Irishman  who  appeared  at  this  time  was  James  Delvin, 
and  though  filling  a  much  humbler  sphere  than  the  preceding, 
he  and  his  shop  were  among  the  notable  features  of  the  place. 
He  was  from  Derry  in  the  north  of  Ireland.  The  name  was 
properly  Devlin,  but  was  softened  for  the  convenience  of  his 
Yankee  neighbors  into  Delvin.  His  brother,  William,  it  is 
thought,  came  first  to  America,  and  returned  and  brought  out 
James.  They  remained  for  some  time  in  New  Jersey,  and  also 
tarried  in  Schenectady  before  James  came  to  Utica.  B}''  trade 
they  were  hand  loom  weavers,  and  had  never  been  accustomed 
to  any  kind  of  work  in  iron ;  nor  were  the}^  possessed  of  much 
mechanical  ingenuity.  But  James  began  the  business  of  mak- 
ing nails  by  hand,  and  worked  at  it  with  great  industry.  Wil- 
liam arrived  after  a  time  and  was  received  into  pai'tnership.  He 
was  better  educated,  but  less  steady.  They  disagreed,  and  Wil- 
liam was  turned  ofi.  Ere  long  the  trade  declined ;  nails  were  no 
longer  worth  eleven  cents  a  pound.  Delvin  procured  machinery, 
a  simple  vice-like  tool,  to  head  his  nails,  and  w^ent  on  in  a  slow, 
ungainful  wa}''.  A  mechanic  came  to  town,  one  John  D.  Cray, 
who  was  skilled  in  various  branches  of  the  copper  smith's  trade. 
He  soon  induced  Delvin  to  take  him  into  the  concern,  and  to 
enlarge  and  diversify  it  by  the  addition  of  a  factory  of  tin  and 
copper.  Tl:e  business  was  prosecuted  with  vigor  at  the  place 
where  he  had  estal;)lished  himself,  on  Genesee  ojij'jusite  Catherine. 
All  day  long  the  sound  of  the  hammer  was  lieard  from  the  upper 
lofts  of  the  shop,  aaid  to  its  din  was  added  tlie  monotonous  rat- 
tle and  clank  of  the  machinery  for  nails  that  was  ])lied  by  the 
workers  below.  The  association  with  Craj^  did  not  last  long, 
and  was  followed  1)y  a  bi-ief  partnership  with  the  brother-in-law 
of  Mr.  Delvin,  Robert  Disney.  Mr.  Delvin  had  lent  his  name  to 
Mr.  Hooker  on  a  note  for  five  thousand  dollars.  The  note  be- 
came due  and  Hooker  was  unable  to  meet  it.  And  now  Mr.  D. 
looked  upon  himself  as  a  ruined  man,  since  he^iad  taken  nothing 
to  secure  his  endorsement  but  a  boggy  unocupied  piece  of  ground, 


THE  FIRST  CHARTER  OF  UTICA.  143 

situated  above  all  the  stores  on  the  street;  and  this  he  endeav- 
ored in  vain  to  disjjose  of.  The  Erie  canal  was  not  yet ;  but  it 
came,  and  ran  right  along  side  Mr.  Delvin's  property ;  and  he 
was  rich.  Without  an  expenditure,  he  became  the  owner  of 
several  valuable  stores,  adjacent  to  the  corner  of  Liberty  and 
Genesee,  that  were  put  up  by  tenants  who  were  only  too  willing 
to  lease  and  make  use  of  his  comparatively  worthless  security. 
Mr.  Delvin,  who  was  a  plain,  rough,  honest  man,  died  Decem- 
ber 19,  1825,  in  his  sixtieth  year.  His  wife  (Frances  M.  Kin- 
sella,  of  Schenectady),  about  half  his  age,  departed  the  year  after 
him.  William  died  tlie  year  before  him,  at  the  age  of  fortv- 
seven,  leaving  a  widow,  who  died  in  1826.  The  latter  had  sons ; 
James  was  without  children. 

In  August  1802,  Benajah  Merrell  advertises  that  he  "has 
commenced  business  in  the  public  line  as  an  auctioneer,  and 
will  regularly  attend  said  business  on  Saturday  of  every  week 
in  the  callage  of  Utica."  At  this  time  and  for  several  years 
previous  he  was  living  in  New  Hartford,  but,  having  failed 
there,  he  tries  his  fortune  in  Utica.  In  the  course  of  1803-6 
we  find  him  announcing  three  or  four  different  auction  sales, 
but  in  1807,  after  having  served  as  deputy  sheriff,  he  is  made 
sheriff  of  the  county  in  place  of  Mr.  Kip.  This  office  he  held 
one  year  and  yielded  it  to  Mr.  Kip,  but  in  1810  was  again 
appointed.  He  was  a  stirring  man,  doing  earnestly  whatever  fell 
in  his  way  ;  prepossessing  in  appearance  and  popular  with  his 
fellow  citizens.  He  lived  on  Hotel  street  in  the  double  wooden 
house  next  north  of  the  residence  of  Dr.  Colling,  and  later 
on  the  crest  of  Genesee  hill.  In  1819  he  removed  to  Sacketts 
Harbor,  where  he  died  January  27,  1831.  His  wife,  Lucretia 
Henderson,  who,  as  well  as  himself,  was  a  native  of  Hartford, 
Conn.,  died  at  Portage  City,  Wisconsin,  February  1,  1844. 
His  sons  Hiram  and  Harvey  were  merchants  at  Sacketts  Har- 
bor and  Watertown.  A  daughter  became  the  wdfe  of  Judah 
Williams,  Jr.  , 

Solomon  P.  Goodrich  had  established  a  residence  in  May, 
1802,  and  began  at  once  to  deal  in  books,  but  his  first  announce- 
ment does  not  appear  until  January  30,  1804,  when  under 
the  firm  name  of  Whiting,  Goodrich  &  Co.,  he  offers  books  for 
sale  on  the  north  side  of  Whitesboro  street  near  where  Division 


144  THE  PIONEEKS  OF  UTICA. 

now  is.  Besides  keeping  a  book-store  he  opened  a  select  school 
for  young  ladies,  and  it  is  remembered  by  one  of  his  pupils 
that  he  kindly  dismissed  them  one  day  in  1806,  that  they  might 
see  "  the  great  eclipse"  of  that  year.  One  more  advertisement 
of  his  books  makes  its  appearance  in  the  papers,  and  then,  in 
1808,  he  has  removed  from  the  place.  He  was  a  good  old  man, 
influential  in  the  Presbyterian  Church  of  which  he  was  a  trus- 
tee and  much  esteemed  generally  ;  in  appearance  neat  and  dap- 
per. His  wife  was  Ably  Folsome  of  Glens  Falls,  and  his  fam- 
ily a  pleasant  one.  Some  of  them  were  afterwards  living  in 
Geneva. 

Flavel  Bingham,  a  watchmaker,  sets  forth  in  August,  1802, 
that  he  continues  his  business  at  the  sign  of  the  Golden  Watch. 
He  obtained  possession  of  a  lot  on  the  east  side  of  Genesee 
street,  near  where  the  canal  was  afterwards  dug,  and  had  begun 
to  build  upon  it  when  his  wife  and  himself  were  successively 
carried  off  by  a  pi'evailing  fever.  Mrs  B.,  who  was  daughter 
of  David  White,  of  Coventry,  Conn.,  died  July  11,  1804,  and 
her  husband  within  a  month  afterward.  Their  only  child, 
Flavel  W.,  was  taken  away  by  his  relatives,  but  returned  in 
after  years,  studied  law  with  General  Joseph  Kirkland,  and 
for  a  short  term  practiced  upon  the  site  of  his  father's  lot,  then 
moved  to  Cleveland,  where  he  lived  prosperously,  but  is  now 
dead. 

Likewise  in  August,  1802,  Frederick  White  announces  a 
"  New  Hat  and  Grocery  store"  a  few  doors  west  of  Bryan  John- 
son. He  has  on  hand  six  hundred  castor  roram  and  napt  hats, 
two  hundred  felt  do,  &c.,  and  beside  the  various  kinds  of  liquors 
and  groceries  which  he  enumerates,  he  has  also  nails,  crock- 
ery and  a  few  dozen  of  Webster's  first  and  third  part  spelling 
books;  all  of  wliicli,  lie  tel]s  us,  will  be  sold  for  wheat,  pot  or 
pearl  ashes,  furs,  and  an  approved  credit.  Cash  and  the  highest 
prices  paid  for  all  kinds  of  furs.  Others  of  his  advertisements 
occur  some  years  longer.  Accounts  not  altogether  favorable 
arc  given  of  Mr.  White's  hal)its  and  his  attention  to  business. 
It  is  said  also  that  he  manifested  little  skill  as  a  salesman,  seem- 
ed indifferent  about  showing  his  goods,  would  loll  upon  them 
and  thus  screen  them  from  inspection  l^y  his  customer,  and  was 
prompt  in  replacing  them  on  the  shelves  if  not  purchased  imme- 


THE  FIRST  CHARTER  OF  UTICA.  145 

diately  they  were  shown.  He  remained  single  during  most 
of  his  residence  here,  but  at  length  married  a  Miss  Whiting,  and 
took  to  housedceeping  on  the  south  east  corner  of  Main  and  First 
street.  In  1811  he  was  one  of  the  village  trustees,  and  shortly 
afterward  removed  to  Sacketts  Harbor.  He  is  represented  as  a 
noble  looking  man.  But  in  the  end  he  became  the  victim  of 
ruinous  habits. 

Another  hatter  of  this  era  whose  career  ended  yet  more  sadly 
was  Benjamin  Hicks.  He  was  tall  and  finely  proportioned,  agile 
and  skillful  in  athletic  sports,  especially  in  skating,  in  which 
he  had  no  equal :  and  in  military  parade  his  movements  were 
those  of  a  precise  and  accomplished  officer.  On  drill  he  was  selec- 
ted as  the  Ijest  fugleman.  Not  devoid  of  mental  capacity  he  was 
yet  disinclined  to  labor,  and  had  the  I'eputation  of  being  wild  and 
hare-brained.  He  worked  for  Samuel  Stocking,  and  was  after- 
wards a  business  associate  of  Levi  Barnum.  In  the  end  he 
proved  dissipated,  unthrifty  and  quarrelsome,  and  was  separated 
from  his  wife.  He  enlisted  in  the  army  and  became  sergeant 
major,  after  the  war  led  a  strolling  life,  and  finally  died  alone 
in  a  toll-house  in  Oswego  county  where  he  was  collector.  His 
wife  was  Ranah  Tisdale  who  afterwards  married  General  John 
Gr.  Weaver. 

A  Welsh  citizen,  of  a  totally  opposite  character,  who  lived 
here  nearly  seventy  years,  was  Edward  Baldwin.  He  was  a 
little  too  late  to  assist  in  establishing  the  Baptist  Church,  but 
he  soon  became  connected  with  it  and  remained  throughout  his 
life  one  of  its  leading  members.  He  was  a  native  of  Usk,  in 
Monmouthshire,  and  was  born  in  March,  1777.  A  carpenter 
by  trade,  he  was,  it  is  said,  so  expert  with  the  broad  axe  that 
bets  have  been  wagered  that  timber  he  had  hewn  had  been 
sawed  and  then  smoothed  with  a  plane.  In  1800  he  came  to- 
this  country,  but  remained  some  time  in  Mainland,  and  did  not 
make  Utica  his  abode  until  1802.  He  soon  established  himself 
as  a  builder  and  ere  long  obtained  a  good  run  of  custom.  Be- 
sides several  private  residences,  he  built  for  its  trustees  the 
Academy  and  Court  House.  But  he  would  not,  for  ''  con- 
science' sake,"  consent  to  take  the  contract  for  the  erection  of 
the  Catholic  Church  that  was  tendered  him  not  long  afterward, 
though  he  might  have  had  it  on  better  terms  than  other  mechan- 
K 


146  THE   PIOXEEKS  OF  UTICA. 

ics.  For  himself  he  put  up  two  houses  on  Washington  street 
near  the  ctiriier  of  Liberty  in  one  of  which,  or  else  on  the  square 
below  J.  C.  Devereux,  he  lived  throughout  his  life  time.  Full 
thirt}'  3'ears  before  its  close  he  retired  from  active  business. 

Mr.  Baldwin  always  bore  the  reputation  of  a  thoroughly  up- 
right and  conscientious  man,  strong,  and  as  most  people  would 
think,  even  bigoted  in  his  convictions,  retiring  in  his  habits,  yet 
a  shining  light  in  the  Church  of  his  adoption.'  He  is  said  to 
have  been  remarkable  for  the  earnestness  and  fervor  of  his  pray- 
ers. The  following  incident  was  related  by  one  who  was  a  fel- 
low voj-ager  with  him  on  his  reiurn  from  Europe,  whither  Mr. 
Baldwin  went  on  a  visit  in  the  course  of  his  earlier  residence. 
A  fearful  storm  had  arisen  which  brought  consternation  upon 
all.  The  captain  of  the  vessel  was  himself  so  despairing  of 
the  issue  that  he  bid  them  prepare  for  death,  as  the  ship  must 
go  down.  A  passenger,  in  reply,  assured  the  rest  that  the  cap- 
tain was  mistaken.  He  had  just  heard  that  young  man  in 
prayer,  and  he  was  conlident  they  would  not  perish. 

Mr.  Baldwin  himself  died  December  11,  1871  ;  his  wife 
on  the  fourteenth  of  the  pi'evious  July.  They  had  six  daughters 
and  three  sons  ;  Anna  (Mrs.  Winchester  Powell,)  Elizabeth 
(Mrs.  Joseph  James,)  Catharine  (Mrs.  William  Francis,)  Harriet 
N.  (Mrs.  Jacob  Corle,)  Jane,  of  this  city,  Ebenezer  deceased, 
Edward  E.  of  Montana,  and  James  of  Colorado. 

One  of  the  Welsh  emigrants  who  settled  in  Remsen  in  1795 
was  a  congregational  minister  named  Rowland  Griffiths.  Like 
other  Welsh  ministers  he  seems  to  have  had  a  secular  calling  as 
well,  and  in  1802  he  announces  himself  as  a  "Taylor  &  Habbit 
Maker,"  ready  to  do  business  in  a  shop  next  door  to  Mr.  Post. 
Here  with  him  he  was  burned  out  in  1804.  His  wife  was  a 
daughter  of  Jenkins  Evans,  a  settler  of  1803.  He  removed  to 
Marcy  in  1815,  and  died  about  1854.    A  son  now  lives  in  Utica. 

Another  Welsh  family,  for  seventy-five  years  represented  in 
Utica,  hail  for  its  head  William  Rees,  of  Pembrokeshire,  who 
sailed  for  America  in  June,  1801,  in  company  with  one  hundred 
and  forty-nine  others.  After  a  year  he  came  hither  and  settled 
on  Frankfort  hill,  but  soon  left  it  for  the  village.  Here  he  was 
a  resident,  and  most  of  the  time  a  farmer,  until  his  death  in 
December,   1851.     His  wife,  whom  he  found  in  Philadelphia 


THE  FIRST  CHARTER  OF  UTICA.         '  147 

TDefore  coming,  died  the  summer  before.  Of  his  seven  sons, 
including  Sylvanus,  the  blacksmith,  James,  the  milk  dealer 
and  amateur  in  chess  playing,  Evan  J.,  Thomas,  &c.,  all  are 
dead. .  Maria,  his  only  daughter,  long  the  house  keeper  of 
Thomas  Walker,  is  the  sole  survivor. 

Two  brothers  Ellis,  one  of  them  named  Marvin  were  tempo- 
rarily resident.  They  were  speculators  in  land,  and  became 
the  founders  of  Ellisburgh,  in  Jefferson  county.  One  of  them 
lived  also  in  Deerfield  and  w^as  a  justice  of  the  peace. 

Of  the  appearance  of  Utica  in  1802,  and  more  especially  of 
the  characteristics  of  its  people  as  they  presented  themselves  to 
one  temporary  visitor  among  them,  we  have  a  few  hints  in  the 
journal  of  Rev.  John  Taylor,  of  Westlield,  Mass.  His  journal 
of  a  missionary  tour  through  the  Mohawk  and  Black  River  coun- 
trv  is  contained  in  the  third  volume  of  the  Documentary  History 
of  New  York.  In  the  course  of  his  excursion  he  stopped  two  or 
three  times  at  Utica,  and  the  following  passages  are  extracted  from 
his  notes  :  "  This  is  a  very  pleasant  and  beautiful  village  ;  but  it 
is  filled  with  a  great  quantity  of  people  of  all  nations  and  reli- 
gions." "  There  is  but  a  handful  of  people  in  this  place  who  have 
much  regard  for  preaching  or  for  anything  in  this  world.  Eight 
years  last  spring  there  were  but  two  houses  in  the  present  town 
plot.  There  are  now  above  ninety."  "Utica  appears  to  be  a 
mixed  mass  of  discordant  materials.  Here  may  be  found  peo- 
ple of  ten  or  twelve  different  nations,  and  of  almost  all  re- 
ligions and  sects  ;  but  the  greater  part  are  of  no  religion.  The 
wc)rld  is  the  great  object  with  the  body  of  the  people." 

That  the  place  presented  at  this  early  period  of  its  existence, 
much  of  the  roughness,  both  of  morals  and  of  manners,  so  com- 
monly found  in  freshly  settled  districts,  is  altogether  probable. 
In  the  hurry  of  clearing  and  of  building,  in  the  general  scram- 
ble of  trade,  men  were  intent  on  immediate  interests,  eager  to 
fix  a  position  and  a  business,  and  might  have  been  neglectful 
of  the  courtesies  of  the  present  life,  still  more  of  the  claims  of 
the  future.  Beset  on  all  sides  by  strangers,  either  settling  among 
them,  or  crowding  past  toward  new  homes  in  the  wdlderness, 
they  hardly  knew  who  were  their  neighbors,  or  had  come  to  re- 
ahze  the  fullness  of  their  social  obligations.  In  the  absence  of 
churches   and   of   schools  there  w^as  Httle  of  the  restraint  so 


148  THE  PIONEERS  OF  UTICA. 

controlling  in  older  coniniunitie.s,  fewer  influences  to  persuade 
to  the  practice  of  what  was  due  to  themselves,  their  fel- 
lows and  their  Maker.  But  that  Utica  w^as  not  wholly  made 
up  of  the  worldly-minded  and  irreligious  people  which  this 
writer  would  have  one  to  believe,  that  there  was  a  goodly  leaven 
at  work  amid  the  fermenting  mass,  the  personal  sketches  thus  far 
exhibited  will,  I  trust,  sufficiently  show.  Churches  and  schools 
were  obtaining  a  foothold,  and  their  healthful  influence,  wnth 
that  of  the  many  educated  and  superior  minds,  now  beginning 
to  assert  themselves,  was  fast  shaping  these  "  discordant  mate- 
rials "  and  giving  correctness  and  elevation  to  the  morals  of  soci- 
ety, "Were  there  no  other  evidence  of  a  want  of  charity  in  Mr. 
Taylor  than  those  to  be  met  with  elsewhere  in  his  journal,  there 
is  certainly  some  inconsistency  in  the  picture  contained  in  the 
last  of  the  quotations  we  have  drawn  from  him  when  contrasted 
with  the  fact  recorded  under  the  same  date.  He  preached,  he 
says,  on  the  afternoon  of  that  day  (August  1,)  to  three  hundred 
people.  In  the  morning  of  the  same  day,  his  congregation  at 
"Whitesboro  had  amounted  to  two  hundred  and  fifty,  though  the 
service  at  Whitesboro,  it  should  be  added,  was  the  communion, 
wdien  audiences  are  usually  smaller.  Three  hundred  people  was,. 
it  is  prol)able,  at  least  half  of  the  population  of  Utica. 

Accompanying  the  journal  of  Mr.  Taylor  there  is  a  rude  dia- 
gram of  the  place,  with  its  buildings  set  down  in  their  relative 
position.  Eighty-two  are  figured,  extending  about  seventy  rods 
on  Main  street  and  sixty  on  Whitesboro,  and  on  Genesee  street 
ten  rods  below  the  square  and  sixty  above  it.  They  are 
all  detached  from  one  another  except  three  on  the  east  cor- 
ner of  the  square  and  Genesee,  and  two  upon  the  west  corner. 
The  Hotel  is  the  tallest  of  any :  Bagg's  tavern  covers  the  more 
space.  Besides  these  the  only  ones  represented  as  larger  or 
more  eminent  than  the  others,  are  two  on  the  north  side  of 
Main  street,  a  little  east  of  the  square,  and  one  a  short  distance 
aljove  the  square,  on  the  east  side  of  Genesee  street.  The  draw- 
ing of  the  west  line  of  the  square  as  the  arc  of  a  circle  concave 
inwards,  I  have  reason  to  believe,  is  incorrect,  the  saliency  be- 
ing, in  fact,  angular  and  toward  the  centre,  while  the  quarter 
circle  which  connects  this  angle  with  Whitesl)oro  street,  formed 
but  an  inconsiderable  part  of  the  whole  west  line ;  so  also  is 
there  an  error  in  the  drawing  of  Genesee  street,  at  right  angles 


THE  FIRST  CHARTER  OF  UTICA.  149 

with  the  intersecting  street.  Notwithstanding  these  inaccura- 
cies, the  map  is  valuable  as  the  only  picture  of  the  hamlet  at  so 
early  a  date  now  known  to  exist. 

1803. 

As  early  as  1798,  the  Episcopalians  of  Utica  and  its  vicinity 
had,  as  we  have  seen,  been  assembled  by  Rev.  Mr.  Chase,  and 
encouraged  to  continue  holding  religious  services.  Meetings 
were  accordingly  held  from  time  to  time  in  the  school  house,  on 
Sundays  when  the  Presbyterian  minister  from  Whitesboro  did 
not  preach.  But  as  the  population  had,  by  1S03,  become  con- 
siderable, and  as  people  of  all  persuasions  were  present  whenever 
there  were  services,  the  school  house  was  so  crowded  as  to  be 
inconvenient.  In  this  situation  of  things  it  was  thought  that 
the  time  had  come  for  the  erection  of  a  church.  The  Episco- 
palians were  among  the  most  wealthy  and  influential  of  the  vil- 
lagers. The  Bleecker  family  bad  promised  to  donate  a  site  for 
the  first  Episcopal  church  that  should  be  erected.  The  first  step 
was  taken  on  the  twenty  fourth  of  May,  1803,  when  a  meeting 
w^as  held,  at  w^hich  B.  Walker,  William  Inman  and  A.  M.  Walton 
were  appointed  a  committee  to  solicit  subscriptions  for  an  erec- 
tion fund.  Something  over  two  thousand  dollars  was  soon  sub- 
scribed, and  on  the  first  of  June  the  subscribers  decided  to  build. 
Messrs.  Walker,  Inman  and  Nathan  Williams  w^ere  selected  as 
a  building  committee,  plans  and  estimates  were  obtained,  and 
the  gift  of  a  lot  secured  from  John  R  Bleecker,  of  Albany. 
The  building,  when  completed,  would  cost,  according  to  the 
estimate,  four  thousand  dollars,  but  as  the  amount  subscribed 
reached  only  $2,072.50,  it  was  agreed  that  the  builders,  Messrs. 
Samuel  and  John  Hooker,  should  go  on,  agreeably  to  the  plan 
presented  by  Philip  Hooker  of  Albany,  until  the  funds  were 
expended.  Work  was  accordingly^  begun,  but  through  embar- 
rassments from  lack  of  means,  it  was  not  until  1806  that  the 
building  was  so  far  completed  as  to  admit  of  use,  and  not  until 
some  years  later  that  it  was  wholly  finished. 

The  Presbyterians  were  also  growing  in  numbers  and  influ- 
ence, and  by  the  month  of  October,  1803,  the  number  of  mem- 
bers of  the  united  church  of  Whitesboro  and  Utica  living  in  the 
latter  place  had  increased  to  twenty,  that  of  the  congregation 


150  THE  PIONEERS  OF  UTICA. 

being  probably  considerably  greater.  It  was  therefore  recom- 
mended by  the  session  that  one  deacon  and  two  elders  be  chosen- 
from  that  part  of  the  congregation  living  in  Utica.  And  on  the- 
second  of  the  following  month,  at  a  meeting  held  in  the  school 
house,  Captain  Stephen  Potter  was  elected  deacon,  and  Captain 
Stephen  Potter  and  Ebenezer  Dodd  were  elected  elders.  This 
Mr,  Dodd,  who  has  not  been  before  mentioned,  was  a  shoemaker 
who  lived  on  the  west  side  of  Genesee  street,  near  the  river,  and 
a  brother  of  Rev,  Bethuel  Dodd,  the  minister  of  the  united  parish. 
At  the  same  meeting  nine  trustees  were  appoiDted  in  additioa 
to  those  of  Whitesboro,  as  follows :  Jeremiah  Van  Rensselaer, 
Erastus  Clark,  Talcott  Camp,  Apollos  Cooper,  Benjamin  Ballou, 
Jr,  Benjamin  Plant,  John  C.  Hoyt,  Nathaniel  Butler,  and 
Solomon  P.  Goodrich. 

Arrived  at  the  year  1803  we  encounter  several  additional 
names,  among  which  we  recognize  not  a  few  of  those  of  citizens 
who  were  afterwards  prominent, 

"  Da\  id  Ostrom  was  a  soldier  of  the  Revolution,  and  among 
the  earliest  settlers  of  Oneida  county.  About  the  year  1790  or 
1791  he  removed  from  Dutchess  county  to  New  Hartford,  and 
afterwards  lived  in  Paris,  from  whence  he  removed  to  Utica. 
Ui)on  the  organization  of  Oneida  count}",  in  1798,  he  was  ap- 
pointed one  of  the  county  judges,  which  office  he  held  until  the 
year  1815,  with  the  exception  of  three  years  in  wliicli  his  name 
was  omitted  from  the  general  commission  of  the  peace  for  the 
county.  Although  not  educated  for  the  bar,  he  was,  in  1812, 
admitted  ex  gratia  an  attornej^  and  counsellor  of  the  county 
courts,"  and  by  an  advertisement  of  that  period  it  seems  that 
he  opened  an  office  in  Utica.  To  the  above,  taken  from 
Jones'  Annals,  we  append  an  extract  from  an  obituary  notice 
which  appeared  ii>  the  Columbian  Gazette :  "  His  knoMm  integ- 
rity, his  independence  of  sentiment,  his  unassuming  manners^ 
and  practical  good  sense,  were  equalities  which  recommended 
him  to  the  electors  of  Oneida,  as  their  representative  in  the 
State  Assembly  for  many  years  and  (lualitied  liini  for  the  seat 
which  he  some  time  held  in  the  Court  of  Connnon  Pleas.  For 
a  considerable  period  he  executed  the  duties  of  a  mtigistrate  in 
this  village  with  great  correctness  and  to  universal  acceptance." 
As  early  as  Febi-uary,  180-1,  he  was  installed  as  landlord  of  the 


THE  FIRST  CHARTER  OF  UTICA.  151 

Cofiee  House,  a  well-known  public  house  which  occupied  the 
ground  now  covered  by  the  Devereux  block,  and  therein 
remained  a  number  of  years.  Later  he  lived  nearly  opposite,  on 
the  site  of  the  Franklin  House,  now  covered  by  the  Arcade. 
And  there  he  died  March  17, 1821,  at  the  age  of  sixty-five.  As 
he  had  lived  with  the  uninterrupted  respect  and  kind  regard  of  his 
fellow  citizens,  so  his  sudden  departure  by  a  stroke  of  apoplexy 
was  followed  by  unaffected  regret.  His  sons  were  Joshua, 
John  H.  and  Nicholas  ;  his  daughters,  Harriet  J.  (Mrs.  Walter 
Grerman,  of  Norwich,)  died  1819;  Clara,  died  of  cholera  in  1832  ; 
and  Maria. 

Dr.  Marcus  Hitchcock  came  with  his  father  from  New  Haven ^ 
Conn.,  to  New  Hartford.  N.  Y.,  and  there  studied  medicine  with 
Dr.  Amos  G.  Hull.  After  removing  to  Utica  he  began  to  prac- 
tice, but  was  not  satisfied  with  the  profession,  and  soon  opened  a 
drug  store  in  company  with  Dr.  John  Carrington.  The  latter  was 
a  brother  and  brief  successor  of  Dr.  Samuel  Carrington,  whose 
abrupt  departure  in  1802  has  been  previously  told.  When  Dr, 
John  gave  up  to  him.  Dr.  H's  store  was  on  the  east  side  of  Genesee 
street  below  Broad.  But  soon  afterward,  that  is  to  say,  in  1805^ 
he  moved  across  the  street,  to  No.  38,  a  few  doors  above  the 
corner  of  Whitesboro.  Here  was  kept  also  the  post  office,  which 
fell  to  him  with  the  drug  business  of  his  predecessor,  and  of 
which  he  was  the  official  head  from  July  1,  1803,  down  to 
January  21,  1828.  And  here  was  the  chief  place  of  gathering 
of  all  the  inhabitants  of  Utica  and  its  immediate  surroundings. 
At  the  coming  of  the  daily  mails  all  who  looked  for  letters  or 
papers,  all  who  sought  to  hear  or  to  tell  what  was  new,  repaired 
to  the  office,  and  clustering  about  the  more  knowing  or  voluble 
talkers,  assisted  in  the  discussion  of  matters  local,  national  or 
cosmopolitan  ;  appointments  were  made  or  kept,  bargains  nur- 
tured, nominations  counselled,  candidates  pilloried  and  election- 
eering furthered.  Strangers  became  known  among  the  cits,. 
young  men  were  informed  and  encouraged  by  their  elders,  and 
a  friendly  oneness  of  interest  was  constantly  fostered.  And 
here  it  was,  as  tradition  asserts,  that  once  when  Utica  was  young, 
though  how  young  we  are  not  quite  assured,  there  occurred  an 
incident  like  this :  A  group  of  townsmen  were  talking  of  the 
advancement  of  their  place  and  wondering  whereto  it  yet  might 


152  THE   PIONEERS  OF  UTICA. 

grow,  when  Erastus  Clark,  that  sage  and  trusted  senior,  ven- 
tured boldly  to  declare  that  lie  expected  the  town  would  yet 
contain  live  thousand  people.  A  prophecy  so  wild,  out-reach- 
ing far  their  fondest  hopes,  encountered  only  universal  laughter 
and  derision.  During  the  war  Dr.  Hitchcock  acted  at  times  as 
agent  and  paymaster  of  the  government.  For  twenty-five  years 
he  continued  to  deal  in  drugs,  and  was  largel}'  concerned  in  the 
sale  of  patent  medicines.  Among  others  which  he  sold  were 
the  Welsh  medicamentum,  catarrh  snuff,  odontica,  and  many, 
many  more.  The  first  named  article,  which  was  in  considerable 
demand  and  for  a  long  time  held  in  high  repute,  was  an  inven- 
tion of  his  own,  but  named,  by  permission,  in  honor  of  Dr. 
Roberts,  of  Steuben,  a  physician  of  celebrity  among  the  Welsh 
settlers  of  the  northern  part  of  Oneida  county. 

Dr.  Hitchcock  was  stout,  corpulent  and  phlegmatic.  He  failed 
in  l)usiness,  and  was  charged  with  being  a  defaulter  to  govern- 
ment. A  suit  was  brought  against  him  but  the  verdict  went  in 
his  favor.  In  1836  he  removed  to  Ten-e  Haute,  Ind.,  where 
he  died  about  1853.  His  wife,  to  whom  he  was  married  July 
1,  1807,  was  daughter  of  David  Trowbiidge,  to  be  noticed 
shortly.  They  went  to  house-keeping  in  the  house  yet  standing 
on  tlie  southeast  corner  of  Main  and  First.  He  afterwards  built 
the  house  that  stands  on  the  south-west  corner  of  Whitesboro 
and  Washington.  His  children  were  John  W.,  a  physician  of 
Mount  Vernon,  111. ;  Marcus,  a  druggist,  deceased ;  Cornelia, 
(Mrs.  Wood,)  deceased  ;  James,,  deceased ;  Andrew,  a  lawyer 
in  New  York,  deceased ;  Mary,  (Mrs.  Cookerl}-,)  also  de- 
ceased. 

In  July,  1803,  a  partnership  in  the  practice  of  medicine  and 
in  the  sale  of  drugs  was  effected  between  Dr.  Francis  Guiteau, 
Jr.,  and  Dr.  Solomon  Wolcott,  Jr.  This  Dr.  Wolcott,  a  native 
of  Colchester,  Conn.,  and  born  on  the  first  of  March,  1769,  was 
a  son  of  Solomon,  and  a  descendant  in  the  sixth  generation  of 
the  Henry  Wolcott  who  came  from  Somersetshire,  England, 
with  Winthrop's  emigration  in  1630,  and  in  1636  took  part  in  the 
founding  of  AVindsor,  Conn., — the  head  of  the  numerous  family 
of  AVolcotts  in  the  United  States,  the  progenitor  of  two  or  three 
governors  of  C<  )niK'Cl  icut,  and  of  other  eminent  persoiis.  Study- 
ing medicine  with  ])r.  Hastings,  of  New  London,  Dr.  Wolcott 


THE  FIRST  CHARTER  OF  UTICA.  153 

settled  himself  in  Williamstown,  Mass.  There  by  the  exercise 
of  his  profession  and  by  the  purchase  and  sale  of  bounty  lands 
given  to  the  soldiers  of  the  Revolution,  he  acquired  some  prop- 
erty, and  there  he  was  married.  Thence  he  was  drawn  to  Utica, 
chiefly  by  the  persuasion  of  his  former  fellow  townsman,  Nathan 
Williams,  although  his  coming  in  1803  was  not  his  first  visit 
to  "  the  Whitestown  country,"  nor  this  his  first  acquaintance 
with  Dr.  Guiteau,  having  already  seen  him  in  1792,  when  the 
latter  was  located  in  Rensselaer  county. 

Their  partnership  formed,  the  shop  and  office  they  occupied 
was  situated  near  where  once  stood  the  office  of  the  county  clerk, 
that  is  to  say  close  to  the  intersection  of  Burchard  and  Whites- 
boro  streets.  On  the  opposite  side  of  the  latter  street  and  ad- 
joining the  site  of  the  present  Globe  hotel,  each  built  himself  a 
house.  After  Dr.  Guiteau  withdrew.  Dr.  Wolcott  removed  to 
the  east  side  of  Genesee,  a  few  doors  above  the  corner  of  the 
square,  where  his  store  was  known  by  the  sign  of  the  Good 
Samaritan.  Within  less  than  two  years  he  had  taken  with  him 
his  brother  Waitstill  H.,  and  another  remove  brings  him  to  the 
stand  now  occupied  by  B.  F.  Ray,  on  the  corner  of  Genesee 
and  Whitesboro.  During  this  time,  he  had  been  physician  and 
druggist,  but  more  of  the  latter,  his  advertisements  finding  a 
place  in  every  newspaper  issue.  But  relinquishing  his  trade  in 
1813  to  his  brother,  who  now  had  John  Williams  as  an  associ- 
ate, he  devotes  himself  rather  to  practice.  In  1814  he  had  a 
brief  partnership  with  Dr.  Daniel  Barker,  and  in  April,  1815, 
was  appointed  garrison  surgeon's  mate  in  charge  of  the  hospital, 
established  for  the  relief  of  the  government  soldiers,  the  care 
of  whom  he  had  already  had  for  some  months.  About  the 
same  time,  he  was  made  one  of  the  judges  of  Common  Pleas. 
Toward  the  close  of  the  war  he  became  interested  as  a  silent 
partner  with  William  Gaylord  in  dealings  in  crockery.  They 
made  exports  of  cotton  and  imported  crockery  and  other  articles 
in  return,  for  which  purpose  Mr.  Gaylord  visited  England  and 
brought  out  the  goods,  but  mysteriously  disappeared  shortly 
after  his  arrival.  The  venture  was  ill-timed,  for  money  had 
become  exceedingl}^  scarce  and  a  remunerative  sale  was  out  of 
the  question.  To  aid  him  in  his  operations  and  in  building  a 
house,  Dr.  W.  had  borrowed  at  the  Bank  of  Utica,  of  which  he 
was  a  director,  $16,500,  giving  his  note  and  ample  security. 


154  THE  PIONEERS  OF  UTICA. 

Unable  to  meet  it  at  maturity  and  pressed  bv  liis  endorser,  he 
gave  him  judgment,  by  the  advice  of  a  friend,  and  thereby  alien- 
ated an  estate  that  was  appraised  at  §100,000.  In  1801  he  had 
bought  the  farm  originally  settled  by  John  D.  Petrie,  next  east 
of  Matthew  Hubbell,  and  to  it  had  added  another  by  a  subse- 
quent purchase.  There,  about  the  time  of  his  embarrassment, 
he  built  the  large  wooden  house  where  some  ten  years  afterward 
was  opened  the  Utica  High  School,  the  building  that  is  now  oc- 
cupied by  William  Brady.  From  the  date  of  his  failure,  he 
declined  in  cheerfulness  and  in  strength,  and,  being  seized  wath 
acute  illness,  he  sank  to  his  grave  the  same  year  in  which  he 
moved  into  his  house.  His  death  occurred  October  30,  1818, 
at  the  age  of  forty-nine.  A  previous  erection  of  his  was  the 
brick  house  still  standing  on  the  south-west  corner  of  Broad 
and  Second  streets. 

An  obituary  notice  declares  of  Dr.  Wolcott,  that  he  was  "a 
steady  friend  and  firm  supporter  of  all  the  religious,  moral  and 
political  institutions  of  our  country,"  and  that  "he  discharged 
with  fidelity  all  the  social  and  public  duties  of  life."  To  this 
we  can  only  subjoin  that  he  was  a  much  valued  member  of  the 
community,  that  in  person  he  was  large  and  fine  looking,  of 
staid  habits  and  grave  demeanor,  and  that  among  the  institu- 
tions wholly  local  in  which  he  was  most  deeply  interested  were 
the  Bank  of  Utica,  the  Utica  Academy,  and  the  Presbyterian 
Church.  His  wife,  Abigail  Butler,  of  Pittsfield,  Mass.,  filled  a 
useful  place  in  the  church  aforesaid,  and  was  a  woman  of 
character.  She  afterwards  became  the  wife  of  Rev.  William 
Woodbridge,  of  Utica,  and  died  May  20,  1835.  The  children 
of  Dr.  Wolcott,  besides  the  three  oldest,  who  died  in  childhood, 
were  Horace  B.,  who  died  at  twenty-two  in  1829 ;  Sidney  H., 
now  living  at  Addison,  Steuben  county,  N.  Y.,  and  Solomon  B., 
who  resided  at  Addison  until  his  death,  September  11,  1860. 
His  parents  made  a  home  witli  him  during  the  latter  years  of 
their  life,  and  here  his  mother  died  July  17, 1822.  Waitstill  H., 
his  brother,  removed  early  from  the  [)lace,  and  died  in  1833. 

Thomas  Walker  was  born  in  Rehoboth,  Mass.,  November 
18,  1777.  He  was  of  an  old  New  England  family,  and  his 
father  held  a  lieutenant's  commission  in  the  war  of  the  Revolu- 
tion.    After  acquiring  an  education  whose  solidity  and  thor- 


THE  FIEST  CHARTER  OF  UTICA.  155 

oiigliness  adorned  his  life,  he  learned  the  trade  of  a  printer  with 
Isaiah  Thomas  of  Worcester,  one  of  the  most  eminent  of  the 
craft,  and  author  of  the  well  known  History  of  Printing  in 
America.  He  came  to  Oneida  county  with  enterprise  and  in- 
dustry, here  to  seek  his  fortune  and  help  in  building  up  the 
nascent  civilization.  In  conjunction  with  his  brother-in-law, 
Ebenezer  Eaton,  also  of  Worcester,  he  started,  at  Rome,  a  news- 
paper called  the  Columbian  Patriotic  Gazette.  This  was  on  the 
i7th  of  August,  1799.  The  Western  Centinel  had  been  estab- 
lished at  Whitesboro  in  179-1,  the  Whitestown  Gazette  at  Xew 
Hartford  in  1796.  This  was,  therefore,  the  third  newspaper 
published  in  the  county.  They  brought  the  printing  materials 
with  them,  and  hired  a  man  in  Rome  to  make  a  Ramage  press, 
and  on  this  the  paper  was  printed.  The  publication  price  was 
one  dollar  and  a  half.  Advertisements  not  exceeding  twelve 
lines  were  inserted  three  weeks  for  seventy-five  cents,  and  con- 
tinued for  twelve  and  a  half  cents  per  week.  Mr.  Eaton  was 
connected  with  the  paper  about  eighteen  months. 

In  March,  1803,  through  the  influence  of  personal  and  politi- 
cal friends,  Mr.  Walker  removed  his  paper  to  Utica,  called  it 
the  Columhian  Gazette,  and  made  it  a  supporter  of  the  adminis- 
tration of  Thomas  Jefferson.  The  first  number  of  this  weekly 
sheet  appeared  March  21.  Its  dimensions  were  ten  and  a  half 
by  twelve  inches,  and  the  paper  was  coarse  and  dingy.  The 
second  page  and  about  one  half  of  the  third,  was  devoted  to  for- 
eign news,  editorials,  and  communications ;  the  remainder  was 
filled  with  advertisements.  The  office  was  located  about  14 
Genesee  street.  Its  sign  was  a  large  square  one,  containing  a 
portrait  of  Benjamin  Franklin,— the  familiar  one,  which  repre- 
sents him  with  his  chin  resting  on  his  hand,  and  his  spectacles 
pushed  back  upon  the  forehead.  As  editor  as  well  as  publisher^ 
Mr.  Walker  conducted  the  Gazette  for  twenty-two  j^ears,  secur- 
ing success  by  his  enterprise  and  faithful  devotion  to  business. 
He  wrote  little  himself,  but  exercised  good  judgment  in  his 
selections,  and  was  assisted  by  able  contributors.  He  also  dealt 
to  some  extent  in  the  sale  of  books. 

A  large  share  of  the  population  whom  he  wished  to  reach 
with  his  paper,  resided  at  the  north  as  far  as  Lewis  and  Jeffer- 
son counties,  and  there  were  then  no  post  routes,  and  no  com- 
munication thither,  except  by  chance  passengers.     In  order  to 


156  THE   PIONEERS  OF  UTICA. 

surmount  these  difficulties  and  circulate  the  paper,  lie  set  about 
establishing  post  routes  to  these  far  northern  settlements.  From 
Post  Master  General  Granger  he  obtained  authority  to  establish 
them  -wherever  the}'  could  be  self-sustaining.  Commissions 
were  made  out  in  blank  and  sent  to  Mr.  Walker,  who,  with  Silas 
Stowe,  a  prominent  resident  of  what  is  now  Le^Yis  county,  and 
for  some  years  a  meml)erof  congress  of  the  district  in  which  he 
was  a  resident,  was  clothed  with  full  power  to  designate  post 
masters  and  contract  for  the  conveyance  of  the  mails.  Few  pub- 
lications were  issued  from  his  office  besides  the  paper.  The 
only  ones  of  which  we  have  any  knowledge  were  some  almanacs 
and  pamphlets,  a  Western  Gazetteer  (1817),  and  a  translation  of 
Rodolph  Tillier  s  Justification  of  the  Administration  of  Castor- 
land.  About  1815-16,  Eliasaph  Dorchester  was  for  a  time 
associated  with  him.  As  apprentices  he  had  nearly  at  the  same 
time  a  Milo,  a  Thurlovv  and  a  Pliilo.  These  were  Milo  Tracy, 
Thurlow  Weed  and  Philo  White.  Other  apprentices  were 
'Thomas  H.  Clark,  William  Sickles,  &c. 

During  the  war  of  1812-15,  Mr.  Walker  held  the  position  of 
•collector  of  United  States  revenue  for  this  district ;  a  position 
which  it  so  happened  that  his  son,  Thomas  R,  was  the  first  to 
hold  after  the  late  war  of  the  Rebellion.  He  was  a  democrat 
in  all  the  forming  days  of  the  government.  In  the  Clintonian 
struggle  in  this  State,  he  took  sides  with  DeWitt  Clinton,  was 
afterwards  a  whig,  and  latterly  a  republican.  In  1825  Mr. 
Walker  sold  the  Gazette  to  Samuel  D.  Dakin  and  William  J. 
Bacon,  l)y  whom  it  was  united  with  the  /Shitinel,  under  the  title 
of  the  Sentinel  and  Gazette.  These  gentlemen  having  purchased 
also  the  Patriot^  the  successor  of  Mr.  McLean's  paper,  there  were 
thus  brought  together  the  remains  of  the  three  earliest  papers  of 
the  county. 

Mr.  Walker  was  one  of  the  directors  named  in  tlie  charter  of 
the  Bank  of  Utica.  For  several  years  he  was  its  vice-president, 
and  in  1845,  when  Henry  Huntington  declined  a  reelection,  he 
was  chosen  its  president,  and  was  annually  reelected  up  to  the 
time  of  his  death.  He  was  also,  for  many  years,  president  of 
the  Savings  Bank,  and  was  the  first  treasurer  and  the  fourth 
president  of  the  trustees  of  the  Utica  Academy. 

He  was  a  man  of  singular  modesty,  simplicity  and  purity  of 
character.     So  unobtrusive  was  he,  that  few  of  those  who  met 


THE  FIRST  CHARTER  OF  UTICA.  157 

him  knew  how  warm  hearted  and  public  spirited  he  was.  x\.nd 
yet  in  these  particulars,  as  well  as  in  his  strong  practical  sense 
and  his  sterling  integrity,  he  had  few  superiors.  His  method 
and  accuracy  in  business  were  remarkable.  He  cared  well  for 
his  own  affairs,  but  declined  any  investment  that  promised  more 
than  seven  per  cent ;  deeming  this  the  only  just  as  well  as  safe 
return.  A  man  of  strict  religious  principle,  his  practice  accorded 
with  his  profession.  For  many  years  he  was  trustee  of  the  Pres- 
bvterian  Church.  He  was  also  prominent  among  the  fraternity 
of  the  Free  Masons.  His  death  occurred  June  13,  1863,  in  his 
eighty-sixth  year. 

Mrs.  Walker,  his  wife,  was  Mary  Eaton,  of  Worcester,  Mass.^ 
sister  of  his  first  partner,  and  related  to  General  Eaton,  who  dis- 
tinguished himself  in  the  war  in  Tripoli.  Her  death  took  place 
many  years  before  that  of  her  husband ;  but  not  before  she  had 
been  the  mother  of  seven  children,  all  of  whom  filled  positions 
of  respectability  and  usefulness.  They  were  Mary  (Mrs.  John 
H.  Ostrom),  William,  a  hardware  merchant  in  Utica,  and  after- 
wards a  banker  in  New  York,  where  he  still  resides ;  Louisa 
(Mrs.  Charles  E.  Hardy),  now  of  Ithaca;  Thomas  R,  until  re- 
cently of  Utica,  and  now  of  New  Haven,  Conn.  ;  George,  still 
residing  in  Utica ;  James,  a  civil  engineer  of  much  promise, 
who  died  September  30,  1843 ;  Susan  (who  married  the  Eev. 
Dr.  Alexander  M.  Mann,  of  the  Reformed  Dutch  Church),  died 
December  6,  1833,  three  months  after  her  marriage. 

John  H.  Lothrop,- — lawyer,  farmer,  editor,  merchant,  the  sec- 
ond time  a  lawyer,  and  last  and  longest  a  banker, — found  in 
the  exercise  of  his  pen  the  calling  most  suited  to  his  genius, 
and  which  he  most  persistently  practiced ;  while  he  followed 
banking  for  his  bread,  it  was  in  the  role  of  editor  that  he  chiefly 
excelled,  as  it  is  in  that  of  the  genial  and  polished  gentleman, 
the  witty  man  of  society,  that  he  is  the  longest  and  most  lov- 
ingly remembered. 

Born  May  1,  1769,  in  New  Haven,  Conn.,  he  was  educated 
at  Yale  College,  graduating  in  1787.  A  classmate  therein  of 
Dr.  Azel  Backus,  who  became  president  of  Hamilton  College, 
he  was  associated  with  him  in  the  management  of  a  school  at 
Weathersfield.  He  studied  law  with  Judge  Hosmer  of  Hart- 
ford, practiced  a  short  time  at  Middletown,  and  then  bent  his 


158  THE  PIONEERS  OF  UTICA. 

course  to  the  south.     There  he  was  engaged  chiefly  in  land 
speculation,  and  spent  much  time  in  the  neighborhood  of  Savan- 
nah, sojourning  in  part  with  General  Greene,  of  revolutionary 
menior}'.     Acquiring  some  landed  estate,  he  returned  to  the 
north,  and  influenced,  as  is  probable,  by  his  friendly  association 
with  Col.  George  W.  Kirkland,  son  of  Eev.  Samuel  Kirkland 
of  Clinton,  whom  he  had  met  at  the  south,  he  came  to  Oneida 
county.     This  was  in  1795  or  1796.     In  Februaiy  1797,  he 
married  Miss  Jerusha  Kirkland,  and  began  the  career  of  gentle- 
man farmer  at  Oriskan}',  occupying  the  house  aftei'wards  well 
known  as  the  Green  place.     Within  less  than  a  year  he  became 
insolvent  b}^  indorsing  for  his  brothei'-in-law.  Col.  Kirkland,  and 
parting  with  his  farm,  went  upon  the  limits.     His  first  employ- 
ment afterward  was  that  of  copyist  in  the  office  of  the  county 
clerk.     In  1803  he  assumed  the  editorship  of  the  Whitesiown 
Gazette  and   Catds  Patrol.,  at  that  time   relinquished  by   Mr. 
McLean.     Its  name  he  changed  to  the  Utica  Patriot.,  and  settled 
hunself  in  Utica  to  conduct  it    The  following  year,  in  company 
with  Ralph  W.  Kirkland,  he  seems  to  have  made  a  short  essay 
in  trade,  at  least  their  names  appear  in  a  single  announcement 
to  that  effect.     The  editorship  of  the  paper  filling  up  neither 
his  time  nor  his  pockets,  he  served  also  as  deputy  in  the  office 
of  the  supreme  court  clerk.     His  residence  at  his  coming,  was 
in  the  rear  of  the  printing  office  opposite  Broad  street,  and  next 
on  the  east  side  of  Genesee,  a  couple  of  doors  above  where  the 
canal  afterwards  i-an.     But,  getting  more  prosperous,  he  built 
about  1809,  the  fine  house  which  has  of  late  been  the  home  of 
A.  B.  Johnson,  and  now  of  his  sou.     This  he  sold  in  1811.  when 
having  disposed  of  his  interest  in  the  })aper,  he  removed  to  New 
Hartford.     He  remained  there  about  five  years,  striving  to  earn 
his  livelihood  by  the  practice  of  law  ;  but  having  been  appointed 
cashier  of  the  Ontario  Branch  Bank,  he  came  back  to  Utica  to 
assume  the  duties.     And  these  formed  his  principal  enqDloy- 
ment  for  the  remainder  of  his  days,  whfle  he  still  continued  to 
contribute  to  the  Patriot  or  its  successor  almost  to  the  close  of 
his  daj's. 

Mr.  Lothrop  was  not  fond  of  legal  pursuits,  though  he  had 
the  capacity  which  might  have  given  him  eminence  in  them. 
For,  as  the  possessor  of  rare  natural  gifts,  improved  by  diligent 
reading,  he  had  few  superiors  in  the  county.     He  was  expert 


THE  FIRST  CHARTER  OF  UTICA.  159 

as  a  writer  of  fluent  and  graceful  English,  enlivened  by  playful 
fancy  and  lively  wit,  and  chastened  by  a  cultured  taste.  He  had 
facilit}^  also  in  the  making  of  verse  and  considerable  repute  in 
its  exercise.  The  following  conplet,  alleged  to  be  his,  that  has 
long  floated  in  the  memory  of  one  of  his  contemporaries,  is  cer- 
tainly worth}'  of  preservation : 

"Man  Lurries  on,  too  busy  to  be  wise, 
'Till  sage  reflection  in  bis  bosom  dies." 

The  only  one  of  Mr.  Lothrop's  poetical  pieces  we  have  seen,  is  a 

rhyming  liistory  of  a  re-union  of  the  democrats  of  Oneida  county 

in  1801,  to  make  merr}-  over  the  election  of  Mr.  Jefferson,  and 

of  the  sad  mishap  that  blocked  their  fun.     Its  interest  is  rather 

political  than  literary,  yet  the  verse  is  smooth  and  the  humor 

quite  amusing.    'After  having  shown  us  how 

"Tbe  rabble  all  in  council  met 
To  plan  a  democratic  fete," 

it  tells  how,  at  earlj-  dawn, 

"Crawl'd  forth  two  demos,  torcb  in  baud, 
To  roar  their  thunder  through  the  land," 

and  how, — 

"The  gun, — a  fed'ralist,  I  trow, 
A  terror  to  Columbia's  foe, 

Took  its  flight 
Protected  by  the  friendly  night. 
Without  the  aid  of  cart  or  carter, 
And  dove  six  feet  right  under  water." 

A  messenger  was  despatched  and  another  cannon  obtained,  but 

"0  transient  gleam!  misfortunes  new 
Befell  the  democratic  crew! 
A  rat-tail  file  dropt  from  the  skies, 
And  plug'd  the  gun  before  their  eyes." 

Mr.  Lothrop's  social  tastes  led  him  much  into  company,  and 
his  cheerful  temper,  his  well  stored  mind,  his  flashing  wit  and 
magnetic  humor,  made  him  an  ever  favored  visitor,  and  his 
house  a  delightful  place  of  resort.  He  was  often  called  on  to 
sing,  to  play,  or  to  enact  the  mimic,  in  all  of  which  he  had  un- 
usual skill,  and  heav}-  though  he  was,  he  danced  with  a  light 
and  springy  step.  Many  of  his  pleasant  stories,  told  in  the 
presence  of  Hackett  the  Utica  merchant,  were  afterwai'ds  re- 
hearsed on  the  stage  by  Hackett  the  actor.  He  would,  says 
Judge  Bacon,*  at  any  time  have  set  not  the  table  onlj',  but  the 
*  Early  Bar  of  Oneida. 


160  THE  PIONEERS  OF  UTICA. 

largest  masses  in  a  roar  of  uncontrollable  merriment.  These 
"fine -powers  and  capacities  would  have  given  him,  he  thinks, 
high  reputation  as  a  jury  lawyer,  and  he  is  persuaded  that  had 
Mr.  L.  remained  in  the  profession,  he  would  have  made  a  distin- 
guished mark.  Such  engaging  talents  concurring  with  real 
excellence  of  character  bn^ught  him  popularity  and  influence. 
Yet  he  was  not  often  in  office.  He  was  one  of  the  first  board 
of  trustees  of  Hamilton  College  and  for  a  long  time  their  secre- 
tarv.  The  family  intercourse  was  tender  and  affectionate,  where 
he  was  as  loving  as  beloved.  His  jiersonal  appearance  was- 
strikmg,  and  would  anywhere  have  marked  him  as  conspicuous 
am  -ng  his  fellows.  He  was  not  above  the  medium  height,  though 
his  figure,  from  his  generally  credited  love  of  the  good  things 
of  life,  was  unusually  large ;  but  his  features  were  regular  and 
handsome,  and  his  expression  intelligent,  benevolent  and  refined. 
He  died  June  15,  1829. 

Mrs.  Lothro|),  the  daughter  of  the  Rev  Samuel  Kirkland,  tlie 
well-known  missionary  to  the  Oneidas,  was  also  a  direct  descend- 
ant, in  the  maternal  line,  from  Captain  Miles  Standish,  the  pil- 
grim. She  was  born  at  Stockbridge,  Mass.,  January  8,  1776. 
She  inherited,  in  a  lil)eral  measure,  the  uncommon  constitu- 
tional strength  and  vivacity  of  her  father,  and  also  partook 
largely  of  his  spirit  of  love  and  charity  to  all  men.  No  lady 
ever  filled  a  more  prominent  position  in  the  society  of  Utica, 
and  her  contemporaries  used  to  tell  with  fond  remembrance,  of 
the  brilliant  combination  of  wit,  beauty,  vivacity  and  vigor, 
which,  in  her  prime,  centred  in  Mrs.  Lothrop.  When  she  died, 
February  20, 1862,  age  and  its  infirmities  had  long  obscured  the 
relations  she  once  bore  to  general  society.  The  children  of  Mr. 
and  Mrs.  Lothrop,  for  the  most  part  little  less  conspicuous  than 
their  parents,  were  as  follows :  Charles  Kirkland,  died  Septem- 
ber 1819,  at  the  age  of  twenty,  just  as  he  had  graduated  with 
eclat  at  Hamilton  College;  Cornelia  Greene  (first  wife  of  Chas. 
P.  Kirkland) ;  Hev.  Samuel  Kirkland,  D.  I).,  pastor  since  June, 
183-4,  of  the  Brattle  Street  Church,  Boston,  author  of  history  of 
that  Church,  Life  of  Rev.  Samuel  Kirkland,  Proceedings  of  an 
Ecclesiastical  Council,  &c. ;  Mar}^  Ann  (widow  of  Ednmnd  A. 
Wetmore);  Frances  Ehza  (widow  of  John  IF.  liathrop,  late 
president  of  Missouri  University);  William  Kirkpatrick,  secre- 
tary of  Washington  Lisurance  Company,  N.  Y. ;  John  Thorn- 


THE  FIEST  CHARTER  OF  UTICA.  IGl 

ton,  former  commander  of  Texan  navy,  died  August  14,  184-i; 
Sarah  Parsons  (Mrs.  Grage),  died  1856. 

One  of  the  printers  and  pubhshers  of  Mr.  Lothrop's  paper 
was  Ira  Merrell.  He  was  the  son  of  Bildad  Merrell,  who  came 
into  the  county  in  1798,  and  lived  at  first  in  New  Hartford  and 
afterward  in  Holland  Patent.  This  was  the  first  of  four  of  his 
sons  who  made  their  home  in  Utica,  and  who  all  reared  fami- 
lies, of  which  scarce  a  member  now  remains.  Ira  learned  the 
printer's  art  with  William  McLean,  and  when  the  latter  dis- 
posed of  his  paper  in  1803,  he  joined  his  fellow  apprentice, 
Asahel  Seward,  in  printing  it  under  the  editorship  of  Mr. 
Lothrop,  and  continued  with  him  about  three  years.  Some 
time  afterward  he  was  for  five  or  six  years  foreman  of  Seward 
&  Williams,  and  printed  for  them  this  same  Patriot^  when 
they  w^ere  its  proprietors.  A  later  paper  on  which  he  did  the 
press  work  was  the  Western  Recorder^  published  by  Merrell  & 
Hastings, — that  is  to  say  his  brother  Andrew  and  Charles  Hast- 
ings— and  edited  b}^  Thomas  Hastings,  the  brother  of  Charles. 
He  also  printed  a  good  deal  on  his  own  account.  Among  his 
issues  were  a  Welsh  hymn  book  (1808)  that  was  edited  by 
Eev.  Daniel  Morris,  with  the  assistance  of  other  Welsh  preachers 
of  the  Independents ;  a  catechism  also  in  Welsh ;  a  reprint  of 
Divine  Hymns  and  Spiritual  Songs,  by  Joshua  Smith  and  others, 
with  additions  and  alterations  by  William  and  Emanuel  Nor- 
throp (1809) ;  an  Abridgment  of  Milnor's  Church  History,  by 
Rev.  Jesse  Townshend ;  a  volume  of  Sermons  by  Rev.  Bell,  &c. 
Though  a  very  industrious  person,  Mr.  Merrell  was  wanting  in 
force.  His  eye-sight  becoming  poor  he  was  forced  to  labor  only 
as  a  compositor.  He  lacked  skill  also  in  jiecuniary  manage- 
ment and  failed  to  accumulate.  He  was  eminent,  however, 
for  his  piety  and  his  amiability  of  temper,  and  in  his  domestic 
relations  was  a  model  worthy  of  imitation.  He  was  a  ruling 
elder  of  the  Presbyterian  Church.  He  lived  in  Utica  thirty 
years,  at  least,  and  then  removed  to  Geneva  to  take  charge  of 
the  Geneva  Courier.  His  wife  was  Nancy,  daughter  of  Talcott 
Camp.  His  sons  were  John,  Horace  and  Andrew ;  his  daugh- 
ters Ann  and  Harriet. 

Asahel  Seward,   eldest  son  of   Colonel    Nathan  Seward  of' 
New  Hartford,  was  born  in  Waterbury  Conn.,  August  19,  1781. 
L 


162  THE    PIONEERS  OF  UTICA. 

Apprenticed  when  iifteen  years  of  age  to  William  McLean, 
printer  at  New  Hartford,  he  afterwards  worked  as  a  journe_T- 
man  in  different  offices  in  New  England  and  N.  Y., — in  that 
of  Isaiah  Thomas  of  Worcester,  Mass.,  in  an  office  in  Boston, 
and  in  that  of  the  Morning  Chronicle  of  New  York,  of  which 
the  father  of  Washington  Irving  w^as  then  the  proprietor.  In 
the  year  1803,  in  company  with  Ira  Merrell,  he  bought  of  Mr. 
McLean,  his  interest  in  the  Utica  Patriot^  and  removed  to  Utica 
to  publish  it.  In  this  paper,  under  its  varj-ing  names  of  Patriot, 
Patriot  and  Patrol,  and  Utica  Sentinel,  \\e  retained  an,  interest 
until  1824,  successively  with  Mr.  Merrell.  with  William  Wil- 
liams, and  still  later,  as  one  of  the  firm  of  Seward  &  Williams, 
with  William  H.  Maynard.  At  this  last  named  date  the  paper 
was  sold  to  Samuel  D.  Dakin  and  William  J.  Bacon,  the  sellers 
giving  a  bond  never  to  publish  another  paper  in  Utica.  Under 
a  claim  that  this  bond  had  been  violated,  in  consequence  of 
permission  having  been  given  by  their  foreman,  without  their 
knowledge,  to  use  their  types  and  press  in  the  preparation  of  a 
new  paper,  of  which,  however,  only  a  single  number  appeared, 
the  firm  was  subjected  to  a  protracted  and  expensive  litigation, 
that  was  terminated  at  the  expense  of  Mr.  Seward  after  the 
failure  of  his  former  partner.  In  October,  1806,  he  established 
a  book  printing  house  and  bindery,  and  soon  afterward  opened 
also  a  book  store.  About  the  year  1814,  he  was  joined  in  this 
enterprise  by  Mr.  Williams,  till  then  associated  with  him  as  a 
printer  only.  The  house  was  a  prosperous  one,  and  for  many 
years  the  chief  publishing  house  west  of  Albany,  or,  if  rivalled 
at  all,  it  was  by  that  of  H.  and  E.  Phinney  of  Cooperstown. 
The  foundation  for  a  respectable  competency  was  early  laid  by 
the  purchase  from  Noah  Webster  of  the  right  to  publish,  in 
the  western  district  of  New  York,  his  elementary  spelling  book. 
For  fourteen  years  this  was  the  leading  feature  of  their  busi- 
ness, affording  an  annual  income  of  two  thousand  dollars.  The 
other  works  they  issued  were  chiefly  school  books,  though  not 
exclusivel}'  so.  The  following,  which  are  all  that  can  now  be 
recalled,  form  but  a  moderate  number  of  their  issues :  Journal 
of  William  Moulton,  containing  an  account  of  a  four  years 
voyage  in  the  Pacific  and  South  Seas,  and  bearing  the  imprint 
of  1804 ;  Watts'  Divine  Songs,  to  which  are  added  the  Principles 
of  the  Christian  Keligion  expressed  in  j^lain  and  easy  verses, 


THE  FIRST  CHARTER  OF  UTICA.  163 

by  P.  Doddridge  (1810);  a  poem  entitled  The  Wanderer,  or 
Horatio  and  Letitia  (1811),  a  Livy  (1813),  two  editions  of  the 
Musica  Sacra  of  Thomas  Hastings  (2d,  1819),  and  the  Spiritual 
Songs  of  the  same  author ;  a  Life  of  Cunningham ;  a  DaboU's 
Arithmetic ;  Murray's  English  Grammar  (1822),  two  editions  of 
Murray's  English  Reader,  (first  in  1823),  one  of  which  was  edi- 
ted by  M.  R.  Bartlett,  and  contained  an  introductory  essay  on 
elocution;  Sermons  b}^  the  Rev.  Azel  Backus,  D.  D.;  Mont- 
gomery's Wanderer  in  Switzerland  ;  several  stereotyped  editions 
of  the  New  Testament  in  the  Houay  version ;  and  numerous 
toy  books  and  primers  illustrated  with  wood  cuts  that  were  the 
product  of  Mr.  Williams. 

An  undertaking  with  which  Messrs.  Seward  &  Williams 
were  connected,  though  fraught  with  much  good  to  the  reading 
public,  was  a  formidable  one  for  the  times,  and  eventually 
proved  the  ruin  of  the  parties  most  deeply  engaged  in  it.  As 
early  as  1814  the  firm  became  interested  with  a  publishing 
house  in  Philadelphia,  which,  with  an  inadequate  capital,  began 
the  republication  of  the  Edinburgh  Encyclopedia.  From  the 
narrowness  of  their  means  the  work  was  necessarily  slow  in  its 
progress,  a  volume  appearing  only  at  long  intervals,  so  that  its 
completion  was  protracted  to  about  the  year  1834.  In  the 
mean  time  subscribers  died  off  or  fell  away,  and  the  publishers 
were  bereft  of  much  of  their  anticipated  profits.  .  After  caus- 
ing the  ruin  of  one  firm,  the  work  came  into  the  hands  of  a 
second  in  the  same  city,  which  also  gave  way.  Mr.  Seward,  in 
the  mean  time,  had  retu-ed,  so  that  with  the  fall  of  the  second 
house,  Mr.  Williams  only  was  involved. 

After  his  withdrawal  in  1824,  Mr.  Seward  was  not  again 
actively  engaged  in  business,  but  lived  a  quiet  life  in  the  beau- 
tiful place  once  occupied  by  Colonel  Walker,  and  after  him  by 
Peter  Bours.  He  and  other  members  of  his  famih^  at  New 
Hartford,  were  largely  interested  in  the  Capron  Cotton  Mills, 
established  in  1814,  and  he  was  secretary  of  the  compan}^ 
Though  Mr.  Williams  was  a  strenuous  advocate  of  anti-masonry, 
Mr.  Seward  was,  on  the  contrary,  the  very  back  bone  of  the 
Masonic  Lodge,  and  presented  to  it  the  Bible  they  still  use. 
His  death  occurred  January  30,  1835.  His  character  is  thus 
depicted  in  the  Oneida  Whig  of  that  date,  by  Theodore  S.  Gold, 
its  editor.     "  It  would  be  easy  to  delineate  Mr.  Seward's  charac- 


164  THE  PIONEERS  OF  UTICA. 

ter;  his  integrit}'  of  conduct,  liis  singleness  and  benevolence  of 
feeling,  his  purity  of  motive  and  simplicity  of  manner,  could 
all  be  described  wnthin  a  small  compass.  But  it  would  be  far 
more  difficult  to  exhibit  these  qualities  as  illustrated  throughout 
his  life,  and  interwoven  like  "  tlireads  of  gold"  through  the  entire 
fabric  of  his  existence.  Religion  was  with  him  an  ever-living 
and  pure  principle  of  action,  prompting  not  alone  his  duties  as 
a  professed  Christian,  but  controlling,  tempering  and  chastening 
all  the  intercourse  between  him  and  his  fellow  men.  Through 
the  many  years  he  lived  among  us  no  spot  or  blemish  ever 
rested  on  his  name.  His  integrity  as  a  man,  an4  his  pietN'  as  a 
Christian  were  alike  unquestioned.  All  the  duties  which  soci- 
ety imposes  he  discharged  with  scrupulous  fidelity;  as  a  hus- 
band and  a  father  no  one  could  be  more  tender;  as  a  friend  few 
were  found  as  faithful."' 

His  wife,  Martha  Williams,  was  a  native  of  Franiingham^ 
Mass.,  and  a  sister  of  his  partner.  She  survived  him  thirty 
years,  and  died  January,  1865.  Their  children  were  Thomas 
W.,  Alexander,  James  H.,  Nancy  S.,  Amelia  and  Susannah  W- 
The  three  sons  are  still  in  Utica.     The  daughters  died  young. 

William  Williams  was  the  son  of  Deacon  Thomas  Williams,, 
of  Hoxbury,  Mass.,  though  he  was  born  inFramingham  in  that 
State,  October  12, 1787.  With  his  father's  family  he  migrated  to 
New  Hartford,  in  this  county,  and  with  Asahel  Seward  he  remov- 
ed to  Utica  in  1803,  and  learned  of  him  the  trade  of  printing. 
About  1808  he  became  a  partner  in  the  business  of  printing,  and  at 
a  later  period  the  partnership  was  made  to  include  bookselling 
likewise.  Together  they  published  the  Ulica  Patriot,  and  its 
successors,  the  Patriot  and  Patrol,  and  the  Utica  Sentinel,  down 
to  tlie  year  1824.  As  publishers  and  dealers  in  a  great  variety 
of  books,  the  firm  were  widely  known,  and  were  distinguished 
for  their  enterprise  and  their  probity.  The  place  of  business 
was  at  No.  60  Genesee  street,  nearly  on  the  site  of  the  Utica 
Morning  Herald.  Their  partnersliip  was  terminated  in  1824, 
by  the  withdrawal  of  Mr.  Seward,  but  the  business  in  all  its  de- 
partments was  actively  carried  on  several  years  longer.  Among 
the  books  issued  by  Mr.  Williams,  in  addition  to  those  which 
emanated  fi-om  the  firm  of  Seward  &  Williams,  were  these:  an 
edition  of  the  New  Testament  (1832) ;  Questions  on  the  Gospel 


THE  FIRST  CHARTER  OF  UTICA.  165 

Harmony,  by  Walter  King ;  Proceedings  of  tlie  Synod  of  Dort ; 
Thomas  Y.  Howe's  Letters  in  Vindication  of  Episcopacy  ;  Me- 
moir of  Harriet  Newell;  Memoir  of  Andrew  Sherburne ;  a 
romance  by  Captain  Charles  Stewart,  entitled,  Parual  of  Liini 
Sing  ;  Artist's  and  Tradesman's  Guide,  by  John  Shepberd, 
(1827) :  Light  on  Masonry  ;  a  Young  Lady's  Astronomy,  by  M. 
R  Bartlett;  a  Welsh  hymn  book,  (1829),  &c.  About  1828 
Mr.  W.  associated  himself  with  Messrs.  Balch  and  Stiles,  who 
had  commenced  business  in  Utica  as  engravers.  The  firm 
issued  bank  notes  for  the  L^tica  and  some  western  banks,  and  also 
maps  of  New  York,  Michigan,  &c.  Mr.  Williams  entered 
heartil}^  into  the  cause  of  anti-masonry,  and  became  about 
1829-30  the  publisher  of  the  Elvcidator^  a  paper  designed  to 
advocate  its  p]-inci|)les,  wliich  was  edited  by  B.  B.  Hotchkin. 
The  EJucidator,  like  the  '"Light  on  Masonry,"'  above  mentioned, 
detracted  from  in  lieu  of  increasing  his  revenues ;  but  when 
to  these  causes  of  embarrassment  there  was  added,  as  the 
consequence  of  the  ill  success  of  the  American  edition  of  the 
Edinburgh  Encyclopedia,  the  failure  of  its  pubhshers,  Mr.  Wil- 
liams was  forced  to  succumb  also.  Two  years  later  he  removed 
to  Tonawanda  in  Erie  county.  Some  years  before  his  death 
his  brain  became  diseased,  as  the  result  of  an  injury  received 
b}^  the  overturning  of  a  stage  coach  in  which  he  was  a  passen- 
ger. From  this  time  he  declined  gradually,  and  was  for  several 
y-ears  shut  off  from  society.  He  died  on  the  10th  of  June, 
1850,  in  this  city  whither  he  had  returned  two  or  three  j^ears 
before. 

Mr.  Williams,  while  in  health,  was  conspicuous  among  his 
townsmen  for  his  warm  interest  and  his  efhciencv  in  all  matters 
that  concerned  the  general  welfare.  His  time  was  all  given 
either  to  business,  or  to  some  public  enterprise,  or  to  some  relig- 
ious or  moral  mission.  Though  a  lover  of  peace,  and  fruit- 
ful in  the  works  of  peace,  he  was  an  ardent  patriot,  and  could 
not  be  negligent  of  his  countrj^'s  claim  in  time  of  war.  When 
in  1813,  an  attack  on  Sacketts  Harbor  was  expected,  and  vol- 
unteers were  called  for,  he  was  the  first  and  most  active  man 
in  Utica  in  raising  a  company.  ''  So  prompt  were  his  move- 
ments," says  one  of  his  companions  of  the  companj",  "  that  in 
thirt}^  hoars  after  the  requisition  was  received,  we  were  on  our 
wa}^  in  sleighs  for  the  Harbor."     "  And  here,  as  in  a  subsequent 


166  THE   PIONEERS  OF  UTICA. 

campaign  when  Le  was  on  the  lines  in  the  staff  of  General  Col- 
lins, Colonel  Williams  was  as  highly  valued  as  a  soldier,  as- 
he  was  through  life  esteemed  as  a  citizen."  The  war  at  an  end, 
he  became  a  stirring  member  of  the  fire  department,  and  as  its 
chief  executive  officer. 'he  was  much  relied  on  for  his  energy, 
his  self-possession  and  his  fertility  of  expedient. 

In  1832  he  performed  a  part  far  more  indicative  of  self- 
devotion  and  j)ersonal  courage  under  circumstances  which  re- 
vealed also  his  genuine  benevolence.  Says  a  contemporary  who 
knew  of  what  he  spoke :  ''  Those  who  survive  of  the  inhabi- 
tants of  Utica,  during  the  first  visitation  of  the  cholera  will 
never  foi-get  his  services  to  the  sick  and  dying,  as  well  as  to 
those  who  from  poverty  were  unable  to  fly  from  the  pestilence, 
and  whose  daily  earnings  were  cut  off  b}^  the  suspension  of 
business.  It  was  not  only  from  morn  to  night,  but  from  early 
morn  to  early  morn,  that  he  was  seen  driving  from  house  to 
house,  prescribing  for,  comforting  and  encouraging  the  sick? 
smoothing  the  pillow  of  the  dying,  and  distributing  to  the 
needy,  until  he  was  himself  stricken  down  with  the  disease, 
and  narrowly  escaped  with  his  life."  Mr.  Williams  was  early 
identified  with  the  religious  movements  of  the  place,  and  in  his 
life  he  was  the  very  pattern  of  a  Christian  gentleman.  From 
1812  to  1836,  he  occupied  the  post  of  elder  in  the  Presbyterian 
Church,  and  was  one  of  its  most  honored  office-bearers.  On 
the  organization  of  the  Utica  Sunday  School  in  1816,  he  be- 
came its  first  superintendent,  and  for  years  afterward,  and  until 
he  was  summoned  to  act  as  an  instructor  in  the  Bible  class,  he 
was  its  ruling  spirit.  Nor  were  his  services  in  the  higher  de- 
partment less  devoted  or  valuable.  He  was  also  president  of 
the  Western  Sunday  School  Union. 

As  a  friend  and  benefactor  he  was  wise  and  helpful  ;  as 
a  citizen,  public  spirited  beyond  his  means ;  his  counsels,  his 
exertions  and  his  purse  were  ever  at  the  service  of  individual 
want,  and  proffered  in  the  promotion  of  every  enterprise  calcu- 
lated to  benefit  the  place.  In  short,  in  every  relation  Mr.  Wil- 
liams ranked  high  for  his  purity  and  integrity,  his  cheerful  and 
equable  tcm])er,  his  self-sacrificing  spirit,  and  his  practically 
useful  life.  All  who  knew  him  in  the  vigor  of  his  manhood 
will  recall  with  gratitude  his  noble  presence,  his  clear  dark  eye,, 
beaming  with  benevolence,  and  the  magnetism  and  attractive- 


THE  FIEST  CHARTER  OF  UTICA.  167 

ness  of  his  winning  manners,  so  consonant  with  the  traits  of 
character  we  have   endeavored  to  depict. 

He  lived  on  Broad  street,  in  the  house  now  occupied  by  Mer- 
•  ritt  Peckham.  Every  one  of  its  bricks  was  made  by  his  friend, 
and  relative  by  marriage,  Amos  Seward,  who  was  devotedly 
attached  to  him.  His  wife,  Sophia,  daughter  of  Samuel  Wells 
of  New  Hartford,  was  a  lady  in  whom  the  natural  graces  of  a 
lovely  disposition  and  a  bright  and  cultivated  mind  were  enno- 
bled by  high  and  active  Christian  principle.  She  consecrated 
all  to  the  service  of  her  Master,  and  was  in  truth  zealous  in 
well-doing.  Not  long  before  her  death  she  attended  a  religious 
meeting  where  a  collection  was  taken  up  in  behalf  of  Foreign 
Missions,  and  into  the  plate  she  dropped  a  slip  of  paper  on  which 
was  written  :  "  I  give  two  of  my  sons."  After  she  had  been 
called  to  her  home,  two  of  her  sons  became  missionaries  in  the 
foreign  field.  She  died  November  12,  1831.  Of  her  large 
family  the  following  lived  to  maturity :  S.  Wells,  distinguished 
for  his  services  to  his  country  while  acting  as  its  interpreter  and 
secretary  of  legation  in  China,  and  still  more  for  his  long  con- 
tinued and  useful  labors  as  a  missionary  printer,  for  his  multi- 
farious learning,  and  the  important  contributions  he  has  made 
to  a  knowledge  of  the  language  of  China,  now  professor  of  Chinese 
language  in  Yale  College ;  H.  Dwight  of  New  York ;  William 
Frederick,  a  zealous  and  faithful  worker  as  a  missionary  in 
Turkey,  died  at  Mardin,  February  1:,  1876;  Sophia  (Mrs.  J.  V. 
P.  Gardner) ;  Edward,  a  twin  with  the  former,  deceased  ;  James 
C,  and  John  P.,  deceased;  and  Eobert  S.,  cashier  of  the  Oneida 
National  Bank. 

The  second  wife  of  Mr.  Williams  was  Catherine,  daughter  of 
Henry  Huntington,  of  Rome.  Naturally  conscientious  and 
humble-minded,  her  piety  made  her  most  unselfish  and  devoted, 
compassionate  and  benevolent.  "  It  was  a  piety  of  experience 
and  of  action,  of  feeling  and  of  works,  piety  that  read  and  prayed 
and  thought,  and  piety  that  labored  and  gave,  piety  towards 
herself,  towards  man  and  towards  Grod."  She  died  September, 
1856.  A  year  previous,  she  lost  the  only  child  that  reached 
adult  life,  George  H.  Williams,  an  unusually  amiable  and  inter- 
esting youth. 

A  bibliopole  in  advance  of  either  Seward  or  Williams,  and 
whose  career  in  Utica  was  nearlv  run  when  the  former  besfan 


168  THE  PIONEERS  OF  UTICA. 

to  deal  in  books,  was  George  Richards,  Jr.  If  we  rightly  infer 
his  aucestrj'  from  one  of  his  advertisements,  he  was  son  of  Geo. 
Richards,  a  printer  at  Portsmouth,  IST.  H.  In  November,  1803, 
he  opened  the  "  Oneida  Book  Store,"  so  called,  in  the  store  lately 
occupied  b}'  B.  Johnson,  adjoining  the  store  of  Post  &  Hamlin. 
In  December  he  offers  to  open  a  circulating  library,  to  the  un- 
dei'taking  of  which  he  is  encouraged  by  several  gentlemen  of 
the  village ;  proposals  were  to  be  seen  at  his  store,  and  were  also 
left  with  parties  in  various  surrounding  villages.  In  February 
following,  he  narrowly  escapes  being  burned  out,  and  returns 
his  thanks  to  his  fellow-citizens  for  the  assistance  they  rendered 
him.  He  takes  good  care  to  keep  before  the  public  mind  the 
existence  of  the  "  Oneida  Book  Store,"  and  the  works  that  may 
there  be  purchased.  But  in  December,  1809,  dissatisfied  M'ith 
his  business  here,  or  in  expectation  of  improving  himself  else- 
where, he  announces  that  he  has  sold  his  establishment  and  is 
preparing  to  leave  town 

Mr.  Richards  was  a  small,  but  active  and  intelligent  man. 
He  was  much  respected,  and  his  store  a  favorite  lounging  place 
for  readers.  For  two  years  and  a  lialf  he  was  clerk  of  the  vil- 
lage trustees,  and  on  resigning  theofhce  at  the  time  of  his  depart- 
ure, addressed  a  letter  to  the  board,  which,  with  the  reply  of  the 
president,  is  recorded  in  the  minutes  of  the  secretary.  In  the  lat- 
ter, Mr.  Talcott  Camp,  the  president,  expresses  himself  as  happy 
to  have  "the  opportunit}',  in  part,  to  discharge  our  duty  by  ren- 
dering 3^ou  our  best  thanks  for  the  very  faithful  and  persever- 
ing manner  in  which  you  have  discharged  your  duties.  The 
laudable  desu-e  you  express  for  the  rising  prosperity  of  our  vil- 
lage, while  it  gives  us  pleasure,  we  hope  may  prove  a  useful 
stimulus  to  our  infant  exertions  for  its  future  welfare.  Heartily 
wishing  the  brightest  sunshine  of  Heaven  may  rest  on  your 
future  da^'s,  we  remain,"  &c.  Mr.  Richards,  who  was  a  single 
man,  went,  it  is  said,  to  Washington,  where  he  found  employ- 
ment as  a  stenographic  reporter. 

A  female  relative  of  both  Mr.  Seward  and  '^\\■.  Williams,  and 
who,  in  early  life,  was  foi-  a  time  emploj'ed  as  a  stitcher  in  their 
bindery,  was  Miss  Martha  Dana.  For  the  rare  experience  of 
Miss  Dana,  and  a  cliaracter  yet  rarer  she  deserves  a  record.  She 
w^as  the  daughter  of  Thomas  Dana,  an  early  settler  of  New 


THE  FIRST  CHARTER  OF  UTICA.  169 

Hartford.  He  was  not  liimself  an  agent  in  the  destruction  of 
the  tea  in  Boston  harbor,  though  two  of  his  brothers  were,  but, 
as  a  matter  of  principle,  he  would  never  drink  a  drop  of  tea 
afterward.  From  the  obituary  which  appeared  at  her  death,  in 
1860,  I  extract  the  following :  "At  the  age  of  fifty,  after  a  life 
of  much  activity,  as  the  result  of  severe  sickness,  she  was  visited 
with  a  failure  of  vision  that  in  a  short  time  was  followed  by 
total  blindness.  In  this  condition  she  remained  until  her  death, 
a  period  of  nearly  forty  years.  Deprived  of  eye-sight,  her  ear 
and  touch  became  the  more  acute,  and  she  took  in  at  these  ave- 
nues of  sense  a  large  share  of  happiness,  in  the  social  circle  and 
the  public  ministrations  of  the  sanctuary.  After  her  removal 
from  Utica,  she  was  accustomed  for  many  years,  to  make  an 
annual  visit  to  quite  a  circle  of  friends  and  relatives  therein  ; 
and  so  far  from  being  an  incumbrance,  her  presence  was  felt  to 
be  an  occasion  of  felicitation,  for  the  whole  atmosphere  in  which 
she  moved  was  permeated  with  the  very  spirit  of  cheerful  res- 
ignation, active  benevolence  and  warm-hearted  piety.  Her 
hands  never  forgot  their  skill,  but  seemed  to  have  an  increased 
facult}'  for  ingenious  and  useful  effort.  She  was  ever  employed 
in  designing  and  fabricating  something  for  those  she  loved  to 
aid,  or  who  were  more  needy  than  herself.''  To  this  it  may  be 
added  that,  as  mementoes  of  her  kindness  and  her  handiwork, 
she  presented  to  each  of  the  sons  of  William  Williams  a  patch- 
work bed  quilt  of  her  own  make.  That  of  Rev.  W.  F.  Williams, 
the  missionary  to  Turkey,  he  carried  with  him  when  he  went 
abroad.  Showing  it  on  one  occasion  to  an  intelligent  Shah  of 
the  country  as  a  specimen  of  the  skill  of  a  blind  woman,  so  in- 
credulous was  the  dignitary,  so  confident  of  the  untruth  of  the 
assertion,  that  he  declared  America  needed  missionaries  sent  to 
it  from  Turkey,  rather  than  that  the  East  should  receive  them 
from  the  West. 

Miss  Dana  in  her  younger  years  was  a  tailoress.  As  an  illus- 
tration of  her  skill,  before  the  loss  of  sight,  the  following  has 
been  related  :  A  citizen  of  the  village  was  to  be  married  and 
needed  a  dress  coat  for  the  wedding.  The  cloth,  an  invisible 
green,  was  procured  from  New  York,  a  tailor  did  the  cutting, 
and  the  work  was  handed  over  to  Miss  Dana  to  be  completed  by 
the  Monday  following.  By  Saturday  evening  the  coat  was  fin- 
ished, and  finished  to  her  satisfaction,  except  that  the  central 


170  THE  PIONEERS  OF  UTICA. 

seam  of  the  back  required,  as  she  thought,  a  Httle  additional 
pressing.  Her  goose  was  heated  for  the  purpose,  but  unfortu- 
nately too  much  heated,  for,  on  placing  it  on  the  garment,  it 
burned  its  way  through  in  an  instant.  Repairing  to  the  tailor's, 
she  could  lind  only  three  or  four  insignificant  scraps  of  the 
cloth,  not  a  quarter  the  size  that  was  needed.  But  she  set  to 
work  with  them,  and  by  dint  of  the  extremest  care,  toiling  late 
on  Saturday  night,  and  early  on  Monday  morning,  she  incor- 
porated them  so  nicely  in  the  void  made  by  the  goose,  that  the 
owner  never  discovered  the  repair,  and  would  scarcely  believe 
it  when  told ;  but  some  time  later,  when  the  lining  of  the  coat 
was  removed,  the  stitching  was  observed  on  the  back.  It  should 
be  added,  however,  that  the  cloth  of  those  days  admitted  of 
turning  better  than  most  modern  stuff,  and  coats  were  often 
taken  to  pieces  and  turned. 

An  observer  standing  on  the  square,  at  the  period  of  which 
we  discourse,  might  have  seen  very  early  in  the  morning  and 
long  after  night  fall,  light  issuing  from  a  little  shop  on  the 
north  side  of  Whitesboi'o  street,  near  the  present  corner  of 
Seneca.  This  w^as  the  shop  of  Samuel  Stocking,  a  young  hat- 
ter from  Ashfield,  Mass.  Born  in  the  last  named  place,  June 
10,  1777,  and  having  acquii-ed  his  education  and  his  trade,  he 
worked  for  a  while  in  Westfield,  and  came  to  Utica  on  the  17th 
of  June,  1803.  He  possessed  no  property,  but  purchased  on 
credit  a  lot  of  furs  to  begin  the  business,  and  from  that  period 
until  his  death  he  prosecuted  it  with  signal  industry  and  devo- 
tion. Within  a  year  of  his  arrival  he  erected  a  building  on  the 
east  side  of  Genesee  a  short  distance  above  the  corner,  which 
was  known  as  Mechanic  Hall,  and  was  soon  filled  with  tenants, 
and  into  this  his  own  shop  was  ere  long  transferred.  But  in 
1816  he  removed  to  the  brick  store  fronting  Broad  street  where 
he  was  to  be  found  during  the  rest  of  his  residence.  For  many 
years  after  his  first  establishment  he  continually  enlarged  his 
operations,  until  they  assumed  a  magnitude  in  his  particular 
line  never  before  or  since  attained  in  any  part  of  the  State. 
His  purchase  of  furs  for  the  manufacture  of  hats  brought  him  early 
to  the  acquaintance  of  John  Jacob  Astor,  then  in  the  zenith  of 
his  usefulness,  Astor  soon  appreciated  tlie  ])erson  with  whom 
he  thus  dealt,  and  yielded  to  him  implicit  confidence  and  un- 


THE  FIEST  CHARTER  OF  UTICA.  171 

bounded  credit.  Mr.  Stocking  acquired  gradual!}^  by  bis  busi- 
ness, and  by  sagacious  purchases  of  land  in  Utica  and  other  places, 
a  very  large  property,  amounting,  it  is  said,  to  half  a  million  of 
dollars  before  its  partial  reduction  by  the  revulsion  of  1837. 
The  simplicity  of  his  personal  manners  continued,  however, 
unabated  together  with  his  perseverance  in  the  business  to  which 
he  had  been  educated. 

As  a  trustee  of  the  village,  as  director  of  the  Bank  of  Utica 
and  of  the  Utica  Savings  Bank,  as  trustee  of  the  Utica  Acad- 
emy, and  a  liberal  donor  to  the  Female  Academy,  the  Oneida 
Institute  and  other  educational  and  benevolent  institutions,  he 
was  largely  identified  with  the  charities  and  the  well-being  of 
the  neighborhood.  Nor  was  there  a  public  charity  ever  com- 
menced, a  college,  church  or  academy  instituted,  but  he  was 
one  of  the  first  to  be  solicited  for  its  aid.  For  a  long  time  he 
was  treasurer  of  the  Central  Agency  of  Missions  here,  and 
continued  to  his  death  an  interested  member  of  the  board, 

Mr.  Stocking  was  short  of  person  and  full  in  flesh.  When 
a  young  man  his  weight  scarcely  exceeded  one  hundred  and 
twenty  pounds,  but  later  in  life  he  became  heavy.  He  wore,, 
it  is  said,  a  larger  hat  than  any  of  his  customers.  This  round 
head,  prematurely  whitened,  this  short,  stout  figure  and  delib- 
erate gait,  and  the  placid  face  with  its  quiet  smile  and  self- 
poised,  contented  expression,  gave  him  a  physiciue  as  char 
acteristic  as  were  his  industry  and  practical  shrewdness,  his  gifts 
in  the  making  of  money  and  his  generosity  in  dispensing  it. 
His  residence  for  many  years  was  the  house  now  occupied  by 
Dr.  Tourtellot,  on  the  corner  of  Broad  and  First,  which  house 
he  built  about  1825.  Just  as  twenty  years  before  when  his 
labors  were  not  restricted  to  the  hours  of  daylight,  but  began 
ere  its  dawn  and  were  not  finished  at  its  close,  so  now  while 
building  his  house  he  holds  the  candle  for  the  masons  and  en- 
courages them  to  protract  their  employment  far  into  the  night. 
His  wife,  Phoebe  Sheldon,  of  Northampton,  Mass.,  died  De- 
cember 15,  1854 ;  his  own  death  occurred  in  1858,  on  the  1st 
of  March.  Their  children  were  Mary  (Mrs.  Josiah  T.  Marshall), 
James  M,,  a  merchant  of  this  city,  now  deceased;  Elizabeth  H. 
H.,  and  Cornelia  (widow  of  William  P.  Clark),  now  resi- 
dent ;  Phoebe  (Mrs.  John  Stitt,  of  Chicago),  and  a  daughter 
who  died  in  infancy. 


172  THE  riOXEERS  OF  UTICA. 

As  closely  given  to  business  as  the  preceding,  as  charitable 
and  as  useful,  though  as  meagre  of  person,  and  anxious  of  coun- 
tenance as  the  former  was  portly  and  composed,  was  James 
Dana,  who  attained  at  least  a  competence  of  worldly  goods, 
while  securing  an  unusual  share  of  public  respect  for  his  straight 
forward  honesty,  and  his  earnest  and  consistent  religious  life. 

He  was  born  in  Ashburnham,  Mass.,  May  29,  1780,  was  the 
son  of  George  Dana,  and  the  grandson  of  a  Huguenot  exile. 
Soon  after  attaining  his  majority,  he  started  for  what  was  then  the 
west,  and  after  tarrjdng  a  year  at  Schenectady,  he  arrived  in 
Utica  in  1803.  At  first  an  assistant  and  soon  a  partner  of  Gur- 
don  Burchard,  who  was  then  carrying  on  the  saddlery  and 
hardware  business,  he  set  up  alone  in  June,  1806.  His  trade 
as  a  saddler  he  abandoned  after  some  years,  but  continued  to 
prosecute  the  sale  of  hardwai-e  until  his  retirement  in  1850, 
the  latter  portion  of  this  time  in  connection  with  his  son  George 
S.  Dana.  "  Mr.  Dana  was  a  careful  business  man,  and  suc- 
ceeded in  building  up  a  handsome  fortune.  Often  did  he  re- 
hearse with  honest  pride  the  steps  by  which  the  trade,  neces- 
sarily small  in  a  hamlet  such  as  Utica  was  eighty  years  ago, 
grew  for  him  as  for  others  into  proportions  that  rewarded  him 
for  years  of  industry.''  He  was  for  a  long  period,  and  down  to 
his  decease,  a  director  of  the  Bank  of  Utica. 

Those  who  knew  him  best  will  regard  his  moral  and  Chris- 
tian  character  as  his  chief  distinction,  for  he  was  a  man  of  ex- 
treme simplicity,  humble-mindedness  and  purity  of  character. 
His  religion  was  not  a  Sunday  affair  merely,  it  was  inwrought 
into  the  whole  texture  of  his  mind  and  life.  He  delighted  to 
converse  on  religious  subjects,  and  was  active  in  the  practical, 
personal  duties  of  a  Christian.  He  was  long  a  teacher  in  the 
Sabbath  school,  and  for  upwards  of  thirty  years  an  officer  in 
the  Presbyterian  Church.  His  death  occurred  January  9, 
1860,  in  his  eightieth  yeai-.  Harriet  Dwight,  his  wife,  was 
daughter  of  Seth  Dwight,  and  was  born  at  Williamsburgh, 
February  21,  1792.  Venturing  rarely  outside  her  own  family 
circle,  she  M'as  chiefly  known  as  a  faithful  M'ife  and  devoted 
mother.  She  died  Se})tember  13,  1870.  Their  cliildi-en,  beside 
three  who  died  in  childhood,  were  as  follows :  James  Dwight 
Dana,  the  distinguished  scientist,  Professor  of  Natural  Science, 
Yale  College.,  George  Strong  Dana,  a  merchant  of  Utica,  died 


THE  FIRST  CHARTER  OF  UTICA.  173 

March  30,  1859 ;  John  White  Daua,  a  physician  of  K  Y.,  died 
August  27, 1849  ;  Harriet  D wight  Da.na,  (Mrs.  J.  Wyman  Jones, 
of  Englewood,  N.  J.)  Corneha  Elizabeth  Dana,  died  September 
7,  185-1 ;  "William  Buck  Dana,  a  lawyer,  now  proprietor  and 
editor  of  the  Merchants'  Magazine,  IST.  Y. ;  Delia  White  Dana, 
(Mrs.  K  Curtiss  White.) 

Already  we  have  mentioned  a  Hoyt,  from  Danbury  Conn.^ 
as  coming  to  Utica  in  1798.  Five  years  later  came  his  brother 
David  P.,  who  married  in  Octolier  1802,  and  migrated  the  fol- 
lowing spring.  And  here  he  continued  to  live  until  his  death, 
June  3,  1828,  with  the  exception  of  about  eighteen  months 
spent  in  Chittenango.  By  trade  he  was  a  tanner  and  currier 
and  a  shoemaker.  Possessed  of  decided  energy  and  persever- 
ance, with  an  excellent  judgment  in  matters  of  business,  he 
was  successful  therein  to  a  greater  degree  than  any  other  person 
in  the  same  employment.  For  many  years  he  carried  on  his 
trade  in  shoes  and  leather  on  Genesee  street,  a  little  way  above 
Wliitesboro.  His  tannery  was  on  the  latter  street  beyond 
Broadway,  and  adjoining  the  lane  called  by  his  name.  Here 
he  had  one  hundred  and  ten  vats  covered  wuth  buildings,  and 
a  little  below  them  on  the  lane  a  windmill  to  grind  his  bark. 
Besides  his  tannery,  he  had,  after  the  construction  of  the  canal, 
a  warehouse  on  its  southern  bank^  next  west  from  Washington 
street,  and  a  basin  beside  it. 

Mr.  Hoyt  was  always  a  prominent  man  in  the  affairs  of  the 
place,  and  by  his  industry  as  well  as  by  his  interest  in  its  good, 
assisted  much  in  promoting  the  prosperity  and  growth  of  Utica. 
He  was  treasurer  and  afterwards  trustee  of  the  village,  a  direc- 
tor of  the  Bank  of  Utica,  and  in  1819,  he  represented  the  dis- 
trict in  the  chamber  of  the  assembly.  He  died  quite  suddenly 
at  the  age  of  forty-nine  years  and  a  half,  having  been  born 
November  17,  1778.  Much  of  his  success  may  be  ascribed 
to  his  good  fortune  in  having  a  wife  remarkable  for  that  high 
order  of  intelligence  and  virtue  which,  three  fourths  of  a  cen- 
tury since,  Connecticut  sent  out  into  the  new  settlements. 
Left  a  widow  with  nine  children,  she  met  her  responsibilities 
bravely  and  with  a  degree  of  business  capacity  which  justified 
her  self-reliance.  In  1834  she  married  Alexander  M.  Beebee, 
and  in  1856  was  again  bereft  of  her  support.     The  remainder 


174  THE   PIONEERS  OF  UTICA. 

of  an  unusual]}'  healthful  and  protracted  life  she  passed  with  her 
3'oungest  sou,  where  she  was  not  only  the  beloved  centre  and 
pride  of  a  numerous  family  of  children  and  grandchildren,  but 
was  honored  also  by  her  acquaintance  as  a  woman  of  positive 
and  sterling  worth.  This  life  was  terminated  August  5,  1876, 
in  her  ninety-second  year.  The  children  of  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Hoyt 
were  Julia  Ann  (Mrs.  Friend  Humphrey,  of  Albany)  deceased  ; 
Joseph  B.,  of  Cazenovia;  James  M.,  of  Cleveland,  Ohio;  Mary 
Emeline  (Mrs.  George  W.  Beebee  of  Eavenswood,  L.  I.)  Sarah 
Ellen  (Mrs.  James  B.  Colgate,  of  N,  Y.)  deceased;  and  John 
C,  of  Utica,  besides  three  daughters  who  died  in  youth. 

David  Trowbridge,  of  Albany,  under  date  of  May  2,  1803, 
announces  that  he  has  "  taken  possession  of  that  well  known, 
elegant  brick  building  in  the  village  of  Utica  called  the  Hotel. 
From  his  former  standing  in  Albany,  he  flatters  himself  that  he 
will  be  entitled  to  some  attention,  not  only  from  his  old  friends 
and  customers,  but  from  the  public  in  general.  The  building 
is  capable  of  accommodating  every  description  of  travellers ; 
and  those  who  wish  it,  can  always  be  furnished  with  the  best 
lodgings  and  most  convenient  private  rooms  for  any  length  of 
time.  A  most  excellent  pasture  and  the  best  stabling  will  always 
in  their  proper  season,  be  found  at  this  place."  Mr.  Trowbridge 
was  a  plump,  good-tempered  Boniface,  of  respectable  character 
and  standing,  who,  though  he  did  not  prove  very  successful  in 
his  undertaking,  yet  gained  the  respect  of  the  community 
Two  of  his  daughters  married  professional  men  of  the  village, 
and  a  third  was  united  to  a  non-resident,  who  was  a  member  of 
the  third  of  the  learned  professions.  They  were  Susan  (Mrs. 
David  W.  Childs),  Sally  (Mrs.  Marcus  Hitchcock),  and  Emily, 
wife  of  Kt.  Eev.  Bishop  Williams,  of  Conn.  Mr.  Trowbridge 
had  also  a  son,  who  built  and  o|>ened  a  tavern  on  the  corner  of 
Hotel  and  Liberty,  the  latter  being  then  known  as  Maiden  lane. 
He  was  a  somewhat  longer  resident  than  his  father,  but  like 
him,  removed  to  Albany,  and  was  there  the  keeper  of  the  Albany 
Museum. 

During  the  administration  of  the  hotel  under  this  proprietor, 
we  again  read  of  a  public  ball,  in  Trowbridge's  assembly  room, 
given  by  T.  Shepherd,  dancing  master,  of  a  meeting  of  parties 
interested  in  the  Old  Fort  Schuyler  libraiy,  and  of  meetings  of 


THE  FIRST  CHARTER  OF  UTICA.  175 

citizens  for  other  purposes.  In  January,  1806,  there  was  held 
at  the  hotel,  a  meeting  for  the  installment  of  officers  of  the 
Oneida  Masonic  Lodge,  and  this  was  followed  by  an  address 
before  the  members  of  the  lodge  by  Rev.  James  Carnahan,  which 
was  delivered  in  Trinity  church.  It  was  during  tlie  last. named 
year  that  Mr.  Trowbridge  would  seem  to  have  left  the  hotel. 

Another  new  comer  of  this  date,  a  blacksmith  by  trade,  but 
who  afterwards  opened  a  tavern,  was  Oliver  Babcock,  a  native 
of  Rhode  Island,  and  last  from  Tro}^  At  first  employed  by 
Moses  Bagg,  Sr.,  he  was  in  1S05-6  selling  warranted  ploughs. 
Next,  a  partner  with  Benjamin  Ballon,  Jr.,  be  failed  and  his 
partner  got  the  title  to  his  property.  While  on  the  limits  at 
"Whitesboro  he  worked  at  his  trade  and  succeeded  in  partially 
paying  off  his  indebtedness,  so  that  in  December,  1812,  he  re- 
turned to  Utica.  During  the  war  some  work  was  thrown  into 
his  hands  by  the  officers  of  government,  for  whom  he  put  new 
irons  on  their  wagons.  But  before  its  close  he  gave  up  black- 
smithing,  and  began  keeping  a  tavern  on  Main  street,  near  the 
site  of  his  former  property,  and  opposite  the  present  entrance  to 
the  Central  Railroad.  In  a  little  over  four  years  he  was  sold 
under  execution,  and  moved  into  Madison  county,  but  returned 
to  Troy  to  die.  He  left  a  family  of  eight  children,  some  of 
whom  are  now  living  in  Indiana  and  some  in  Tro}^  An  inci- 
dent of  his  experience  as  a  landlord,  quite  in  keeping  with  the 
many  disappointments  of  this  unfortunate  man,  is  as  follows : 
A  farmer  of  Litchfield  hill,  familiarly  known  as  Judge  Grunt, 
called  one  day  to  sell  him  a  quarter  of  lamb.  Babcock  was  not 
desirous  to  buy,  but  the  seller  was  urgent,  and  so,  after  some 
persuasion,  the  former  consented,  provided  the  judge  would 
remain  to  dinner.     He  did  so,  and  ate  up  all  the  lamb. 

Of  two  merchants  who  appeared  in  Utica  in  1803,  a  word  will 
suffice.  Moses  Johnson,  in  June,  announces  another  new  whole- 
sale and  retail  store,  two  doors  north  of  M.  Bagg's  inn.  Then,  after 
a  removal  in  January  following,  he  removes  altogether  from  the 
place,  and  goes  to  Onondaga.  Dr.  Thomas  Wilson  in  May,  has 
just  received  dry  goods,  groceries  and  medicines  at  the  store 
lately  occupied  by  John  Smith,  and  will  also  practice  physic 
and  surgery.     He  is  soon  sold  out  by  the  sheriff. 


176  THE   PIONEERS  OF  UTICA. 

Two  carpenters,  of  good  repute,  and  with  considerable  work 
on  hand,  who  lived  in  Utica  at  this  time,  as  well  as  se^'eral  years 
longer,  were  Augustus  White  and  Eobert  Wilson.  The  former 
was  a  pious  and  exemplary  person,  and  an  elder  of  the  Presby- 
terian Church.  He  acquired  property,  and  was  the  owner  of 
the  ground  covered  by  the  lower  end  of  the  Tibbits  block.  He 
lived  here  until  1820,  and  removed  eastward.  At  his  death, 
without  heirs,  he  left  his  money  to  the  American  Bible  Society 
and  other  benevolent  institutions.  Wilson  was  skilled  in  fine 
work,  and  made  the  stairs  of  the  second  church  edifice  erected 
by  the  Presbyterians.  The  houses  of  Nathan  Williams,  Thomas 
Walker  and  others  were  works  of  his  hands.  His  early  partner 
(1806)  was  Brown,  his  later,  his  own  l)rother  Thomas.  He  re- 
moved to  Trenton,  where  he  died. 

Caleb  and  Thomas  Hazen  were  hatters  on  the  square,  below 
J.  C.  Devereux.  Their  names  are  met  with  between  December, 
1808,  and  December,  1805,  but  later  traces  we  cannot  find ; 
Michael  Campbell,  a  barber  next  door  to  Post  &  Hamlin,  was 
damaged  when  they  were  burned  :  Tuttle  &  Lynde  had  a  shop 
w^here  were  to  be  seen  grave  stones  made  in  AVhitesboro :  Caleb 
Banci'oft  was  a  butcher  ;  Archibald  Shaw,  a  brief  staying  tailor. 
The  name  of  Robert  Stewart  we  find  in  the  notes  of  the  pi-esid- 
ing  elder  of  the  Albany  district,  who,  passing  through  the  place, 
.stopped  and  dined  with  him.  And  Oliver  Brownson,  a  singing 
master,  is  strongly  suspected  to  be  the  same  who  settled  in 
Madison  county,  and  was  the  father  of  the  distinguished  Judge 
Greene  C.  Bronson.  A  worthy  Welshman  who  tarried  much 
longer  was  a  laboring  man  named  Jenkins  Evans.  And  about 
the  same  time  with  him  came  a  William  James,  who  worked 
with  him  as  a  gardener,  &c. 

1804. 

As  we  proceed,  in  the  order  of  time,  with  the  recoi'd  of  addi- 
tional citizens,  we  find  that  the  catalogue  of  those  living  in  Utica 
in  the  course  of  the  year  1804,  and  not  yet  enumerated,  is  a 
numerous  one.  But  many  of  them  were  transient  residents, 
and  others  filled  humble  and  inconspicuous  positions.  Few 
will  warrant  extended  notice.  Let  us  begin  with  the  fifth  law- 
yer of  the  place. 


THE  FIRST  CHARTER  OF  UTICA.  177 

David  Wells  Childs  was  a  native  of  Pittsfield,  Mass.,  and  son 
of  Dr.  Timothy  Childs,  an  eminent  physician  of  that  town.  He 
was  born  in  1781,  and  was  graduated  at  Williams  College  in 
1800.  Four  years  later  he  established  himself  in  the  profession 
of  law  in  Utica.  At  the  meeting  of  the  first  board  of  trustees 
held  under  the  new  charter  of  1805,  he  was  appointed  their 
clerk,  and  continued  to  record  the  meetings  until  September  of 
the  following  year,  when  ill-health  obliged  him  to  withdraw. 
On  the  organization  of  the  Bank  of  Utica,  in  1812,  Mr,  Childs, 
who  was  a  director,  obtained  also  a  more  profitable  office,  being 
made  its  attorney  and  notary.  In  suits  by  the  bank  for  notes 
that  were  not  paid,  it  was  the  duty  of  the  attorney  to  issue 
writs  for  each  of  the  endorsers,  and  for  these  writs  he  received 
a  handsome  fee.  By  means  of  his  office  and  by  other  business, 
for  he  was  a  sound  and  industrious  lawyer,  he  acquired  a  valu- 
able property.  He  owned  the  land  on  the  south  side  of  Liberty 
street,  extending  from  the  corner  of  Washington  midway  to 
Seneca  and  lying  on  both  sides  of  the  canal.  He  built  thereon 
the  tavern  and  other  buildings  fronting  on  Liberty  street,  and 
the  warehouse  above  the  canal.  For  his  residence  he  built  the 
house  on  Whitesboro  street  next  west  of  the  Hotel,  the  same 
that  is  now  occupied  by  John  F.  Seymour,  and  kept  his  office 
in  its  basement.  By  his  integrity  and  fidelity  he  obtained  a 
high  standing  in  the  community ;  but  in  the  midst  of  these  bright 
prospects  he  became  the  victim  of  a  lingering  consumption, 
which  forced  him  to  retire  from  the  active  pursuits  of  life.  He 
finally  returned  to  his  native  town,  where  he  died  July  27,  1826. 
In  his  last  illness  he  had  ample  opportunity  to  prove  the  bless- 
edness of  that  religion  which  he  had  before  this  time  heartily 
embraced.  He  was  patient  and  resigned.  Among  the  pro- 
visions of  his  will  was  a  legacy  to  the  Utica  Sunday  School  of 
two  hundred  and  fifty  dollars ;  while  to  the  Theological  Sem- 
inary at  Auburn,  to  the  Western  Education  Society,  and  to  the 
American  Bible  Society  he  also  gave  five  hundred  dollars  each. 
His  wife,  Susan,  daughter  of  David  Trowbridge,  died  December 
14,  1820,  aged  thirty-four.  Their  children  were  Rachel  (Mrs. 
Bui'ch,  of  New  York  or  Brooklyn),  Sarah,  Mary  and  Susan. 

Another   member  of    this   profession,    though   conspicuous, 
chiefly  for  his  business  enterprise  and  the  magnitude  of  his  un- 

M 


178  THE  PIONEERS  OF  UTICA. 

dertakings,  and  who  was  long  an  honored  citizeii  of  Utica,  was 
Abraham  Yarick,  Jr.  His  ancestral  home  was  in  Hackensack, 
N.  J.,  but  he  was  the  son  of  Abraham  Yarick  of  New  York, 
and  nephew  of  Colonel  Richard  Yarick,  of  revolutionary  mem- 
ory, former  mayor  of  that  city  and  attorney  gonei'al  of  the  State. 
He  was  bora  in  1780,  graduated  at  Columbia  College  in  1799, 
and  studied  law  with  Peter  Jay  Munro.  In  the  summer  of 
180-i  he  came  to  Utica  to  settle.  Though  educated  to  the  bar, 
he  was  never  an  attendant  on  the  courts,  nor  took  in  hand  the 
suits  of  others.  For  many  years  he  acted  as  agent  for  the  Hol- 
land Land  Company,  and  was  busied  in  selling  for  them  the 
lands  they  owned  to  the  north  of  Utica.  Being  an  active  and 
capable  business  man  and  full  of  enterprise,  he  devoted  himself 
throughout  his  life  to  dealing  in  lands,  to  the  management  of  fac- 
tories and  furnaces,  and  to  other  financial  projects.  As  early 
as  September,  1804,  he  bought  the  large  farm  lying  at  the  heail 
of  Genesee  street,  which  was  known  as  the  Kimball  farm,  pay- 
ing for  it  the  sum  of  $5,500.  It  was  plotted  out  for  building 
purposes,  and  within  two  years  sales  were  made  at  prices  which 
were  then  deemed  quite  high.  Subsequentl}',  Mr.  Yarick  be- 
came possessed,  at  various  periods,  of  a  luunber  of  lots  and 
buildings  in  different  parts  of  the  village.  But  his  largest  in- 
vestments were  made  in  West  Utica.  About  i  827.  in  connec- 
tion with  A.  B.  Johnson,  he  bought  the  Jason  Parker  farm, 
which  extended  from  the  river  to  Court  street,  op])ositc  the  Asy- 
lum. And,  together  with  Charles  E.  Dudley  of  Albany,  he 
bought,  about  the  same  time,  from  Philip  Schuyler,  a  part  of 
Great  Lot  No.  99,  being  the  farm  adjacent  to  the  preceding,  on 
the  east.  These  were  also  converted  into  building  lots,  and 
yielded  rich  returns  to  their  owners,  while  they  opened  the  way 
for  the  extension  of  the  city  toward  the  west.  His  name  is  pre- 
served in  the  main  avenue  of  these  western  domains.  He  was 
largely  interested  in  many  factories  of  different  kinds,  as  in  the 
Cotton  Mills  at  Clinton,  the  Oneida  Facte ly  at  Yorkville,  the 
Oriskany  Factory,  the  Utica  Glass  Factory,  &c.  An  iron  furnace 
at  Constantia  was  chiefly  controlled  by  him,  as  well  as  mills 
and  a  rope-walk  at  Denmark  in  Lewis  county,  and  he  was  a 
heavy  stockholdei-  in  one  of  the  eailiest  niilroads  of  the  State, 
that  known  as  the  Ithaca  &  Owego,  His  latest  and  most  con- 
siderable o] aerations  were  carried  on  at  Oswego,  where  he  came 


THE  FIRST  CHARTER  OF  UTICA.  179 

in  possession  of  a  property  which  included  no  small  part  of  the 
business  section  of  the  town.  There  he  built  a  fine  cotton  fac- 
tory, of  which  the  machinery  alone  cost  him  $60,000  and  had 
also  a  dry  dock  and  a  marine  railway.  His  office  in  Utica  he 
kept  in  Washington  Hall,  which  building  he  erected  about  the 
year  1822,  and  where  James  Lynch  was  an  early  associate,  and 
Charles  A.  Mann  a  later  one.  He  lived  on  the  corner  of  Broad 
and  First  streets,  in  the  house  which  was  built  and  occupied  by 
Peter  Bours,  and  is  now  owned  by  T.  K.  Butler.  His  wife,  to 
whom  he  was  united  in  1814,  was  Ann,  daughter  of  General 
William  Floyd,  and  widow  of  George  W.  Clinton,  only  son  of 
Governor  George  Clinton.  His  home  was  a  centre  of  refine- 
ment, and  his  family  a  leading  one.  In  1833  he  took  up  his 
residence  in  New  York,  where  he  died  in  1842,  leaving  three 
children,  a  son,  since  deceased,  and  two  daughters. 

The  integrity  of  Mr.  Varick  in  his  business  dealings,  his  read- 
iness to  respond  to  the  many  calls  that  were  made  on  his  pub- 
lic spirit  or  his  charity,  and  the  purity  of  his  life  were  never 
questioned.  As  a  man  of  kind  and  amiable  temper,  refined  in 
taste  and  feeling  and  upright  in  act,  he  was  universally  respected. 
Early  in  his  career  he  was  sometimes  called  on  to  take  a  part 
in  public  afiiairs,  as  in  the  organization  of  the  Utica  Academy 
and  the  Ontario  Bank.  But  for  the  most  part,  and  especially 
during  the  latter  jears  of  his  residence,  his  attention  was  ab- 
sorbed in  his  own  weighty  concerns.  In  the  Presbyterian 
Church  he  was  a  prominent  person,  and  when  measures  were 
set  on  foot  to  establish  a  Reformed  Dutch  Church,  no  one  was 
more  zealous  or  liberal  than  he.  He  was  one  of  its  first  elders. 
For  a  time  he  was  president  of  the  Oneida  County  Bible  Society. 
In  person  he  was  tall  and  imposing ;  in  demeanor  dignified  and 
sedate. 

Dr.  David  Hasbrouck  was  a  native  of  Shawangunk,  Ukter 
county,  N.  Y.,  and  was  the  son  of  General  Joseph  Hasbrouck 
and  his  wife,  Elizabeth  Bevier,  both  descendants  of  Huguenot 
families.  General  Hasbrouck  had  taken  a  part  in  the  Revolu- 
tionary war,  and  subsequently  became  a  general  in  the  service 
of  the  State.  He  was  a  man  of  acknowledged  ability  and  great 
influence  in  the  community  where  he  lived.  The  son  studied 
medicine  with  Dr.  James  G.  Graham,  of  Shawangunk,  and  at- 


180  THE  PIONEERS  OF  UTICA. 

tended  lectures  in  New  York.  He  came  to  Utica  in  1804,  and 
formed  a  partnership  in  practice  with  Dr.  Alexander  Coventry, 
he  occupying  the  office  on  the  west  side  of  Genesee,  next  door 
below  the  mouth  of  Broad,  while  Dr.  Coventr}^  continued  to  re 
side  in  Deerfield.  There,  also,  he  sold  drugs.  His  practice, 
was,  for  the  most  part,  restricted  to  a  few  leading  families.  He 
was  the  first  secretary  of  the  County  Medical  Society  on  its  or- 
ganization in  1806.  About  1815,  he  removed  to  Kingston, 
Ulster  county,  but  died  in  Schenectady  in  October,  1823,  at  the 
age  of  forty-five. 

Dr.  Hasbrouck  was  bright  in  intellect  and  well  versed  in  his 
profession;  active  in  person,  amiable  and  companionable;  but 
from  his  very  social  qualities  he  contracted  habits  that  inter- 
fered with  his  usefulness  and  his  standing.  He  was,  in  the 
opinion  of  Dr.  Coventry,  who  remained  eleven  3^ears  in  connec- 
tion with  him,  one  of  the  most  gentlemanly,  obliging  and  kind- 
hearted  man  he  had  known.  His  wife  was  Miss  Abby  Lawrence 
of  Fort  Edward,  a  woman  of  stylish  appearance  and  superior 
character,  whom  he  met  at  the  house  of  her  relative,  Jeremiah 
Yan  Eensselaer,  and  married  in  1811.  He  left  a  son  and  a 
daughter  the  former,  John  L.,  of  New  York,  and  the  latter, 
wife  of  Eev.  Scoville,  of  Brookh^n. 

"  Dr.  Christian  Stockman,  from  Germany,  and  last  from 
Albany,  where  he  has  resided  for  the  last  ten  years,  has  opened 
in  Utica  on  Genesee  street,  a  general  assortment  of  drugs  and 
medicines.  He  will  likewise  attend  to  any  calls  in  the  line  of 
his  profession  as  physician,  and  give  advice  at  his  store  in  all 
cases,  and  when  requested,  visit  any  patient  who  may  favor 
him  with  a  call."  So  runs  his  advertisement  of  July  9,  1804. 
He  was  installed  on  the  east  side  of  Genesee  street,  not  far  from 
the  present  Catherine,  his  family  living  in  the  rear  and  upper 
part"  of  the  building.  Here  at  the  sign  of  the  Gilt  Mortar,  he 
was  selling  a  year  later  the  following  articles  ''  not  generally  im- 
ported," viz :  "  lichen  islandicus,  flores  arnicae,  cremor  tartari 
solubilis,  English  wormseed,  Gebhart's  patent  castor  oil,  alkali, 
fluor,"  &c.  Besides  drugs  he  kept  also  German  toys  for  sale. 
His  announcement  a  few  years  later,  of  a  German  almanac,  must 
liave  seemed  to  the  readers  of  the  Gazette,  outlandish  and 
strange;  in  staring  German  characters,  the  lirst  that  hrfd  as 


THE  FIRST  CHAllTER  OF  UTICA.  181 

yet  appeared  in  a  Utica  print,  he  advertises  a  „§od)  !I)cutfd)er 
^[merifarufd)^-  Salcnber  an\  bag  3a^r  1812."  His  written  lan- 
guage was  passably  good,  but  his  spoken  English  was  quite 
broken.  With  respect  to  his  literary  and  scientific  acquire- 
ments he  was  decidedly  sensitive.  He  was  small  in  stature, 
petulant  and  passionate.  Of  German  oaths  the  doctor  had  a 
full  vocabulary,  and,  when  these  were  exhausted,  he  would  re- 
sort to  English  to  finish  the  anathema.  With  these  traits,  it 
was  natural  that  he  was  often  the  sport  of  mischief-makers  too 
much  bent  ou  their  own  amusement  to  heed  the  doctor's  oiiended 
dignity. 

One  bright  September  night,  Enos  Brown,  George  L.  Tisdale, 
and  other  sportive  young  men  of  the  village,  were  returnino- 
from  a  carousal  in  the  "wee  sma'  hours."  As  they  passed 
Stockman's,  Brown  rolled  over  his  vinegar  cask  that  stood  by 
the  door,  smashed  the  glass  bottle  in  the  bung  hole,  and  passed 
on  with  the  party,  who  were  making  a  good  deal  of  noise.  Tis- 
dale, who  was  somewhat  in  the  rear,  discovered  the  condition 
of  the  cask,  as  he  came  up,  and  being  considerate  of  the  vinegar, 
fast  gurgling  away,  he  seized  the  cask  and  was  in  the  act  of 
placing  it  bung  upward,  when  the  doctor  appeared  at  the  door 
in  his  night  clothes.  Seeing  Tisdale  in  such  suspicious  circum- 
stances, he  gave  him  chase  as  he  was,  venting  his  curses  mean- 
while. At  full  speed  they  plunged  down  Genesee,  and  then 
along  Main,  Stockman  apparently  gaining  upon  his  victim, 
but  when  not  far  from  Judge  Miller's,  toward  the  end  of  the 
street,  Tisdale  sprang  over  a  fence  into  a  cornfield,  confused  his 
pursuer  and  threw  him  from  the  track. 

Although  thus  much  has  been  said  to  the  disparagement  of 
the  doctor,  it  is  to  be  added  that  he  was  a  regular  member  of 
the  profession,  had  some  skill  in  his  calling,  and  enjoyed  a  good 
share  of  public  confidence.  He  was  neat  in  person  and  in  the 
main  correct  in  depoi'tment.  He  lived  in  Utica  until  after  1820, 
but  taking  it  in  his  head  that  he  could  make  money  by  con- 
ducting a  party  of  Indians  to  Europe  for  exhibition,  he  set  out 
with  them.  He  failed  in  his  expectation  and  became  greatly 
reduced  in  means.  Weighed  down  by  disappointment,  he 
leaped  overboard  while  on  his  return,  and  was  lost.  His  wife 
came  back  to  Utica  and  was  miserably  poor.  They  had  one 
son,  Christian,  Jr.,  and  two  daughters 


182  THE  PIONEERS  OF  UTICA. 

Into  the  growing  hamlet  there  came  in  the  course  of  the- 
year  two  brothers  from  Connecticut,  antl  with  them  there  came 
one  who  has  generally  passed  as  a  third  brother,  but  who  was 
in  reality  a  cousin,  and  the  brother-in-law  to  each  of  them,  each 
having  mai-ried  one  of  his  sisters.  These  were  Abijah  and  Anson 
Thomas  and  their  relative,  B.  W.  Thomas.  All  survived  by 
many  years  the  early  period  of  our  history,  and  contributed  by 
their  honorable  career  as  merchants  and  their  responsible  posi- 
tion in  the  church,  to  the  fair  name  and  prosperity  of  Utica. 
The  two  former  were  sons  of  Abijah  Thomas  Sr.,  of  Lebanon, 
Windham  county,  Conn.,  who,  at  the  age  of  eighty-eight,  was 
gathered  to  his  fathers,  leaving  the  odor  of  a  good  name  to  hal- 
low his  memory.  Their  mother,  Kachel  McCall,  also  born  in 
Lebanon,  though  of  Scotch  descent,  possessed  a  fair  proportion 
of  those  virtues  which  adorn  New  England  mothers.  After  the- 
death  of  the  father,  his  son  Abijah  remained  at  home  a  few 
years  to  manage  the  farm  and  assist  in  the  care  of  the  younger 
members  of  the  family.  He  married,  and  in  the  fall  of  180S 
travelled  to  Utica,  bought  a  lot  and  returned.  This  lot,  which 
was  on  Whitesboro  street,  and  was  occupied  by  Hiel  Hollister, 
contained  about  one  acre  of  land,  and  had  a  house  thereon.  A 
part  only  of  the  jDayment  was  made,  and  the  balance  was  to  be- 
come due  on  the  lirst  of  April  next  ensuing.  Late  in  March,. 
1804,  B.  W.  Thomas,  then  a  youth  of  eighteen,  was  des]iatched 
to  complete  the  payment.  The  previous  season  had  been  an 
unfavorable  one,  hay  and  indeed  fodder  of  any  kind,  was  ex- 
tremely scarce,  so  that  horses  were  fed  on  hemlock  boughs,  and 
many  died  for  want  of  sustenance.  Horses,  then,  could  not  be 
had,  and  public  conveyances  were  as  yet  known  only  to  the 
older  settled  parts  of  the  country.  He  must,  therefore,  go  on 
foot,  and  accordingly,  though  he  had  never  walked  five  miles 
from  home,  he  set  out,  with  his  pack  on  his  back,  and  his  money 
stitched  into  his  shirt,  to  make  the  journey  to  Utica.  He  was 
accompanied  by  a  step-brother  and  an  apprenticed  carpenter, 
named  Gifl'ord ;  but  the  fatigue  was  too  great  for  the  former 
and  he  was  forced  to  return.  Five  or  six  days  of  toil  brought 
them  to  Green  bush,  opposite  Albany,  where  they  had  expected 
to  meet  Mr.  Parker's  stage.  The  stage  had  started,  and  some 
time  must  elapse  before  they  could  avail  themselves  of  the  next 
(jne.     But,  grown  more  accustomed  to  walking,  and  somewhat. 


THE  FIRST  CHARTER  OF  UTICA.  183 

r  efreshed  by  a  rest  and  a  ride  they  had  picked  up  while  pass- 
ing among  the  Shakers  of  New  Lebanon,  they  pushed  on,  in 
the  hope  that  the  coach  woukl  overtake  them.  In  this  they 
were  disappointed,  since  they  reached  their  destination,  limbered 
and  supple,  half  a  day  before  it.  It  was  Saturday,  and  the  day 
when  the  money  was  to  be  paid.  This  was  tendered  in  bills  of 
Boston  banks ;  but  Mr.  Hollister  had  become  dissatisfied  with 
his  bargain,  and  in  order  to  evade  its  completion,  would  have 
the  payment  in  specie  only.  With  considerable  difficulty,  this 
was  obtained  and  the  sale  confirmed.  The  whole  of  the  follow- 
ing Monday, — such  was  the  wretched  state  of  the  roads  at  that 
period, — was  consumed  in  journeying  in  a  hack  to  and  fi'om 
Whitesboro,  whither  it  was  necessary  to  go  to  have  the  deed 
duly  acknowledged. 

On  the  2oth  of  'May  following,  Mr.  Abijah  Thomas  arrived 
and  took  wp  his  abode  in  his  newly  purchased  house.  On  this 
lot  he  remained  until  his  death,  performing  at  all  times  his 
duties  as  a  man,  a  citizen  and  a  Christian,  and  enjoying  during 
the  whole  period  the  esteem  and  the  confidence  of  the  commu- 
nity: A  carpenter  by  trade,  he  built  for  himself,  after  the  lapse 
of  some  years,  a  larger  house,  adjoining  the  former  on  the  west, 
it  being  the  one  recently  occupied  by  B.  W.  Thomas.  His  first 
employment  was  changed  for  that  of  wagon  and  coach  maker. 
He  was  at  one  time  treasurer  of  the  Utica  Glass  Company,  and 
for  many  years  served,  without  compensation,  as  treasurer  of 
the  A.  B.  C.  F.  M.  This  office  was,  at  that  time,  no  desirable 
sinecure,  as  many  of  the  contributions  to  the  board  were  sent 
in  the  form  of  clothing,  which  required  repacking  that  it  might 
be  forwarded  to  some  distant  missionary  station.  Other  gifts 
were  of  herbs  or  some  produce  of  the  farm,  which  were  to  be 
sold  in  order  that  their  value  might  be  realized  and  properly 
credited.  One  old  deacon  of  a  neighl:)oring  town,  sent  every 
year  a  fatted  missionary  pig,  for  which  it  was  incumbent  on 
Mr.  Thomas  to  find  a  purchaser. '^^     During  a  long  term  of  years 

*It  was  this  same  deacon  of  whom  is  related  the  following:  He  was 
present  as  a  delegate  at  a  meeting  of  presbytery,  which  happened  to  be  an 
unusually  stormy  one,  and  being  grieved  at  its  disputatious  character,  he 
essayed  to  mollify  its  acrimony  by  a  proposition  that  presbytery  should 
unite  in  prayer  ;  whereupon  he  was  invited  to  lead  them  in  such  service, 
his   prayer  to  be  followed  by  one  from  another  lay  member.     His  prayer 


184  THE   PIONEERS  OF  UTICA. 

•►-J**.- 

he  was  an  officer  in  the  Presbyterian  Church,  and  was  a  con- 
scientious and  faithful,  if  somewhat  rigid  and  uncompromising- 
one.  Himself  and  wife  were  familiarl}^  known  as  Uncle  Abijah 
and  Aunt  Lydia.  He  died  September  25,  1846 ;  his  wife, 
November  5,  1854,  aged  eighty-three.     They  left  no  children. 

Abijah's  l)rotlier  Anson,  born  November  24,  1779,  made  his 
first  ventm-e  in  Richmond,  Va.,  where  he  succeeded  to  the  busi- 
ness of  two  other  brothers,  who  had  gone  there  before  him. 
Soon  selling  out,  he  returned  to  Connecticut,  was  married  in 
August,  1802,  and  thence  came  to  Utica  in  the  fall  of  1804. 
In  company  with  Abijah,  he  bought  of  John  Post  for  $150, 
a  fifty  foot  lot  on  Genesee  street,  where  the  National  hotel 
was  afterwards  built,  and  where  is  now  the  store  of  Charles 
Millar.  The  following  year  they  erected  thereon  a  store, 
which  they  rented  to  John  Steward,  Jr.  &  Co.  Mr.  Thomas 
also  built  in  1805  as  a  residence  for  himself,  the  house  on  Gen- 
esee street  now  occupied  by  Sylvester  Dering.  Disposing  of 
this  within  less  than  two  years,  he  built  one  still  further  up 
street  and  quite  distant  fi'om  all  neighbors,  that  is  to  say,  on 
the  site  of  the  residence  of  Dr.  William  H.  Watson.  He  re- 
moved it  in  1831  and  put  up  the  Watson  house  itself,  in  which 
he  lived  until  his  death. 

Mr.  Thomas  engaged  in  no  business  until  about  1815,  when 
he  began  as  a  merchant  in  compan}^  with  B.  W.  Thomas,  which 
partnership  lasted  fifteen  years.  The  store  they  occupied,  and 
which  they  built  for  themselves,  was  on  the  site  of  the  First 
National  Bank  and  extended  around  the  corner  into  Catherine 
street.  And  here,  after  the  dissolution  of  the  firm,  he  continued 
to  do  business  luitil  he  sold  to  James  Dutton  and  retired:  As 
a  merchant  he  was  successful,  though  beginning  when  numbers 
were  failing.  Among  all  the  ups  and  downs  of  commercial  life 
it  never  ha])])eiied  to  him  to  be  unable  to  meet  with  promptness 
his  every  engagement.  He  was  close  in  his  dealings,  saving 
and  careful  in  the  management  of  his  })ro})erty,  and  when  he 
withdrew  he  was  possessed  of  ample  means  to  live  at  ease.     In 

was  as  follows  :  "  Have  marcy,  O  Lord,  have  marcy  upon  us,  and  keep  the 
devil  out  of  these  ministers,"  and  was  succeeded  by  that  of  the  other  good 
deacon,  who  prayed  thus  :  "O  Lord,  thou  hast  heard  the  sujjplication  of 
our  brother,  and  now,  we  beseech  thee,  grant  us  an  answer  in  peace."  The 
oil  was  effectual  upon  the  troubled  waters  and  quiet  was  restored. 


*       THE  FIRST  CHARTER  OF  UTICA.  185 

March,  1839,  be  was  cliosen  president  of  the  Bank  of  Central 
New  York,  which  ofl&ce  he  held  while  he  lived,  discharging  its 
■duties  with  watchful  fidelity.  But  the  unostentatious  and  noise- 
less path  of  a  private  citizen  he  preferred  to  pursue,  avoiding 
all  controversies,  and  choosing  rather  to  suffer  wrong  than 
wrangle  about  what  was  withheld  from  him.  In  the  circle  of 
his  family  he  was  tenderly  loved,  for  he  was  amiable  and  con- 
siderate, and  at  the  altar  of  his  church  a  sincere  and  consistent 
worshipper.  He  died  September  2,  1856.  His  wife  (Anna 
Thomas)  a  person  of  unusual  strength  and  dignity  of  character, 
combined  with  gentleness  and  purity,  was  born  May  20,  1783, 
and  died  May  12,  1862.  Their  children  were  eight  daughters, 
viz:  Maria  (Mrs.  Thaddeus  Spencer)  died  September  18,  1831  ; 
Emeline  (Mrs.  William  Kuowlson)  died  November  18,  1870; 
Lydia  Ann  (widow  of  Samuel  P.  Lyman),  still  resident;  Cor- 
nelia died  unmarried,  July  10,  1839;  and  four  who  died  in 
childhood. 

"  Some  twenty  years  since,  might  frequently  be  seen  sitting  by 
the  bar  room  fire  of  Burchard's  tavern,  a  man  more  than  six 
feet  tall,  with  broad  shoulders,  large  trunk,  heavily  limbed,  and 
altogether  built  for  "service,"  with  a  face  full  of  good  humor, 
and  a  blue  eye  that  sparkled  with  kindness  and  fun.  A  scar 
or  two  on  the  forehead  proved  that  sometime  during  his  life,  he 
had  received  as  well  as  given  tokens  of  mettle ;  and  a  voice 
that  rose  clear  in  the  song,  with  a  touch  of  the  brogue,  showed 
that  hard  knocks  come  by  inheritance  to  an  Irishman.  Do  any 
of  our  old  cocked  hats  remember  Hugh  Cunningham?"  Thus 
discoursed  long  since  of  this  lively,  loud-talking,  rollicking 
Irishman,  one  who  seems  to  have  been  familiar  with  the  subject 
of  the  picture.  Doubtless  the  writer  has  ere  this  followed  his 
compeer  to  the  grave,  and  has  left  us  little  wherewith  to  fill  out 
the  portrait.  The  eaj'liest  hint  we  have  of  Cunningham  is  fur- 
nished by  himself  in  1801,  when  he  informs  the  newspaper 
readers  that  Hugh  Cunningham  &  Co.  have  opened  a  new  store 
in  the  village  opposite  the  post  office,  which  was  lately  that  of 
William  Fellows.  Next  we  get  a  telescopic  peep  at  him  through 
the  memory  of  one  of  his  contemporaries.  A  group  of  citizens 
are  gathered  around  the  pump  in  the  public  square  gazing  at 
the  great  eclipse  of  1806,  and  prominent  among  them  sits  Cun- 


186  THE  PIONEERS  OF  UTICA.  * 

ningham  astride  the  pump  handle,  enlivening  the  company  with 
his  waggeiy.  In  1810  he  built  himself  a  store  on  the  east  cor- 
ner of  Genesee  and  the  square,  the  site  of  the  early  House  tav- 
ern ;  but  hardly  was  it  complete,  when,  on  the  night  of  the  3d 
of  October,  it  was  burned  to  the  ground.  Presently  rebuilt,  he 
is  in  it  by  the  middle  of  January  ensuing,  and  ready  to  wait  on 
purchasers  of  dry  goods.  Shortly  afterward  he  put  up  the 
brick  house  on  Main  street  that  was  successive!}^  occupied  by 
Drs.  Hull  and  Pomeroy,  and  now  by  William  Dunn.  With 
the  Vernon  Glass  Company  and  the  Utica  Insurance  Company 
he  was  connected  officially,  being  a  director  in  both.  And  that 
he  was  a  fair  business  character  it  is  but  just  to  presume,  though 
it  must  be  confessed  we  hear  less  of  his  business  than  we  do  of 
the  man.  This  is  what  we  are  prepared  to  expect  after  reading 
the  sketch  presented  above,  and  with  still  greater  reason  should 
we  be  so  could  we  have  heard  and  given  due  credit  to  the  remark 
of  his  sagacious  and  thrifty  fellow  countryman,  John  C.  Devereux. 
For  he  it  was  who  is  reported  to  have  said  of  Cunningham  that 
"he  is  a  cunning  Irishman,  who  has  brought  a  good  deal  of 
money  to  the  place,  but  will  cany  little  out"  Since  1805  he 
had  been  one  of  the  "  twenty -five  able-bodied  men"  who  formed 
the  efficient  fire-police  of  the  time,  and  whose  place  was  so  cov- 
eted by  the  best  of  their  townsmen.  But  in  1813  his  |)lace  is 
filled  by  a  substitute,  and  the  reason  given  is,  that  he  had  re- 
moved from  the  village.  And  yet  this  is  not  tlie  last  of  him  in 
Utica.  A  little  later  he  turned  distiller  and  set  up  a  distillery  on 
Nail  creek,  wdiere  it  is  crossed  by  Whitesboro  street.  There 
followed,  in  due  course,  an  overweening  personal  love  for  the 
products  of  his  still,  decayed  respect,  poverty,  insanity,  an  asy- 
lum, death.     The  last  event  occurred  in  February,  1820. 

Such  sympathy  was  felt  for  him  by  the  town  that  a  few 
months  before  his  decease  the  village  trustees  meditated  sup- 
plying him  with  the  means  to  get  back  to  Ireland,  and  some- 
what later  they  voted  to  refund  the  money  which  John  C.  Dev- 
ereux had  advanced  to  relieve  his  necessities.  •  ''  To  point  a 
moral  and  adorn  a  tale,"  let  us  quote  with  personal  application 
to  himself  a  single  one  of  his  funny  speeches.  In  describing 
the  restless  activity  of  a  partner  he  had  i-ecently  had  in  a  dance, 
he  said  of  her:  "She  is  aft'  in  a  gallop,  before  a  man  can  get 
his  fut  in  the  stirrup."  Cunningham  was  for  himself  at  least 
ioofasl\     Fortunately  he  left  no  family. 


THE  FIRST  CHARTER  OF  UTICA.  187 

In  July,  1804,  that  long  established  merchant  Ezekiel  Clark 
took  into  partnership  Isaac  Coe.  In  September  of  the  follow- 
ing year  they  dissolved,  and  Mr.  Coe  went  on  alone.  He  soon 
removed  to  a  store  on  the  west  side  of  Genesee  just  above  where 
is  now  Broad  street.  The  same  month,  October  1805,  he  mar- 
ried Hebecca  Cook  of  Canandaigua,  and  took  up  his  residence 
in  a  house  on  tlie  site  of  the  Bradish  block,  a  house  that  was 
noticeable  from  its  having  stairs  on  the  outside,  leading  up  to 
the  parlors  on  the  second  floor.  He  was  made  village  treasurer 
at  the  first  election  held  under  the  charter  of  1805,  and  con- 
tinued in  the  office,  by  annual  reelections,  as  long  as  he  re- 
mained in  Utica.  Possessed  of  decided  enterprise,  an  active 
mover  in  the  project  for  establishing  a  glass  factory  at  Yernon, 
and  the  largest  subscriber  to  the  stock  of  the  company,  he  was. 
if  not  the  first,  at  least  one  of  its  earliest  presidents.  But  his 
ambition  outran  his  resources,  and  his  career  ended  like  that  of 
many  another ;  he  failed  and  went  west.  In  September,  1810, 
a  new  treasurer  was  appointed  "in  lien  of  Isaac  Coe,  who  has 
left  the  place.'' 

The  next  year  there  appeared  a  card  in  the  village  papers 
from  the  secretary  of  the  glass  company  which  would  seem  to 
cast  a  shade  upon  the  memory  of  its  late  president.  It  con- 
tained a  resolution  of  the  directors  in  which  they  declared  that 
"  Whereas  Isaac  Coe,  late  president  of  said  company,  issued  to 
himself,  under  the  seal  of  the  company,  thirty-eight  shares  on 
which  the  requisite  pa)auent  of  sixty  dollars  per  share  bad  not 
been  paid,  they  will  not  transfer  said  shares  to  any  person  un- 
til the  whole  of  the  arrearages  are  paid."  Without  further 
knowledge  of  the  facts  in  the  case,  we  read  this  card  with  a 
certain  degree  of  distrust  of  the  absconding  one.  We  couple 
it  with  the  resolution  of  the  village  authorities,  passed  the  pre- 
vious year,  wherein  at  the  same  time  that  they  create  a  new 
treasurer  to  succeed  Mr.  Coe,  they  make  a  peremptory  caU 
upon  the  latter  for  the  books  and  papers  in  his  possession. 
From  the  two  acts  thus  read  in  connection  we  are  led  to  pre- 
sume that  his  straitened  means  had  tempted  him  to  peculate 
upon  funds  entrusted  to  his  keeping,  or  at  least,  that  he  had 
gone  off  in  such  haste  as  to  neglect  to  place  himself  ai-ight 
with  respect  both  to  the  glass  company  and  the  board  of  ti'us- 
tees.     Yet  it  would  scarcely  be  proper  to  betray  such  suspicions. 


188  THE  PIONEERS  OF  UTICA. 

— and  which  are  but  suspicions — were  there  not  a  sequel  to  the 
story.  Fortunately  there  is  a  later  chapter  in  the  life  of  the 
seeming  defaulter.  And  this  reveals  an  honesty  of  purpose 
and  a  regard  for  his  honor  that  should  be  recorded  to  his  credit, 
and  cause  his  name  to  live  in  our  local  history  like  that  of  the 
honorable  merchant,  Mr.  Denham,  whom,  for  a  similar  reason, 
Dr.  Franklin  has  embalmed  in  his  delightful  Autobiography. 
Upwards  of  fifty  years  after  the  abrupt  de})arture  of  Mr.  Coe, 
and  when  nearl}"  all  who  had  once  known  him  had  gone  down 
to  their  graves,  he  reappears  on  the  scene  of  his  youthful  expe- 
rience to  make  good  his  delinquencies.  Calling  upon  the  son 
of  one  of  his  former  creditors,  he  deposits  with  him  the  means 
with  which  to  pay  with  interest  his  old  indebtedness,  and  a 
similar  sum  for  the  discharge  of  all  that  he  owed  to  another 
and  now  needy  creditor.  Other  men  have  made  restiiution 
after  years  of  pecuniary  indebtedness ;  not  many  have  carried 
a  burdened  conscience  for  fifty  years,  without  the  power  to  ab- 
solve themselves,  and  yet  have  lightened  it  at  the  last. 

Judah  Williams,  Jr.,  was  a  brother  of  Judge  Nathan  Wil- 
liams. In  May  1804,  he  commenced  mercantile  business  with 
E.  B.  Shearman,  next  door  to  Schwartze's  inn.  The  firm  con- 
tinued at  least  until  1809,  after  which  Mr.  Williams  was  alone, 
opposite  Shearman.  He  was  a  reputable  man,  but  quiet  and 
not  remarkable  for  enterprise.  He  was  still  at  the  old  stand 
No.  34  Genesee,  below  the  post  office,  as  late  as  1817  at  which 
time  he  was  treasurer  of  the  village.  Not  long  after  he  failed 
and  removed  to  the  neighborhood  of  Cape  Vincent,  where  he 
acted  as  a  light  house-keeper,  in  which  employment  he  was  suc- 
ceeded by  one  of  his  sons.  Eather  late  in  life  he  married  a 
daughter  of  Benajah  Merrell  and  had  several  children, 

Judah  Williams,  Sr.,  spent  the  latter  years  of  his  life  with 
his  sons,  and  died  here  March  4,  1807.  He  was  a  man  of  ex- 
traordinar}^  vigor  and  energy,  thin  and  spare  but  very  erect 
He  travelled  considerably  and  always  on  foot.  Having  on  one 
occasion  journeyed  from  the  east  as  far  as  Onondaga  and  then 
returned  to  Utica.  he  discovered  immediately  on  his  arrival 
that  he  iiad  lost  his  pocket  book,  but  thought  he  knew  where 
he  had  left  it.     Without  halting  to  refresh   himself,  he  started 


THE  FIRST  CHARTER  OF  UTICA.  189 

immediately  to  retrace  his  steps  to  Onondaga,  and  never  rested 
until  he  had  found  the  missing  article. 

August  13,  180J:,  the  firm  of  Walton,  Turner  &  Co.,  took 
possession  of  a  store  below  Bagg's,  and  at  the  same  time  opened 
the  forwarding  business  in  two  warehouses  situated  a  little  dis- 
tance below  the  river  bridge,  where  the  Central  Railroad  now 
runs.  Duncan  Turner  was  a  Scotchman,  who  came  from  Nova 
Scotia  to  Albany,  where  he  sold  little  notions  and  accumulated 
about  five  hundred  dollars.  Joining  Mr.  Jonathan  Walton,  of 
Schenectady,  he  engaged  in  forwarding  and  came  to  Utica  to 
manage  the  business  at  this  end  of  the  line.  The  warehouses 
were  set  on  upright  posts  which  were  undermined  by  a  freshet 
about  1807.  The  buildings  were  secured  by  being  fastened  to 
a  tree,  but  the  wheat  stored  therein  was  so  much  damaged  that 
it  was  sold  to  Mr.  Gilbert  to  be  made  into  starch.  Their  later 
store  was  on  Genesee  where  Broad  street  enters  it.  At  the  be- 
ginning of  the  war  of  1812,  Mr.  Turner  removed  to  Lowville 
and  shortly  after  to  Ogdensburg,  which  was  still  nearer  the 
Canadian  line,  and  there  he  lived  long  after  the  war.  All  we 
know  of  him  is  that  he  was  a  very  methodical  man,  leaving 
his  store  every  day  at  ten  o'clock  for  his  lunch,  and  retiring  at 
an  early  hour  every  night,  even  though  company  were  pres- 
ent. He  had  two  sons,  and  a  clerk  named  Richard  Hardiker, 
who  lived  here  some  years  after  Mr.  Turner's  departure,  and 
was  still  engaged  in  loading  boats  on  the  Mohawk. 

There  were  other  merchants  who  commenced  in  1804,  yet 
failed  of  sufficient  encouragement  to  remain,  or  found  more  prom- 
ising openings  elsewhere ;  such  as  Ralj^h  W.  Kirkland,  who 
dealt  in  European  and  India  goods  in  company  wath  the  subse- 
quent editor,  lawyer,  and  banker,  John  H.  Lothrop ;  Elijah  Ran- 
ney,  who,  besides  selling  liquor,  groceries  and  leather,  was  also  a 
watch  repairer  and  kept  a  few  articles  of  jewelry  for  sale ;  John 
B.  Murdock,  who,  in  December,  1805,  yielded  up  his  store  to 
a  much  more  enduring  citizen  ;  Henry  Drean,  an  Irishman,  who 
within  two  years  was  off  for  Canada ;  Wells  &  Warren,  who 
stayed  not  much  more  than  one. 

From  the  traders  in  dry  goods  let  us  pass  to  a  worker  and 
trader  in  hardware.     This  was  the  first  of  three  brothers  Brown, 


190  THE   PIONEERS  OF  UTICA. 

who,  coming  from  Wliitesboro,  found  a  lodgment  in  Utica. 
William,  their  father,  a  minute  taan  of  the  Revolution,  had  re- 
moved from  Rhode  Island  in  1796.  and  was  serving  the  country 
about  him  with  meat.  His  son  Enos,  was  for  a  while  similarly 
emplo3^ed,  both  at  Wliitesboro  and  at  Utica.  But  having  mar- 
ried in  1809  Isabella,  daughter  of  Joab  Stafford  the  copper- 
smith, who  died  the  next  year,  he  joined  Daniel  Stafford,  the 
son  and  successor  of  Joab,  and  entered  their  pursuit  Prospered 
therein,  Stafford  &  Brown  soon  enlarged  their  establishment, 
and  made  a  name  as  dealers  in  hardware.  And  thus  they  went 
on  until  1820,  when  the  tide  turned  against  them,  and  they 
signed  over  their  interest  to  Spencer  Stafford  &  Co.  of  Albany. 
To  Albanv  Mr.  Brown  went  and  lived  for  a  while,  but  was 
back  again  by  1825.  He  was  a  second  time  a  butcher,  and  a 
second  time  a  dealer  in  hardware,  but  never  enjoyed  his  former 
prosperity.  He  became  infirm  in  health,  and  before  his  death 
much  impoverished.     His  decease  occurred  July  3,  1856. 

In  his  better  days  he  was  tall,  athletic  and  wiry ;  fond  of  fun 
and  mischief,  and  jovial  in  temper,  no  one  of  his  age  was  more 
of  a  leader  than  Enos  Brown.  He  was  so  unerring  a  shot  that 
he  would  cut  off  the  line  from  the  pole  of  a  boy  fishing,  and 
he  so  far  away  that  the  boy  could  have  no  suspicion  of  his  tor- 
mentor. He  built  for  himself  the  house  on  Broad  street,  now 
occupied  by  E.  S.  Barnum,  and  at  a  later  period  a  brick  house 
on  Main  street,  east  of  second.  After  the  death  of  his  first 
wife  he  married  Mercy,  daughter  of  David  Stafford,  and  a  cousin 
of  the  first  one.  She  died  January  5,  1869.  The  offspring  of 
the  first  are  all  deceased.  Bj'-  the  second  he  had  four  children, 
of  whom  a  son  is  living  in  Michigan,  and  one  in  Brookh^n,  and 
&  daughter  in  Fredouia. 

An  humble  mechanic  of  the  year,  but  who  manifested  habits 
of  activity  and  industry  and  of  zeal  for  the  pul)lic  weal  that  in 
time  brought  him  to  the  front,  was  Augustus  Hickox.  In 
1804  he  was  tinman,  coppersmith  and  nailer  in  company'  with 
David  Stafford.  Before  the  war  he  built  for  himself  a  store  a 
short  distance  below  Bagg's.  During  and  after  the  war  (August, 
1815),  he  was  in  a  general  hardware  trade ;  and  at  the  same 
time  he  had  become  president  of  the  village.  He  remained  in 
business  as  late,  at  least,  as  1832,  his  partner  at  that  time  being 


THE  FIEST  CHARTER  OF  UTICA.  191 

Enos  Brown,  but  finally  removed  to  Michigan.  As  a  public 
spirited  and  stirring  man  Mr.  Hickox  was  much  esteemed.  His 
wife,  Wealthy,  daughter  of  David  Stafford,  died  July  6,  1817. 

Of  two  cabinet  makers,  Savage  and  Tillman,  who,  in  1804, 
were  located  on  the  east  side  of  Genesee,  above  the  present 
canal,  one  only  made  a  protracted  stay.  William  Tillman  was 
in  1807-8  in  the  block  known  as  Mechanic  hall.  Ten  3^ears 
later  he  was  on  Whitesboro  street,  opposite  Division.  In  Octo- 
ber, 1820,  "  about  to  extend  his  business  in  the  hardware  line," 
he  has  taken  into  partnership  Charles  E.  Hardy.  He  was  after- 
wards again  a  cabinet  maker,  and  had  as  associate  Eli  F. 
Benjamin.  About  1832  he  moved  to  Geneva.  Mrs.  Tillman 
had  a  share  in  the  good  deeds  done  by  the  women  of  her  day. 
Their  son  James,  who  was  settled  at  Seneca  Falls  and  afterwards 
at  Detroit,  died  in  1867. 

An  exemplary  and  trusted  citizen  of  many  years  was  Ara 
Broadwell,  a  mason,  much  employed  both  on  private  and  pub- 
lic constructions.  He  built  the  houses  of  Nathan  Williams  and 
D.  W.  Childs  on  Whitesboro  street,  a  house  for  himself  on 
Broad  street,  in  which  Alexander  Seymour  and  many  later  ones 
have  hved,  stores  now  covered  bj^  the  Marble  block  and  the 
two  above  them,  &c.,  &c.  As  contractor  for  the  masonry  on 
a  large  part  of  the  central  division  of  the  Erie  canal,  he  built 
the  locks  at  Cohoes,  the  aqueduct  at  Little  Falls,  locks  at  Nine 
Mile  creek,  besides  numerous  culverts  and  bridges.  A  contract 
for  similar  work  upon  a  canal  in  New  Jersey  proved  a  source  of 
serious  loss.  But  though  he  failed,  he  paid  every  cent  of  his 
dues.  He  was  the  father  of  six  daughters,  M^ho  are  all  living, 
— two  of  them  in  Utica, — and  three  sons  who  are  all  deceased, 
viz:  Phoebe  (Mrs.  Harvey  Barnard),  Susan  (Mrs.  Han^ey 
Mason),  Maria  (Mrs.  Edward  Eames),  James  (Mrs.  Francis  D. 
Penniman),  Ann  E.  (Mrs.  H.  T.  Miller),  Mary  (Mrs.  Joseph 
Delezenne),  Calvin,  Stephen  and  Edward. 

A  mason  who  remained  only  three^  years  in  the  place  was     V" 
Timothy  Foster.     He  stayed  long  enough,  however,  to  put  up 
a  brick  house  on  Hotel  street,  the  second  brick  one  of  the  vil- 
lage ;  and  long  enough,  too,  to  leave  reminiscences  of  childish 
days  in  the  memory  of  his  more  eminent  son,  Henry  A  Foster. 


192  THE   PIONEERS  OF  UTICA. 

The  latter  was  a  pupil  of  Dame  Hammond,  wife  of  the  elcler^ 
who  kept  a  school  near  the  lower  end  of  Hotel  street. 

A  somewhat  marked  indi\adual  who  began  at  this  era  was 
Elisha  Spurr,  the  busy  politician  and  the  popular  office  holder, 
the  jolly  tapster  and  the  liberal-hearted  man.  He  was  born  in 
Dorchester,  Mass.,  in  17(iO.  About  the  beginning  of  the  cen- 
tury he  went  to  Troy,  where  he  married  Catharine  Heartt^  a 
sister  of  the  wife  of  Olis^er  Babcock.  He  was  a  hatter  by  trade, 
and  after  coming  to  Utica  worked  for  a  while  as  journeyman 
and  then  as  partner  with  Frederick  White.  Next  he  was  an 
auctioneer,  and  at  a  later  period  a  bar-keeper  for  Amos  Gray. 
But  his  principal  trade  was  politics,  and  he  held  in  succession 
many  minor  offices ;  he  was  deputy  sheriff  under  Mr.  Kip,  cor- 
oner, deputy  marshal,  crier  of  the  courts,  &c.,  &c.  Good  at  a 
joke  and  corpulent  enough  to  make  a  butt  for  the  jokes  of  others, 
he  was  in  his  element  on  election  and  training  days  and  like 
occasions  of  public  assemblage.  He  died  January  11,  1828 ; 
his  wife  October  1,  1822.  His  children  were  Mary  (second  wife 
of  Arnold  Wells),  Catharine  (Mrs.  Ormsby  and  afterwards  Mrs. 
Purcell),  John,  who,  after  having  been  for  thirty  years  a  wan- 
derer in  the  Southern  States,  Texas  and  California,  has  lately 
returned  to  his  friends;  Margaret  (Mrs.  Loomis),  Lucretia  and 
Abraham. 

As  noteworthy  a  man  in  his  own  department  as  Mr.  Spurr, 
was  Chauncey  Phelps.  In  1804  he  was  employed  on  a  farm 
on  what  is  now  Pleasant  street.  Not  long  afterwards  he  became 
a  carman,  carting  for  Abraham  Van  Santvoort  and  others,  and 
serving  ;is  a  watchman  by  night.  All  through  the  war  he 
hauled  luggage  and  ammunition  toward  the  lines.  Then  he  was 
a  pavior,  and  superintended  the  street  improvements  of  his  time, 
having  numerous  men  and  horses  under  his  direction.  His 
home  was  on  Division  street,  where  he  lived  until  1848,  and 
died  at  the  age  of  seventy-four.  His  wife  was  a  daughter  of 
William  Ladd.  A  daughter  was  the  first  wife  of  the  late 
Morgan  Gardner.     His  sons  died  young. 

Kufus  Brown  and  Ii-a  Dickinson  were  wheelrights  and  wagon 
makers  on  Main  street  near  the  square,  but  dissolved  in  the 


THE  FIRST  CHAETER  OF  UTICA.  195 

summer  of  1806.     The  former  departed,  the  latter  remained  a 
short  time  longer. 

Two  brothers  Wells,  Alfred  and  Solomon,  were  carpenters, 
who  came  here  from  Colchester,  Ci)nn.  The  former,  a  hard- 
working, unassuming  and  very  worthy  man,  lived  the  most  of 
his  life  on  Broad  street,  next  east  of  the  late  residence  of  J.  J. 
Francis,  and  his  brother  Solomon  a  little  west  of  him.  Alfred 
lived  in  Utica  upwards  of  sixty  years,  Solomon  upwards  of 
twenty.  The  former  had  three  sons  and  a  daughter,  the  latter 
but  one  son.  The  children  of  Alfred  were  Alfred  L.,  for  many 
years  a  dry  goods  merchant,  and  father  of  Mrs.  S.  Townsend  Peck- 
ham  ;  Elizabeth  (Mrs.  Lansing  Swan,  of  Eoch ester) ;  Eichard 
H.,  who  succeeded  his  brother  m  trade,  popular  in  manners  and 
exemplary  in  character,  but  died  young  ;  and  James  C,  a  drug- 
gist of  Utica,  and  now  of  New  York. 

Jacob  Sterling  had  been  an  English  soldier  during  the  Amer- 
ican Eevolution  ;  but  while  in  Canada  he  deserted,  swam  the 
Niagara  river  and  made  his  way  through  the  forest  to  Canan- 
daigua,  and  thence  to  Alban_y.  He  set  up  as  a  baker,  and  from 
that  place  came  to  Utica.  He  began  his  trade  at  the  lower  end 
of  Hotel  street,  and  built  the  wooden  house  on  the  south-east- 
ern corner  of  that  street  and  Wliitesboro,  which  is  still  stand- 
ing, the  same  which  was  long  the  home  of  William  Williams, 
the  tallow  chandler.  Here  he  dealt  in  flour  and  cai-ried  on 
baking  until  his  removal  to  New  Hartford  where  he  became  a 
miller.  He  was  an  amiable  and  worthy  person,  and  endowed 
with  more  penetration  than  his  son  Jacob.  For  of  the  latter  it 
used  to  be  said  by  people  of  New  Hartford  that  he  was  al- 
ways puzzled  to  know  his  age,  because  he  found,  on  looking 
into  the  family  records,  that  Jacob  Sterling  was  put  down  as 
born  at  two  widely  different  epochs. 

Elisha  Eose  was  a  blacksmith,  and  had  two  sons  who  suc- 
ceeded him  in  the  same  business,  Hiram  and  Ehsha,  of  whom 
the  latter  practiced  it  quite  lately  on  Bleecker,  near  to  Char- 
lotte street. 

Briefer  residents  were  John  Stoddard,  cabinet  maker  ;  Eufus 
Eddy,  who  made  "  Suwarrow  boots  ;"  Jolm  and  Henry  Shapley, 
two  other  shoemakers  ;  Leonard  Klinck,  a  tailor ;  John  Mar- 
ls' 


194  THE   PIONEERS  OF  UTICA. 

till,  who  was  "capable  of  making  all  kinds  of  ro])e,  from  a 
cord  to  a  cable  :"  and  Captain  Elijah  Strong  of  the  First  U.  S. 
Infantry,  who  was  enlisting  soldiers  for  the  garrisons  of  Niag- 
ara, Detroit  and  Michilimackinac. 

There  remains  yet  another  arrival  to  be  chronicled  for  the 
year  1804,  and  tins  was  a  clergyman  to  administer  the  services 
of  the  Episcopal  Church.  The  members  of  this  congregation 
having  taken  steps  towards  providing  themselves  with  an 
edifice,  determined,  while  still  worshi])ping  in  the  school  house, 
to  organize  a  church  and  to  call  a  minister.  In  j^ursuance 
of  previous  notice,  a  meeting  was  held  at  which  Benjamin 
Walker  presided,  when  the  church  was  legally  incorporated 
under  the  name  and  style  of  Trinity  Church,  in  the  village  of 
XJtica,  &c.  ;  officers  were  chosen,  and  the  time  agreed  on  for  the 
annual  meeting  for  the  election  of  their  successors.  These  first 
officers  were  Abraham  M.  Walton  and  Nathan  Williams,  war- 
dens :  William  Inman,  Charles  Walton,  John  Smith,  Benjamin 
Walker,  Samuel  Hooker,  Aylmer  Johnson,  James  Hopper  and 
Edward  Smith,  vestrymen.  A  few  days  later.  Rev.  Jonathan 
Judd  was  invited  to  come  and  serve  as  minister.  He  came,  and 
officiated  part  of  the  time  here  and  part  at  Paris  Hill,  until  the 
fall  of  1806,  when  he  removed  to  Johnstown.  Of  the  style  and 
measure  of  success  of  his  ministrations,  we  have  been  unable 
to  obtain  information. 

In  approaching  the  year  1805,  we  begin,  as  it  were  for  the 
first  time,  to  meet  with  evidences  of  united  interests  among  the 
villagers,  and  we  find  these  evidences  in  the  expression  of  a  de- 
sire for  a  more  perfect  corporate  life.  Their  wishes  in  this  re- 
spect are  contained  in  a  jjetition  to  the  Legislature  for  a  new 
charter,  which  was  received  in  the  Assembl}'  February  12,  1805. 
Tlieii-  reasons  are  so  fully  set  forth  that  we  make  no  apology 
for  copying  the  document  in  full,  together  with  the  appended 
names : 

To  the  Honorable  the  Legislature  of  the  State  of  New  York  in  Sen- 
ate and  Assembly  convened  : 

The  petition  of  the  freeholders  and  inhabitants  of  the  village 
of  Utica,  in  the  County  of  Oneida,  humbly  sheweth  : 

That  the  rapid  increase  of  buildings,  business  and  popula- 
tion in  said  village,  seems  to  demand  a  police  better  regulated 


THE  FIRST  CHARTER  OF  UTICA. 


195 


and  more  enlarged  than  at  present  the  said  village  enjoys,  par- 
ticularly with  respect  to  fires  and  the  prevention  of  public  nuis- 
ances ;  That  your  petitioners  have  already,  in  many  instances, 
experienced  a  want  of  power  in  the  inhabitants  of  said  village, 
and  the  Trustees  elected  by  virtue  of  the  law  under  which 
the  affairs  of  said  village  are  now  regulated  ;  That  a  greater 
number  of  firemen  are  requisite  than  is  at  present  allowed ; 
That  the  population  of  the  village  is  very  rapid  toward  the 
w^est  and  south,  so  that  the  bounds  of  the  same  as  now  settled 
in  these  directions  are  too  much  limited  ;  That  a  great  portion 
of  the  inhabitants  of  said  village  are  in  the  habit  of  consum- 
ing baker's  bread,  and  there  being  no  assize  of  bread,  the  poor 
as  well  as  others  are  obliged  to  pay  for  that  necessary  article  a 
greater  price  than  is  paid  in  New  York  and  Albany ;  That  it 
is  found  impossible  in  many  cases  to  cany  into  effect  the  laws 
respecting  swine,  &c.,  running  at  large  in  the  streets,  having  no 
power  to  distrain  and  impound,  and  the  owner  being  frequently 
unknown. 

For  these  and  other  reasons,  your  Petitioners  therefore  pray 
that  your  Honorable  body  will  grant  to  the  freeholders,  inhab- 
itants and  Trustees  of  the  said  village  powers  similar  to  those 
enjoyed  by  the  village  of  Poughkeepsie  ;  in  order  that  the 
-above  and  many  other  existing  evils  may  be  avoided  ;  That 
the  bounds  of  said  village  may  be  extended,  and  that  the  an- 
nual meetings  of  the  inhabitants  of  said  village  may  be  here- 
after on  the  first  Tuesday  in  April  in  each  year. 


(Signed  by  the  following  :) 


B.  Walker, 


Erastuf  Clark, 
N.  Williams, 
Tho8.  Skinner, 
Daniel  Thomas, 
S.  P.  Goodrich, 
Talcott  Camp, 
Wm.  Fellows, 
M.  Hitchcock. 
David  Hasbrouck, 
Frederick  White, 
David  W.  Childs, 
Watts  Sherman, 
James  Dana, 
Thomas  Walker, 
J.  Ballou. 
Apollos  Cooper, 
Benj'n  Ballou. 
Jason  Parker, 
Jadah  Williams,  Jr., 
Willett  Stillman, 
John  Mayo, 
Rufus  Brown, 


Ira  Dickenson, 
Elkanah  Hobby, 
William  Webster, 
Samuel  Webster, 
Thaddeus  Stoddard, 
Caleb  Hazen, 
Augustus  Hickox, 
Sam'l  Ward, 
Benajah  Merrell, 
Abraham  Williams, 
John  Adams, 
Ab'm  Varick,  Jr  , 
N.  Butler, 

Jer.VanRensselaer,Jr. 
Christian  Stockman, 
Bryan  Johnson, 
Francis  A.  Bloodgood 
John  B.  Murdock. 
Francis  Guiteau,  Jr  . 
John  Hobby, 
Charles  C.  Brodhead, 
Ezekiel  Clark, 


Aylmer  Johnson, 
Moses  Bagg,  Jr., 
John  C.  Hoyt, 
B.  Brooks, 
Gnrdon  Burchard, 

D.  Turner, 

E.  B.  Shearman, 
Phillip  J.  Schwartze, 
Joseph  Ballou, 
Elisha  Capron, 
James  Brown, 
Thomas  Ballou, 
Joseph  Ballou, 
Thomas  Jones, 
Eli^'ha  Rose, 
Obadiah  Ballou, 
,James  Hazen, 

David  Stafford, 
Eph'm  Wells, 
John  Bissell, 
Evan  Davies. 


CHAPTER  III. 


UTICA  IX  EIGHTEEN  HUNDRED  AND  FIVE. 

Having  thus  sccinned  the  population  of  the  nascent  village,  and 
passed  in  review  nearly  all  of  its  members,  from  the  origin  of 
the  settlement  down  to  the  beginning  of  extant  historic  rec- 
ords, let  us,  before  taking  up  the  thread  of  these  annals,  con- 
sider the  people  as  a  whole,  and  the  appearance  of  Utica  at  the 
date  in  question.  Such  a  survey  is  the  more  desirable,  inasmuch 
as  while  following  the  experience  of  individuals  throughout  the 
course  of  their  career,  the  attention  is  often  carried  forward 
many  years,  and  we  are  liable  to  lose  sight  of  the  condition  of 
things  when  these  individuals  first  became  resident. 

The  village,  it  is  evident,  had  now  taken  a  start  and  was 
growing  with  some  degree  of  vigor;  and  this  start  would  seem 
to  have  begun  from  about  the  year  1794:,  as  will  be  seen  from 
a  glance  at  the  few  data  we  possess.  The  three  log  shanties  of 
the  Bleecker  map  of  1786,  and  as  observed  by  a  passing  settler 
in  '87,  had,  in  1790,  hardly  increased  in  number,  for  this  is  the 
sum  of  tliem  given  by  Morse  in  his  earlier  Gazetteer,  and  William 
Miller  of  Trenton,  found  no  more  in  1793,  when  he  first  passed 
through  the  place.  In  1794  there  were,  according  to  Judge 
Jones,*  about  ten  resident  families,  or  according  to  a  settler  of 
that  date,  seven  or  eight  houses,  although  two  Welsh  emigrants 
on  their  way  to  Steuben  counted,  the  next  year,  only  four  houses 
and  a  barn  on  the  main  street.  In  1796  the  number  of  houses, 
says  Morse,  had  increased  to  thirty-seven,  and  in  1798  Dr. 
D wight  estimates  their  number  at  fifty.  Maude,  two  years 
later,  tells  us  there  were  sixty,  while  another  authority f  rates 
the  population  of  1801  at  two  hundred  souls.  In  1802  the 
number  of  houses,  as  we  learn  from  Rev.  M)-.  Tayloi-,  had  grown 
to  nearly  ninety,  and  in  180-1,  when  Dr.  Dwightwas  here  again, 
he  found  "one  hundred  and  twenty. houses  and  a  long  train  of 
merchant's  stores  and  other  l)uildings." 

*  Annals  of  Oneida  County.  f  A.  B.  Johnson. 


UTICA  IN  EIGHTEEN  HUNDRED  AND  FIVE.  197 

The  actual  narrowness  of  confine  of  tlie  Utica  of  1805,  and 
the  small  progress  it  had  made  towards  its  present  measure  of 
prosperity,  will  be  evident  when  we  know  that  the  only  streets 
in  use  were  Main.  Whitesboro,  Genesee,  Hotel  and  a  portion  of 
Seneca,  the  latter  having  been  added  to  the  preceding  in  the 
year  1804  Others  were  laid  down  on  the  manuscript  maps  of 
proprietors,  but  unrecognised  by  authority,  and  as  yet  without 
houses.  Business  found  its  way  from  the  river  as  far  up  Whites- 
boro as  Hotel  street,  as  far  up  Grenesee  as  the  upper  line  of 
Broad,  and  a  little  way  along  Main  ;  beyond  these  limits  shops 
.and  stores  were  sparingly  intermingled  with  private  residences. 
The  business  was  conducted  in  little  wooden  buildings  of  whose 
style  and  dimensions  a  flattering  estimate  may  be  formed  from 
a  sample  that  still  remains,  transported  many  years  ago  to  the 
corner  of  Fayette  and  State  streets,  from  the  west  side  of  Gene- 
see just  above  Whitesboro,  and  which,  when  it  w^as  erected  in 
1806,  was  deemed  the  glory  of  the  street.  And  even  this  has 
lost  most  of  its  significant  look  since  the  repairs  recently  put 
upon  it.  Xot  more  than  two  brick  stores  had  3'et  found  a 
place.  The  dwelling  houses  of  Main  and  Whitesboro  streets 
may  be  judged  of  by  a  few  specimens  still  to  be  seen  east  of 
First  street  and  west  of  Broadway.  The  road  along  Genesee 
street  consisted  of  a  log  causeway  barely  wide  enough  for  teams 
to  pass  one  another,  and  having  a  ditch  on  either  side,  into  which 
if  the  hinder  wheels  slipped,  a  vigorous  pull  was  required  to 
raise  them  again  to  the  track. 

Some  idea  may  be  had  of  the  condition  of  what  is  now  one 
of  the  busiest  and  most  thriving  quarters  of  the  city,  from  the 
building  experience  of  Anson  Thomas,  during  the  summer  of 
1805,  when  he  put  up  a  store  on  Genesee  street,  nearly  opposite 
Liberty,  and  also  a  house  higher  up  on  the  former.  The  work- 
men engaged  on  these  buildings  had  board  with  their  employer 
on  Whitesboro,  between  Broadw^ay  and  Washington.  The  last 
named  streets  were  unopened,  and  the  old  corduroy  road  that 
once  started  between  then-  lines,  and  pursued  its  winding  way 
to  New  Hartford,  was  at  this  time  abandoned.  The  course  of 
the  men  to  and  from  their  work  lay  through  a  swamp  and  along 
prostrate  logs.  To  call  them  to  their  meals  the  house  keeper 
hung  a  towel  on  the  door  post.  Within  less  than  two  years, 
Mr.   Thomas   built   another  house,    and   this   was   nearly   on 


198  THE  PIONEERS  OF  UTICA. 

the  site  of  the  one  now  occupied  by  Dr.  Watson.  Here  a  for- 
est confronted  him,  and  a  forest  approached  close  to  his  rear, 
the  lands  about  were  unfenced  and  neighbors  were  distant,  the 
nearest  on  the  north  being  Judge  Cooper,  at  the  upper  part  of 
Whitesboro  street  Between  Mrs.  Thomas  and  Mrs.  Cooper  in- 
vitations to  an  interchange  of  visits  were  made,  as  in  the  former 
case,  by  the  display  of  the  white  signal,  the  passage  between 
them  being  along  a  lonely  cow  path. 

The  transient  occupancy  of  many  of  the  stores  and  houses, 
and  the  general  floating  habit  of  the  traders  and  and  artisans, 
cannot  but  have  been  observed  in  the  sketches  already  given 
of  the  inhabitants  up  to  this  time,  a  habit  which  marks  new 
countries  everywhere.  Having  sundered  the  ties  of  home  and 
formed  no  dm-able  attachments  in  their  new  abode,  they  were 
easily  unsettled  by  chance  prospects  of  better  things  in  some 
other  locality.  Or,  inexperienced  in  business,  and  having  little 
capital  to  work  with,  they  soon  failed,  and  changed  their  place 
to  gain  new  credit  where  their  ill  fortune  was  unknown.  At  this 
time  as  well  as  for  some  years  longer,  there  was  doubtless  much 
of  the  rawness  of  a  new  people  living  apart  from  populous  cen- 
tres, and  almost  destitute  of  schools  and  churches. '  Yet  there 
was  on  the  whole  an  unusual  amount  of  intelligence  and  good 
morals.  Some  of  the  settlers  had  been  bred  at  college,  others 
had  enjoyed  a  wide  experience  abroad  and  had  moved  in  pol- 
ished circles  ;  and  the  majority  had  been  trained  under  elevat- 
ing and  purif^'ing  influences. 
)><  Utica  was  surpassed  both  b}^  Whitesboro  and  New  Hartford, 
and  at  least  equalled  by  Rome,  its  later  and  more  enduring  rival. 
Of  New  Hartford,  writes  Dr.  Dwight,  "no  settlement,  merely 
rural,  since  we  left  New  Lebanon,  can  be  compared  with  it  for 
sprightliness,  thrift  and  beauty.  The  lands  were  in  an  excel- 
lent state  of  cultivation;  the  business  of  tamiing  was  carried  on 
upon  a  large  scale,  and  everything  wore  the  appearance  of  rapid 
improvement."  Of  the  "  pretty  village"  of  Whitesboro,  he  says 
that  "  the  houses,  about  sixty  in  number,  are,  for  a  new  settle- 
ment, uncommonly  good  ;  the}-  stand  on  a  single  street,  straight, 
smooth  and  beautiful.  It  contains  two  churches,  and  several 
genteel  families  who  are  eminently  hospitable,  and  furnish  each 
other  the  pleasures  of  polished  society."  These  places  were  not 
only  earlier  in  their  origin  and  had  already  become  centres  of 


UTICA  IN  EIGHTEEN  HUNDRED  AND  FIVE.  199 

trade,  but  Whilesboro,  in  1802,  became,  with  Rome,  a  half-shire 
town  of  the  connty.  Here  the  courts  were  held,  and  here  the 
chief  officers  and  many  of  the  leading  lawyers  had  their  abode. 
Already  there  were  clustered  in  it  a  few  legal  gentlemen  of  mark- 
ed ability,  who  would  have  been  distinguished  in  any  communi- 
ty, whether  for  their  eloquence  and  skill  as  advocates,  their  sound 
learning  or  their  just  estimate  and  successful  practice  of  the  dig- 
nity and  duties  of  their  profession.  There  was  Jonas  Piatt,  soon 
the  leader  of  the  federal  party,  who,  after  four  years  of  influen- 
tial service  in  the  Senate  of  the  State,  was  raised  to  the  bench 
of  its  Supreme  Court,  and  honored  the  place  by  a  long  series  of 
wise  and  learned  decisions  and  a  career  of  stainless  judicial  integ- 
rity,— a  man  of  pure  morals  and  a  high  sense  of  personal  honor, 
of  courteous  marniers  and  refined  and  flowing  hospitality.  There 
was  his  partner,  Arthur  Breese,  soon  to  be  transferred  to  Utica, 
a  lawyer  of  more  than  respectable  standing,  a  citizen  of  influence 
in  the  county,  and  as  a  high-minded  gentleman,  not  less  generous 
than  the  former  in  dispensing  the  civilities  of  his  house  and  his 
table.  There  was  Thomas  R,  Gold,  an  oracle  in  equity  juris- 
prudence, and  who  by  reason  of  his  "keen  logic,  sharp  analysis  and 
learned  mastery  of  cases,  argued  more  of  them  in  the  old  Supreme 
Court  than  any  lawyer  in  Central  New  York."  And  at  a  little 
later  date  there  was  Henry  R.  Storrs,  who  won  for  himself  a  na- 
tional repute  *'  as  one  of  the  most  forcible  debaters  and  eloquent 
orators  of  his  day,"  and  who  in  the  opinion  both  of  Mr.  Clay  and 
Mr.  Buchanan, — an  opinion  uttered  separately  and  on  different 
occasions, — had  not  his  equal  for  eloquence  in  the  halls  of  Con- 
gress. As  they  increased  in  celebrity  these  men  drew  towards 
them,  as  pupils  and  as  associates,  others  whom  they  trained  to 
the  same  excellence  of  scholarship  and  influenced  to  emulate 
the  same  noble  ambition.  Men  such  as  these,  with  the  lawyers 
of  Utica  already  named,  and  others  who  followed  them,  here 
and  elsewhere  in  the  county,  conspired  to  give  at  an  early  day 
a  reputation  to  the  bar  of  Oneida  for  learning  purity  and  bril- 
liancy of  character  which  it  has  since  faithfully  maintained. 
But  as  yet  these  heads  of  the  profession  were  not  only  founders 
of  this  bar,  they  had  also  a  monopoly  of  its  privileges,  so  that 
in  legal  as  in  other  needs,  Utica  was  but  secondary  and  depend- 
ent. If  an  order  were  to  be  procured  from  the  courts  or  any 
other  business  to  be  transacted  therein,  or  even  if  it  were  wished 


200  THE   PIONEERS  OF  UTICA. 

that  a  deed  should  be  acknowledged,  a  journey  to  Whitesboro 
was  necessar}^  in  matters  of  household  convenience  and  daily 
consumption  a  like  dependence  was  also,  though  not  so  imperi- 
ously, felt.  If  a  fastidious  citizen  despaired  of  getting  from  the 
stores  of  his  own  traders  the  finest  loa£  sugar,  or  a  nicer  kind  of 
tea  than  the  Bohea  then  in  common  use,  he  would  be  sure  of 
finding  them  with  William  G.  Tracy  of  Whitesboro;  and  both 
this  place  and  New  Hartford  had  for  many  years  thriving  mer- 
chants who  drew  custom  from  Utica.  New  Hartford,  too,  in 
the  cultivation  and  pohsh  of  such  families  as  the  Sangers,  the 
■Kirklands,  the  Stanleys,  the  Snowdons,  the  Kisleys,  &c.,  had 
'social  advantages  that  were  little  short  of  those  possessed  by 
Whitesboro. 

A  natural  characteristic  of  the  small  and  sparse  population 
of  the  vicinity  was  the  very  great  fi-eedom  of  intercourse  which 
existed.  Dependent  on  one  another  for  fellowship  and  assist- 
ance, they  were  knit  by  the  closest  of  bonds,  and  found  much 
of  their  enjoyment  in  the  exchange  of  hospitable  visits.  Banks 
and  degrees  in  society  there  were,  as  at  present,  but  these  dis- 
tinctions were  less  marked,  and  the  bars  easily  broken  down. 
Thus  each  was  impressed  by  his  fellow,  and  happily  there  were 
enough  of  ennobling  agencies  at  work  to  chasten  and  exalt  the 
whole.  Moreover,  distances  were  of  little  account,  and  bad 
roads  so  trifling  an  impedmient,  that  if  congenial  associates 
were  deficient  or  unsatisfying  at  home,  they  were  sought  in 
the  cultured  and  high  toned  families  of  the  neighboring  settle- 
ments ;  and  so  it  was  that  Utica  was  scarcely  more  indebted  to 
its  own  leaders  than  to  the  foremost  peo])le  of  Whitesboro  and 
New  Hartford  for  the  influences  that  formed  and  enriched  its 
character. 

Other  manners  or  habits  that  might  be  set  down  as  in  any 
w^ise  peculiar  to  a  people  so  recently  congregated  as  were  the 
Uticans  of  1805,  it  is  diflficult  if  not  impossible  to  detect ;  these 
habits  were  yet  to  be  formed,  and  for  their  clearer  development 
we  must  wait  many  years  longer.  Certain  youthful  amuse- 
ments there  were,  but  these  had  little  that  was  characteristic 
either  of  time  or  place.  Scrub  races  found  a  field  for  their 
exercise  along  the  Main  street ;  more  ambitious  sport  was  sought 
on  the  river  road  in  Deerficld.  The  jockeys  of  the  lesser  course, 
whose  names  tradition  has  handed  down,  were  Nicholas  Smith, 


UTICA  IN  EIGHTEEN  HUNDEED  AND  FIVE.  201 

ne]»hew  of  Major  Bellinger,  hereafter  to  be  met  with  as  a  veii- 
ei'able  relic  from  the  founders,  and  a  colored  boy,  familiar  to 
everybody  as  "Mr.  Kip's  nigger."  If  there  were  many  con- 
testants in  the  race  on  foot,  one  only  has  been  remembered,  for 
he  surpassed  them  all  in  agility.  And  he  was  none  other  than 
Henry  B.  Gibson,  as  yet  a  clerk,  bat  in  after  times  a  banker  of 
fame  and  fortune.  That  ball  playing  was  considerably  prac- 
ticed we  are  convinced  by  the  stringent  ordinances  which  the 
village  fathers  soon  enacted  to  forbid  it  within  the  streets.  As 
to  the  kinds  of  game  in  vogue,  doubtless  they  were  simpler 
than  the  present  national  one  of  base  ball,  since  we  know  that 
the  western  wall  of  the  hotel  was  a  favorite  place  for  play. 

As  we  have  seen,  a  goodly  number  of  stores  and  shops  were 
dispersed  along  the  principal  street.  Yet  there  was  room  enough 
outside  of  it  for  the  operations  of  farmers,  and  some  of  these 
were  cultivating  the  soil  of  what  are  now  the  oldest  parts  of 
the  city.  As  luxuriant  a  crop  of  wheat,  said  an  eye-witness, 
has  been  grown  in  the  second  ward  of  Utica,  as  he  afterwards 
met  with  in  the  famous  wheat  region  of  Genesee ;  and  as  for 
potatoes,  the  most  abundant  growth  he  remembers  to  have  wit- 
nessed in  all  his  life  time  was  the  product  of  this  same  neigh- 
borhood. The  few  simple  manufactories  as  yet  in  existence 
have  been  mostl}^  already  glanced  at.  There  was  the  shop  of 
William  Smith,  for  the  making  of  wrought  nails,  on  the  east 
bank  of  Nail  creek.  There  was  a  small  shop  for  cut  nails  on 
the  south  side  of  Main,  a  little  east  of  the  scjuare.  Its  begin- 
ning was  early,  but  precisely  how  early  the  writer  is  uninformed  ; 
it  was  followed  by  the  similar  shop  of  Delvin,  on  Genesee. 
These  were  worked  by  no  other  power  than  the  hand  and  foot, 
the  nails  being  cut  by  one  process  and  headed  by  another. 
There  was  lire's  brewery  on  Nail  creek,  opposite  Smith,  and 
there  was  the  new  one  of  Inman,  just-  opened  on  the  corner  of 
Broadway.  There -were  four  tanneries,  viz.:  those  of  Ballou, 
Hopper,  Hubbard  and  Hoyt.  There  was  the  wagon  shop  of 
Abijah  Thomas,  the  hat  factory  of  Samuel  Stocking.  There 
were  a  few  places  where  chairs  and  other  furniture  was  made, 
and  there  were  shops  where  other  mechanical  trades  were  con- 
ducted. And  these  constituted  the  whole  manufacturing  in- 
terests. 


202  THE   PIONEERS  OF  UTICA. 

It  was  trade  that  chiefly  commanded  the  enterprise  which  is 
at  present  enlisted  in  a  great  variety  of  pursuits.  And  it  found 
a  vastl}^  wider  field  for  its  exercise  than  is  enjoyed  by  the  local 
merchants  of  to-day.  From  Lewis  and  Jefferson,  from  Onon- 
daga, Madison  and  Chenango,  farmers  and  country  dealers  sent 
hither  their  wheat  and  other  grains,  their  pot  and  pearl  ashes, 
and  the  surplus  of  their  farms  and  dairies,  to  receive  in  ex- 
change, for  consumption  or  for  sale,  goods  from  tlie  east  that 
were  best  attainable  by  transport  on  the  river.  Comparatively 
little  money  was  in  use,  and  business  was  largely  a  system  of 
barter  and  credit,wherein  the  merchants  on  the  Mohawk  held 
toward  the  outlying  settlements  relations  akin  to  those  now  ex- 
isting between  the  importers  of  the  metropolis  and  inland  deal- 
ei"s  all  over  the  country  :  they  found  a  market  for  these  fron- 
tier producers,  and  supj^lied  them  in  return  with  the  manufac- 
tures of  Europe  and  the  groceries  and  liquors  of  New  England 
and  the  West  Indies.  The  following  are  a  few  only  of  the 
prices  of  articles  in  common  use,  both  imported  and  native. 
A  kind  of  East  India  muslin,  that  would  scarcely  hold  together 
to  be  measured,  was  sold  for  two  shillings.  This  was  called 
Bafters.  A  somewhat  finer  variety,  known  as  Gurrers,  com- 
manded a  sixpence  more.  Calicoes  were  six  shillings  and  six 
pence  per  yard  ;  better  and  handsomer  can  now  be  bought  for 
one  shilling.  West  India  sugar  sold  at  from  ten  to  fourteen 
cents.  Maple  sugar  in  its  season  at  sixpence.  Board  was  two 
dollars  a  week  ;  a  single  meal  two  shillings.  The  very  names 
of  the  goods  sold  by  the  mei'chants  sound  strangely  to  modern 
ears  ;  they  were  known  by  such  titles  as  Shallows,  Durants, 
Calimanco,  Black  Mode,  Wildbore,  Rattinetts,  &c.,  and  among 
the  hardware  and  miscellaneous  articles.  Brass  Nubs,  Iron  Dogs, 
Franklin  Stoves,  Drawn  boot-legs.  Rub  stones,  &c. 

Let  us  not  imagine  that  the  streets  were  thronged  with  traf- 
fickers or  that  they  ever  presented  a  scene  analogous  to  those 
so  often  witnessed  now-a-days.  Many  years  yet  elapsed  ere 
one  of  them  was  paved  or  lighted,  while  the  side-walks,  not  yet 
taken  in  hand  by  the  trustees,  were  scarce  distinguishable  from 
the  road-ways.  A  single  constable  formed  the  total  police,  and 
he  was  often  called,  in  the  discharge  of  his  duties,  to  distant 
points  of  the  State,  for  Madison,  Lewis,  Jefferscjn  and  St.  Law- 
rence formed  parts  of  his  bounds.     No  bank  had  yet  been  estab- 


UTICA  IN  EIGHTEEN  HUNDEED  AND  FIVE. 


203 


lislied.  The  Welsh  had  the  only  church  actually  erected. 
Trinity  was  in  progi'ess,  but  not  ready  for  use,  and  the  sole 
mode  of  access  to  it  was  by  a  lane,  known  as  Church  lane, 
which  anticipated  the  present  First  street ;  and  even  this  was 
entered  through  a  gate.     On  the  map  of  Whitestown,  made  by 


Peleg  Giiford  in  1806,  of  which  a  part  is  shown  above,  this 
church  is  represented  as  standing  quite  alone  in  the  rear  of  the 
row  of  houses  that  line  the  course  of  Main  street.  The  other 
church  pictured  on  his  map  was  not  yet  begun.     For  most  wor- 


20-i  THE   PIONEERS  OF  UTICA. 

shippers  tbe  scliool  hoiise  was  the  customary  place  of  resort. 
Baptists  who  did  not  understand  Welsh  attended  the  Welsh 
Baptist  Church  when  there  was  preaching  in  English,  and  some- 
times made  a  journey  to  Herkimer  in  order  to  worshij).  Meth- 
odists gathered  on  the  New  Hartford  road.  Besides  the  school 
house  and  the  churches  thus  far  specified  the  only  known  build- 
ing or  institution  of  this  era,  that  was  in  any  sense  public  in 
its  character,  was  a  market-house.  All  that  can  be  learned  of 
it  is  to  be  found  in  a  remonstrance  against  it,  addressed  to 
the  commissioners  of  highways  of  the  town  of  Whitestown,  a 
document  that  has  accidentally  escaped  the  general  wreck.  In 
this  remonstrance  the  dwellers  in  the  vicinity  of  the  market 
denounce  it  as  unnecessary,  and  "not  accordant  with  the  cus- 
toms of  marketing  to  which  the  inhabitants  were  used,"  as 
wholly  an  individual  project,  "  in  the  emoluments  from  which 
the  corporation  had  no  share,"  as  "encroaching  upon  the  too 
narrow  streets,"  and,  lastly,  as  instead  of  answering  the  design 
and  ends  of  a  regular  market,  being  converted  into  an  aleshop, 
and  a  rendezvous  for  the  idle,  the  noisy  and  the  tippler."  This 
is  not  the  same  market  house  which  a  few  years  later  was 
ordered  by  the  public  vote,  and  which  was  the  cause  of  long 
years  of  controversy  between  those  living  near  it  and  those 
more  remote.  But  from  the  names  and  residence  of  the  remon- 
strants we  may  infer  that  its  site  was  nearly  the  same,  that  is 
to  say  the  public  square. 

The  village  had  its  burying  ground,  and  in  1806  a  deed  of 
the  premises  was  obtained  from  Stephen  Pottei",  the  owner,  but 
with  a  reserved  clause  that  savors  little  of  the  modei-n  taste 
and  sentiment  that  is  exercised  in  providing  for  tlie  last  resting 
place  of  our  departed  friends,  as  it  reserved  to  the  former  owner 
the  right  of  })asturing  sheep  and  calves  therein. 

Utica  had  not  yet  seen  its  first  menagerie,  or  caravan  as  such 
shows  were  formiCi'ly  called.  That,  too,  came  in  1806,  and  was 
on  exhibition  three  days  at  Tisdale's  tavern.  The  only  object 
it  contained  was  a  "  Live  Elephant,  "  "  the  largest  and  most 
sagacious  animal  in  the  world."  We  are  informed  that  "the 
peculiar  manner  in  which  it  takes  its  food  and  drink  of  every 
kind  with  its  trunk  is  acknowledged  to  be  the  greatest  natural 
■cui'iosity  ever  offered  to  the  public.     She  will  draw  the  cork 


UTICA  IN  EIGHTEEN  HUNDRED  AND  FIVE.  205 

from  a  bottle,  and  with  her  trunk  will  manage  it  in  such  a 
manner  as  to  drink  its  contents,  to  the  astonishment  of  the 
spectators.  Will  lie  down  and  rise  at  command,"  &c.  The 
amusing  simplicity  of  the  boastful  showman  reveals,  as  one 
cannot  but  think,  a  like  simi^licitj  on  the  part  of  his  public, 
and  hints  at  a  condition  of  society  that  seems  an  age  behind 
the  forwardness  of  the  present. 


CHAPTER  IV. 


THE   SECOND    CHARTER. 


The  petition  heretofore  recorded,  which  the  citizens  had  ad- 
dressed to  the  Legislature  was  granted,  and  a  new  and  more 
comprehensive  charter  was  accorded  them.  By  order  of  Talcott 
Camp,  clerk,  the  inhabitants  were  called  to  meet  at  the  school 
house  on  Tuesday  May  7,  1805,  in  order  to  choose  five  trustees 
and  do  any  other  necessary  business,  at  which  time  "the  law  is 
to  be  read." 

This  charter,  which  bears  date  April  9,  1805,  secured  all  of 
the  privileges  that  were  asked.  The  bounds  of  the  village  on 
the  east  were  fixed  as  they  now  exist.  Those  of  the  west  ex- 
tended to  the  west  line  of  Lot  No.  99.  Tlie  freeholders  were 
declared  a  body  corporate  with  power  to  raise  among  them- 
selves a  tax  not  exceeding  one  thousand  dollars  in  one  year,  for 
public  buildings,  fire  expenses  and  necessary  improvements. 
Five  trustees  were  to  be  elected  annually  at  a  meeting  of  free- 
holders to  be  held  on  the  second  Tuesday  of  May.  Any  per- 
son who  declined  to  serve  when  so  elected  was  liable  to  a  fine 
of  twenty-five  dollars.  To  these  trustees  it  was  given  to  fix 
the  price  of  bread,  assess  all  taxes,  appoint  twenty-five  firemen, 
make  all  by-laws  necessary  for  protection  against  nuisances 
and  for  the  general  regulation  of  municipal  afi^airs,  and  to  them 
was  entrusted  full  power  to  enforce  the  same.  The  president 
whom  they  should  appoint  was  required,  in  addition  to  his  duties 
as  presiding  officer  of  the  board  and  superintendent  of  the  public 
interests,  to  look  after  the  utensils  used  at  fires,  while  the  trus- 
tees were  to  serve  also  as  fire  wardens.  There  was  to  be  ap- 
pointed also  at  the  annual  meeting  a  treasurer  and  a  collector, 
who  were  to  receive  a  compensation  for  their  services.  The 
foregoing  is  an  outline  of  the  charter  which  the  inhabitants  were 
now  met  to  hear,  and  in  accordance  with  whose  provisions  they 
were  to  organize.  Their  proceedings  as  well  as  those  of  subse- 
quent annual  meetings,  and  those  also  of  the  monthly  meetings 


THE  SECOND  CHARTER.  207 

of  tlie  trustees  then  elected,  are  preserved  to  us  in  the  records 
which  still  remain,  so  that  we  may  from  this  time  onward,  trace 
the  official  history  of  the  place,  and  are  no  longer  restricted  to 
the  individual  histories  of  its  citizens. 

At  this  first  annual  meeting  the  former  trustees  presided,  and 
Abraham  Varick  acted  as  secretary.  The  following  were 
chosen  trustees  for  the  ensuing  year,  viz  :  Jeremiah  Yan  Eens- 
selaer,  Jr.,  Nathan  Williams,  Francis  A.  Bloodgood,  Jerathmel 
Ballou  and  Erastus  Clark.  Isaac  Coe  was  chosen  treasurer  and 
Worden  Hammond  collector.  It  was  resolved  that  the  sum  of 
three  hundred  dollars  be  raised  by  assessment  on  the  freeholders, 
of  which  two  and  one  half  per  cent  was  to  go  to  the  collector, 
and  one  per  cent,  to  the  treasurer  for  their  compensation,  and 
the  residue  be  devoted  by  the  trustees  to  the  payment  of  the 
expenses  of  digging  wells,  procuring  pumps  and  fire  utensils  and 
the  contingent  expenses. 

At  the  first  meeting  of  trustees,  which  was  held  at  the  Hotel 
four  days  afterward,  Jeremiah  Yan  Rensselaer,  Jr.,  was  ap- 
pointed president,  and  D.  W.  Childs,  clerk.  At  their  second 
one,  twenty-five  able  bodied  men  were  appointed  firemen,  with 
power  to  appoint  their  own  captain,  who  was  to  manage  their 
affairs  and  to  exercise  the  men  on  the  last  Saturday  in  every 
month,  and  also  to  select  five  who  were  to  control  the  ladders 
and  fire-hooks.  These  first  firemen  were  selected  from  among 
the  prominent  lawj^ers  and  merchants,  which  was  true  also 
during  many  subsequent  years,  for  the  position  was  held  to  be 
one  of  responsibility  and  honor,  and,  besides,  it  relieved  the 
holder  from  militar}^  service.  Hence  the  office  was  much 
sought,  and  applicants  were  more  abundant  than  vacancies  to 
be  filled.  At  the  same  meeting  the  trustees  adopted  a  seal, 
which  was  a  heart  with  the  letter  F  in  the  centre,  and  also 
passed  an  ordinance  to  restrain  horses,  hogs  and  neat  cattle  from 
running  at  large.  At  the  third  meeting  of  trustees,  an  ordi- 
nance was  passed  in  relation  to  fire-buckets.  Its  provisions, 
which  seem  now  so  singular,  but  which  with  some  modifications 
were  in  force  for  several  years,  were  substantially  the  following : 
The  owner  of  every  dwelling,  store  or  work-shop,  or  occupant 
of  the  same  if  the  owner  were  a  non-resident,  was  required  to 
keep  hung  up  in  the  principal  hall,  or  in  some  conspicuous 
place  in  the  building,  one  or  more  leathern  fire-buckets  of  the 


208  THE  PIONEEES  OF  UTICA. 

capacity  of  eight  quarts,  and  in  number  proportioned  to  the- 
fire  j^laces  or  stoves  the  building  might  contain,  though  no  tone 
was  ex])ected  to  have  more  than  six.  These  buckets  were  not 
to  be  used  for  any  other  purpose  than  to  carr\^  water  at  fires. 
For  non-compliance  with  the  ordinance  the  owner  or  occupant 
was  subject  to  fine.  The  operation  of  the  ordinance  was  to 
extend  fi-om  the  east  line  of  Great  Lot  No.  93  to  the  west  line 
of  Lot  No.  96,  that  is  to  say,  from  First  street  to  the  present 
State  street,  and  as  far  south  as  the  residence  of  Jeremiah  Van 
Eensselaer,  Jr.,  or  the  line  of  the  modern  Blandina  street. 
The  next  meeting  was  held  on  the  3d  of  June,  when  the  assize 
of  bread  was  fixed.  The  price  being  regulated  in  accordance 
with  the  price  of  wheat,  this  first  assize,  which  was  made  when 
wheat  was  selling  at  fourteen  shillings  the  bushel,  was  as  fol- 
lows :  A  loaf  of  superfine  wheat  flour  to  weigh  two  pounds 
ten  ounces,  for  one  shilling.  A  loaf  of  superfine  flour  to  weigh 
one  pound  five  ounces,  for  sixpence.  A  loaf  of  common  wheat 
flour  to  weigh  three  pounds  three  ounces,  for  one  shilling.  A 
loaf  of  common  wheat  flour  to  weigh  one  pound  nine  ounces, 
'for  sixpence. 

It  might  be  presumed  from  the  desire  the  citizens  had  ex- 
pressed for  power  by  their  charter  to  adjust  the  price  of  bread, 
and  the  prompt  exercise  of  this  power  by  the  trustees,  that 
baker's  bread  was  the  only  kind  in  use  ;  and  that  few,  if  any, 
families  baked  their  own.  And  this  was  probably  the  case  to 
a  much  greater  extent  than  at  present.  The  practice  arose 
chiefly  from  the  difficulty  of  getting  brewer's  yeast  with  which 
to  leaven  their  bread.  The  very  earliest  settlers  made  their 
own  beer  from  wild  hops  they  gathered  in  the  woods,  and  the 
emptyings  were  used  for  yeast ;  but  such  yeast  was  trouble- 
some to  make  and  soon  soured.  After  the  erection  of  a  brew  • 
ery,  and  especially  after  Mr.  Inman,  the  brewer,  announced 
through  the  papers  that  private  families  would  be  waited  on 
with  fresh  yeast  every  Tuesday  and  Friday,  domestic  bread,  as 
we  may  conclude,  came  more  into  use.  But  that  manufac- 
tured by  the  bakers  was  always  in  demand.  Its  assize  was 
renewed,  or  newly  regulated,  at  each  montlily  meeting,  and  was 
published  in  the  weekly  papers  over  the  signature  of  the  pres- 
ident. Any  baker  wlio  violated  the  ordinance  was  subject  to  a 
fine  of  five  dollars. 


THE  SECOND  CHARTEE.  209* 

In  July,  it  was  determined  to  dig  three  public  wells  for  the 
supply  of  the  village  with  water.  "One  of  them  was  to  be  in 
the  middle  of  Genesee  street,  near  Schwartze's  inn  (the  old 
House  tavern),  one  on  the  north  side  of  Grenesee,  where  Maiden 
Lane  (now  Liberty)  intersects  the  same,  and  one  in  the  middle 
of  Hotel  street,  where  the  same  intersects  the  road  leading  to 
Whitesboro."  These  wells  were  all  dug,  were  fitted  with  pumps 
and  in  use  for  some  time.  The  lower  one  on  Genesee  street 
was  found  to  afford  excellent  water,  and  was  so  great  a  conven- 
ience to  man  and  beast  as  to  be  kept  open.  It  served  as  a  nota- 
ble place  of  rendezvous  for  the  inhabitants  nearly,  if  not  quite, 
down  to  the  time  when  the  village  became  a  city.  At  the  same 
meeting  laws  were  passed  forbidding  the  deposit  of  firewood 
any  further  in  the  street  than  fifteen  feet  from  the  sides,  and 
requiring  its  removal  within  twenty-four  hours  after  purchase  ; 
requiring  the  removal  also  of  building  material,  potash  kettles,, 
hogsheads,  standing  wagons  and  rubbish  ;  excluding  slaughter- 
houses between  Lots  90  and  97  ;  forbidding  the  burning  out  of 
chimneys  on  other  than  rainy  days,  or  the  burning  of  combus- 
tibles in  the  street  before  sunrise  or  after  sunset.  A  week  later, 
the  money  raised  by  assessment  was  apportioned  according  to  a 
schedule  agreed  on. 

The  above  was,  in  substance,  all  that  was  done  by  the  Trus- 
tees during  the  year,  although  they  met  eveiy  month  to  declare 
the  assize  of  bread. 

The  firemen  held  also  monthly  meetings,  and  were  duly  ex- 
ercised at  each  of  them.  At  the  first  one,  Gurdon  Burchard 
was  chosen  captain,  John  Hooker  and  Moses  Bagg,  Jr.,  lieuten- 
ants, and  E.  B.  Shearman  clerk.  At  subsequent  ones,  they  re- 
solved to  procure  painted  hats,  lettered  and  numbered,  as  direc- 
ted by  the  trustees,  and  to  wear  them  at  each  meeting.  Mem- 
bers absent  at  roll-call,  which  was  to  take  place  immediately 
after  the  engine  was  drawn  to  the  water,  and  who  were  unable 
to  offer  a  reasonable  excuse,  were  fined  by  a  judge  selected  for 
the  occasion.  And  those  who  failed  in  their  attendance  for 
three  consecutive  months  were  to  be  reported  to  the  trustees. 
They  supped  together  on  the  first  of  January,  1806,  at  the 
small  cost  to  the  company  of  one  dollar.  Though  it  would 
seem  that  they  presently  devised  another  mode  of  expending 
the  fund  arising  from  the  accumulated  fines ;  for  in  February 


210  THE  PIONEERS  OF  UTICA. 

they  voted  that  tickets  in  the  Lottery  for  the  Encouragement 
of  Literature,  to  the  amount  of  monies  in  fund,  be  purchased, 
and  numbers  recorded  by  the  clerk,  for  tlie  use  of  the  company. 
The  amount  thus  expended  was  $19.50. 

Tht,'  freeholders  of  Utiea  lield,  likewise,  two  other  meetings 
during  the  current  .year,  beside  tlie  annual  one  ah'eady  men- 
tioned. The  first  was  for  the  election  of  a  new  collector  in 
place  of  Worden  Hammond,  who  resigned;  and  it  resulted  in 
the  election  of  John  Pierce  as  his  successor.  The  second  was 
called  to  consider  the  means  of  supporting  a  night  watch,  and 
was  to  be  held  at  the  hotel.  Of  the  proceedings  had  on  the 
occasion  no  record  is  left ;  the  result  we  may  infer  from  the 
following  voluntar}'  pledge  which  bears  date  the  following  day. 
The  original,  a  time-stained  and  much-worn  paper,  has  attached 
the  signatures  of  the  trustees  and  a  large  number  of  the  active 
men  of  the  era,  ninety-eight  in  all.     This  pledge  reads  thus  : 

"Utica,  Dec'r  10,  1805. 

"We  the  subscribers,  esteeming  a  Night  Watch  in  the  Vil- 
lage of  LTtica  as  necessary  to  guard  us  against  the  dangers  of  tire, 
do  hereby  associate  ourselves  for  that  purpose,  and  mutually 
pledge  our  honor  to  each  other  to  act  during  the  winter  ensu- 
suing  as  good  and  faithful  watchmen,  under  the  dii'ection  and 
superintendence  of  the  Trustees  of  said  village." 

These  watchmen,  as  we  learn  from  other  sources,  were  dis- 
tributed into  squads  of  five  or  six  each,  and  took  their  turns  in 
patrolling  the  vdlage  from  end  to  end  of  its  two  prin(dpal  streets. 
Doubtless  the  place  was  more  effectually  guarded  than  it  has 
been  at  any  later  period.  This  ample  provision  both  of  watch- 
men and  of  firemen,  and  this  extreme  vigilance  on  the  part  of 
all  the  inhabitants  to  protect  themselves  against  destruction  by 
fire,  though  in  part  due  to  the  fact  that  the  buildings  were  mostly 
of  wood,  must  have  had  some  more  cogent  reason  peculiar  to 
this  special  time.  And  we  are  ready  to  believe,  as  is  reported, 
that  the  settlers  were  in  terror  from  the  attemjjts  of  incendiaries, 
and  therefore  the  more  i-eady  to  sacrifice  their  ease  to  o])pose 
such  evil-minded  marauders.  The  system,  once  inaugurated, 
was  continued  for  some  time  longer,  as  appears  by  a  later,  though 
undated  list  of  volunteers,  and  it  is  not  until  the  ^^ear  1810,  as 
we  learn  from  the  I'ccords,  that  jiaid  watchmen  were  employed 
by  the  trustees. 


THE  SECOND  CHARTER.  211 

Believing  that  the  history  of  a  town  to  be  in  any  degree 
graphic  and  satisfactor}^,  must  be  largely  made  up  of  sketches 
of  those  who  dwelt  in  it,  we  shall  continue  to  present  details  of 
the  former  denizens  of  Utica.  But  inasmuch  as  too  great  par- 
ticularity would  render  such  history  tedious,  and  as  with  the 
increase  of  the  place  its  institutions  increase  in  numbers  and  im- 
portance, and  these  demand  the  chief  consideration,  special 
biographies  must  needs  be  confined  to  those  who  had  the  main 
]jart  in  afi'airs,  or  were  in  some  way  conspicuous  or  worthy  of 
note.  Of  some  a  word  or  two  may  be  given  in  the  effort  to 
characterize  ;  of  numbers  the  simple  enumeration  is  all  that  most 
readers-  will  tolerate. 

Rev.  Bethuel  Dodd,  the  first  Presbyterian  minister,  died,  as 
has  been  said,  in  April,  1804.  In  October  his  successor,  Rev. 
James  Carnahan,  arrived  to  succeed  to  his  charge,  though  it 
was  not  until  Januaiy  following  that  he  was  ordained  and  in- 
stalled. If  the  former  is  remembered  with  gratitude  for  his 
earnest  piety  and  his  faithful  discharge  of  the  pastoral  office, 
the  latter  is  held  in  deeper  and  more  general  respect,  because 
to  these  high  merits  he  added  also  a  natural  vigor  of  intellect 
and  a  ripeness  of  scholarship  which  gave  him  i-ank  among  the 
foremost  of  his  calling,  and  in  after  years  gained  him  distinction 
as  the  president  of  Princeton  College.  The  biographical  details 
we  present  of  this  second  minister  of  the  United  Society  of 
Wliitesboro  and  Utica,  are,  for  the  most  part,  condensed  from 
the  discourse  preached  at  his  funeral  by  his  successor  in  the 
college.  Rev.  Dr.  Macdonald. 

James  Carnahan  was  of  Scotch-Irish  descent  on  both  his 
father's  and  mothers  side.  His  grandparents  came  from  the 
north  of  Ireland,  near  the  beginning  of  the  last  century,  and  set- 
tled in  Cumberland  county.  Pa.,  and  there  he  was  born  on  the 
15th  of  November,  1775.  In  the  autumn  of  1780  his  father, 
who  was  a  farmer,  removed  his  family  over  the  mountains  to 
Westmoreland  county,  and  about  eight  years  afterward  lost  his 
life  in  attempting  to  cross  the  Alleghany  river.  From  that 
period  until  he  was  seventeen  years  of  age,  James  performed 
light  work  on  the  farm  in  summer,  and  went  to  school  in 
winter.  His  mother  having  now  entered  into  a  second  marriage 
and  removed  from  the  countv  at  an  age  when  he  was  too  young 


212  THE   PIONEERS  OF  UTICA. 

to  assume  the  care  of  his  father  s  farm,  he  determined  after  some^ 
hesitation  to  stud}'-  for  a  profession.  This  hesitation,  whicb 
arose  from  the  idea  that  he  was  too  old  to  commence  Latin,  was- 
finally  overcome  through  the  urgency  of  two  sons  of  his  step- 
father then  in  the  academy  at  Canonsburg,  and  on  the  10th  of 
August,  1793,  he  entered  this  academy  and  began  to  learn  the 
Latin  grammar.  His  teacher  was  James  Mountain,  a  young 
Irishman,  who  was  the  nephew  of  Arthur  Murphy,  the  accom- 
plished translator  of  Tacitus  and  the  Dialogues  of  Lucian. 
Murphy  was  not  a  teacher  by  profession,  but  he  had  himself 
instructed  Mountain  in  the  Greek  and  Eoman  languages,  and 
so  thoroughly  had  he  done  this,  that  the  latter,  in  hearing  his 
classes  recite  from  Horace  or  Homer,  very  rarely  took  a  book 
into  his  hands,  so  perfect  was  his  knowledge  of  the  text.  It 
was  doubtless  to  the  instruction  of  this  finished  scholar,  not  less 
than  to  his  own  aptness,  that  young  Carnahan  was  indebted  for 
the  accurate  and  thorough  knowledge  of  the  classic  languages 
which  afterwards  distinguished  him.  All  educated  men  know 
more  or  less  of  Latin,  but  he  was  at  home  in  it ;  to  him  it  was 
a  second  vernacular.  He  also  read  Greek  well,  and  would 
sometimes  in  family  worship  read  in  English  a  chapter  from  the 
Septuagint,  translating  with  fluency  a  passage  fi'om  Ezekiel  or 
any  of  the  prophets.  It  was  while  at  Canonsburg  that  Mr.  Car- 
nahan made  a  public  profession  of  his  faith  in  Christ.  He  re- 
mained here,  as  pupil  and  as  teacher,  until  1798,  when,  having 
exhausted  this  fountain  of  learning,  he  wistfully  looked  toward 
Princeton.  Accepting  from  his  pastor,  Rev.  Dr.  John  McMillan, 
a  loan  of  the  money  which  was  to  support  him  while  there,  and 
which  his  father's  encumbered  estate  was  unable  to  sup})ly,  he 
entered  the  junior  class  in  the  college  of  New  Jersey,  and  re- 
ceived his  first  degree  in  the  arts  in  September  ISOO.  He  read 
theology  during  one  year  with  Dr.  McMillan,  and  then  having 
been  appointed  a  tutor  in  tlie  college,  continued  at  Princeton 
his  ])reparations  for  the  ministry.  In  April  1804,  he  was 
licensed  by  the  presbytery  of  New  Brunswick,  and  immediately 
afterward  ministered  a  few  weeks  to  some  vacant  congregations 
of  New  Jersey  and  Pennsylvania.  Having  been  invited  to  preach 
to  the  Reformed  Dutch  Churches  in  Albany,  lie  went  thither 
about  the  fii-st  of  June  and  complied  with  their  request.  With 
the  view,  merely,  of  seeing  the  country,  he  extended  his  jour- 


THE  SECOND  CHARTER.  213 

nej  up  tlie  Mohawk  to  Whitestown,  and  preached  in  New  Hart- 
ford, Whitesboro  and  Utica,  spending  not  more  than  a  week. 
On  his  way  back  to  New  Jersey,  he  preached  another  Sunday 
at  Albany.  From  the  Dutch  Church  of  that  city  he  received  a 
call,  with  a  salary  of  fifteen  hundred  dollars,  and  another  from 
the  United  Society  of  Whitesboro  and  Utica,  with  a  salary  of 
seven  hundred.  He  accepted  the  latter,  and  returning  to  Oneida 
county,  commenced  his  parochial  labors  in  the  latter  part  of 
October.  On  the  5th  of  January,  1805,  he  was  ordained  and 
installed  pastor  of  the  United  Churches.  His  residence  he 
•established  at  Whitesboro,  but  after  the  lapse  of  a  few  3'ears 
he  removed  it  to  Utica,  occupying  the  house  which  bad  been  the 
farm  house  of  Richard  Kimball,  and  which  stood  nearly  on  the 
spot  where  is  now  the  residence  of  Irvin  A.  Williams.  It  was 
afterwards  removed  to  Kenible  street,  a  little  north  of  Hobart, 
and  is  there  still. 

Like  his  predecessor,  he  preached  in  turn  at  Whitesboro  and 
at  Utica,  one  half  of  each  Sunday  at  each  place  from  the  first 
of  May  to  the  first  of  November,  and  one  whole  Sunday  at 
Whitesboro  and  Utica  alternately  during  the  remainder  of  the 
year.  Each  branch  of  the  societ}^  now  transacted  business  sep- 
arately, and  each  was  liable  for  one  half  of  the  salary,  the  whole 
amount  being  seven  hundred  dollars.  His  place  of  preaching 
at  first  was  the  school  house  on  Main  street,  then  the  new  edifice 
of  Trinity,  until  the  congregation  provided  a  building  of  their 
own.  Measures  for  this  purpose  were  taken  early  in  his  pas- 
torate. A  lot  was  given  by  Major  John  Bellinger,  on  the  sole 
condition  that  he  should  have  a  pew  in  the  church.  This  lot 
was  situated  on  Washington  street,  corner  of  Liberty,  the  former 
street  having  just  been  opened  as  far  as  its  intersection  with  the 
latter.  A  building  committee,  consisting  of  Apollos  Cooper, 
Benjamin  Ballou,  Jr.  and  Jeremiah  Yan  Rensselaer,  Jr.  advertised 
in  March  1806,  for  proposals  for  the  construction  of  a  wooden 
building  sixty  by  forty-five  feet  and  having  a  cupola.  It  was 
begun  at  once,  and  finished  in  the  summer  of  1807.  Though  a 
plain,  unpretending  structure,  it  was  adequate  for  the  needs  of  the 
congregation,  and  underwent  no  change  during  the  ministry  of 
Mr.  Carnahan.  This  congregation  was  small  and  increased  but 
gradually.  Up  to  the  year  1807,  the  whole  number  of  persons 
received  into  communion  with  the  church  was  one  hundred  and 


214  THE  PIONEERS  OF  UTICA. 

twenty-one,  of  whom  but  eight3'-eiglit  were  then  in  actual  fel- 
lowship, and  of  these  not  more  than  one-half,  and  probably  not 
much  more  than  a  third,  were  residents  of  Utica.  Shortly  after 
the  close  of  his  term,  fifty-seven  were  set  off  to  form  the  Pres- 
byterian Church  of  Utica. 

His  discourses  were  logical,  well  written  and  faithful,  and  his 
manner  solemn  and  impressive.  He  had  none  of  those  salient 
and  show}'  qualities  of  mind  that  at  once  captivate,  even  on  the 
slightest  acquaintance.  He  was  constitutionally  reserved,  and 
to  strangers  his  manners  appeared  stiff,  and  his  address  con- 
strained ;  yet  they,  even,  could  not  be  insensible  to  his  intelligent 
features,  and  the  dignity  of  his  tall  and  striking  form.  Bat 
when  in  the  societ}^  of  intimate  friends  lie  was  fluent,  genial  and 
courteous,  abounding  in  anecdote  and  humor.  His  scholarship 
was  extensive  and  accurate;  of  his  accomplishments  as  a  lin- 
guist I  have  already  spoken ;  in  mental  and  moral  science  he 
was  -equally  versed,  having  studied  them  from  every  stand- 
point. His  judgment  was  admirable,  and  no  man  was  ever  bet- 
ter supplied  with  what,  by  misnomer,  is  called  common  sense. 
He  possessed  in  a  remarkable  degree,  for  a  literary  and  profes- 
sional man,  a  knowledge  of  the  ordinary  affairs  of  life,  and  was 
exceedingly  acute  and  of  great  practical  ability  in  the  manage- 
ment of  those  lesser  things  which  go  to  make  up  the  sum  total 
of  life  An  eminent  citizen  has  remarked  that  he  never  engaged 
in  conversation  with  him  for  the  space  of  five  minutes  without 
gaining  valuable  information  upon  some  subject  either  great  or 
small.  And  in  the  words  of  his  son-in-law,  he  was  a  safe  coun- 
sellor upon  any  topic  where  advice  was  needed,  whether  that 
were  the  tillage  of  a  field,  the  construction  of  a  house  or  a  horse 
shoe,  or  the  choice  of  a  pi'ofession.  He  was  remarkably  inde- 
pendent in  the  formation  of  his  judgments;  while  at  the  same- 
time  he  respected  the  o])inions  of  others,  and  cheerfully  availed 
himself  of  whatever  assistance  he  could  derive  in  the  formation 
of  his  judgments.  He  was  in  the  highest  degree  an  honest  man, 
honest  with  his  own  conscience,  and  true  and  faithful  to  the 
interests  of  those  even  to  whom  he  was  not  bound  by  any  ties  of 
express  obligation  or  expected  favors.  He  never  shrank  from 
responsibilty,  but  was  perfectly  reliable,  and  fearless  as  a  lion  in 
the  path  of  duty.  His  equanimity  was  unsurpassed  ;  his  bene- 
factions were  liljeral  yet  unostentatious.     He  had  an  artless,. 


THE  SECOND  CHARTER,  •  215 

child-like  simplicity  wliicli  led  hiin  to  confide  in  tlie  truth  and 
good  intentions  of  others.  Modest  to  a  fault,  he  not  merely 
never  sought  to  put  himself  forward  or  call  attention  to  himself, 
he  was  actually  distrustful  of  his  own  abilities  and  ever  ready 
to  concur  with  those  who  underrated  them.  This  fault,  rare 
and  refreshing  as  it  is,  was  the  only  failing  in  the  rounded  and 
finished  character  of  this  wise  and  good  man,  this  humble  dis- 
ciple of  Jesus  Christ. 

The  foregoing  outline  of  the  character  of  Dr.  Carnahan  we 
give  from  the  completer  picture  drawn  by  one  who  knew  him 
intimately  in  his  later  years,  and  amid  scenes  where  the  chief 
labor  of  his  life  was  performed.  Here  in  this  place  of  his  early 
settlement,  his  learning,  ministerial  faithfulness  and  genuine 
worth  were  already  felt  and  marked  with  commendation.  It  is 
not  forgotten  that  he  was  foremost  in  the  organization  of  that 
agent  for  the  good  of  the  spiritually  destitute  of  this  newly-set- 
tling region,  the  Oneida  Bible  Society ;  of  the  committee  which 
submitted  its  constitution  he  was  the  chairman  ;  he  also  prepared 
the  introductory  address  to  the  public,  and  served  as  secretary 
of  the  society  so  long  as  he  remained  in  the  county.  In  1821,  two 
years  before  he  was  chosen  president  at  Princeton,  he  received 
from  Hamilton  College,  of  which  he  was  already  a  trustee,  the 
degree  of  Doctor  of  Divinity.  And  here,  too,  after  the  lapse  of 
more  than  sixty  years,  his  memory  is  still  affectionately  revered. 
His  ministry  in  this  vicinity  lasted  a  little  more  than  six  years. 
In  November  1811,  he  was  taken  with  an  acute  disease  of  the 
throat,  from  which  he  suffered  greatly,  and  was  confined  to  his 
room  more  than  three  months.  In  the  last  of  the  following 
March  be  sought  a  warmer  climate,  and  remaiued  about  a  year 
unable  to  do  anything.  His  dismission  from  his  charge  took 
place  November  4,  1812. 

The  subsequent  career  of  Dr.  Carnahan  as  an  eminently  suc- 
cessful teacher  of  youth  and  his  incumbency  for  over  thirty 
years  of  the  presidential  chair  of  the  College  of  New  Jersej-, 
during  which  time  there  were  graduated  over  seventeen  hun- 
dred students,  belongs  rather  to  the  history  of  that  State  or  tliat 
College  than  of  Utica.  It  must  suffice  to  say  that  he  proved 
himself  not  unworthy  to  be  a  successor  of  Dickinson,  Burr, 
Edw^ards,  Davies,  Finley,  Witherspoon,  Smith  and  Green, — 
those    illustrious    men    whose   names  reflect   such  renown  on 


216  THE   PIONEERS  OF  UTICA. 

PriiKieton.  His  death  occurred  on  the  3d  of  March,  1859.  His 
last  connected  words,  which  he  proclaimed  with  energy,  M^ere 
these:  "Oli!  the  glorious  gospel  of  our  Lord  and  Saviour, 
Jesus  Christ. " 

His  wife  was  Mary,  daughter  of  Matthew  Van  Dyke  of  Maple- 
ton,  neai  Kingston.  N.  J.  She  is  represented  as  a  pattern  for 
her  sex  in  every  thing  tliat  ennobles  womanhood, — in  fidelity, 
in  love,  in  humility  and  zeal :  while  as  a  house  keeper,  there 
was  nothing  which  contributed  to  the  comfort  of  her  family  that 
she  did  not  know  how  and  when  to  do.  Her  death  took  place 
on  the  15th  of  August,  1854. 

The  first  master  who  ruled  the  village  school  after  the  depart- 
ure of  Mr.  Dana,  was  a  brother  of  Silas  Clark,  and  next  after 
him  the  first  of  whom  we  hear  was  R.'Holcomb.  The  position 
of  school  master  w^as  not  in  those  days  a  very  permanent  one, 
and  this  Koswell  Holcomb,  during  the  year  1797,  taught  at  first 
at  Whitestown,  and  afterwards  in  Westmoreland,  as  appears 
from  the  report  of  John  Post,  treasurer  of  the  county  of  Herki- 
mer.    After  Mr.  Dana  and  Mr.  Clark  he  was  again  in  Utica. 

The  teacher  of  whom  we  next  get  any  intimation  was  Gideon 
Wilcoxson.  And  of  him  little  is  known  as  a  pedagogue,  though 
we  have  a  better  acquaintance  with  him  as  a  lawyer.  He  was 
born  in  Winchester,  Conn.,  in  1781,  but  removed  with  the  fam- 
ily of  his  father,  Elisha  Wilcoxson,  a  Revolutionarj'  captain,  to 
Vernon  in  Oneida  county.  He  was  a  student  of  Hamilton 
Oneida  Academy,  and  in  November  1805,  he  opened  the  school 
house  on  Main  street  for  pupils.  But  he  soon  took  to  the  law, 
becoming  a  student  of  D.  W.  Childs.  Admitted  to  the  practice 
of  his  profession,  he  exercised  it  in  Utica  until  1818,  and  then 
fifteen  j^ears  in  Elbridge,  Onondaga  county.  From  the  latter 
place  he  was  twice  sent  to  the  Legislature,  and  was  a  justice  of 
the  peace.  In  1827  he  migrated  to  Ann  Arbor  in  the  Territory 
of  Michigan,  where  he  was  prosecuting  attorne}',  and  again  a 
justice,  and  where  he  died  August  24,  1830.  His  wife,  who 
was  Abigail  Graves  of  Vernon,  is  still  living  (1876),  aged  ninety- 
two.  Of  his  six  cliildren,  three  were  born  iii  Utica,  viz.  : 
Amelia  A.,  John  R,  deceased,  and  James  M.,  now  of  Ann 
Arbor.  He  is  declared  to  have  been  thoroughly  honest,  and 
a  huinane  christian  gentleman. 


THE  SECOND  CHARTER.  217 

Another  lawyer  who  spent  a  few  years  m  Utica  was  Abra- 
ham D.  Van  Home,  a  native  of  Montgomery  county,  who  ])ui-- 
sued  his  studies  with  Joseph  Kirkland  at  New  Hartford,  and 
then  T)egan  practice  in  Utica  as  the  partner  of  A.  M.  Walton. 
In  July  1807,  he  was  made  village  attorney,  but  resigned  in 
October,  and  returned  to  New  Hartford  to  join  his  preceptor. 
In  1814,  he  was  a  member  of  assembly  from  Madison  county, 
and  in  1821  he  died  at  Loudon,  Ohio. 

Of  the  merchants  the  first  to  be  mentioned  is  John  Steward, 
Jr.,  who  came  here  from  Orange  county.  He  rented  of  Aljijah 
and  Anson  Thomas,  the  store  they  had  newly  erected  on  Gen- 
esee nearh'  opposite  Liberty  street,  where  is  now  the  store  of 
the  sons  of  James  Sayre.  Here  he  began  the  miscellaneous 
trade  of  the  time,  which,  however,  was  chiefly  confined  at  a 
later  period  to  hardware.  And  here  he  remained  until  his 
removal  to  New  York,  about  the  year  1813.  Obtaining  money 
from  his  uncle  Gilbert  Steward,  of  Albany,  on  which  he  paid 
no  interest,  he  had  an  advantage  in  the  purchase  of  produce 
that  was  enjoyed  by  few  of  his  contemporaries.  To  this  was 
joined,  a  handsome  person  and  fine  address,  an  active  and  enter- 
prising spirit,  judgment,  skill  and  strict  integrity.  In  business 
matters  he  was  much  relied  on,  for  as  a  high-toned  and  trusty 
person  no  one  stood  higher.  He  was  one  of  the  incorporators 
of  the  Oneida  Glass  Factor}^,  and  was  made  a  director.  He 
assisted  also  in  the  establishment  of  the  Bank  of  Utica,  and 
became  a  director  in  behalf  of  the  State.  Mr.  Steward  made 
a  good  deal  of  money  while  in  Utica,  but  this  was  largely  in- 
creased after  his  removal  to  New  York,  where  his  mercantile 
standing  was  eminent.  He  was  single  during  most  of  his  resi- 
dence in  Utica,  but  in  October  181 L,  he  married  Miss  Martha 
Jackson  of  Chester,  Orange  county,  N.  Y.  She  died  in  Octo- 
ber 1821.     He  outlived  her  many  years. 

Elisha  E.  Sill,  and  Jesse  W.  Doolittle,  opened  in  December 
1805,  in  the  store  lately  occupied  by  John  B.  Murdock,  a  dry 
goods  house  which,  with  some  changes  of  its  members,  held  an 
enduring  and  a  highly  creditable  position  among  the  merchants 
of  Utica.  Mr.  Sill  was  the  son  of  Dr.  Elisha  Sill,  of  Goshen, 
Conn.,  where  he  was  born  July  18,  1774,  and  was  an  older 


218  THE  PIONEERS  OF  UTICA. 

brother  of  Theodore  Sill,  who  became  a  prominent  lawyer  of 
this  count}',  and  lived  at  Whitesboro.  He  remained  in  busi- 
ness until  his  death,  October  16,  1812.  His  wife  was  Susan, 
daughter  of  Sanuiel  Hopkins  of  Goshen.  After  his  death  she 
man-ied  Kev.  Henry  Dwiglit,  the  successor  of  Dr.  Carnahan. 
Mr.  Sill's  sons  were  William  Eaton  and  Samuel  Hopkins  Sill, 
both  residing  in  Geneva.     A  daughter  died  in  youth. 

Jesse  W.  Doolittle,  who  was  some  ten  years  younger  than 
his  partner,  was  son  of  General  George  Doolittle,  of  Whites- 
boro, and  served  his  clerkship  with  William  G.  Tracy  of  that 
place.  His  stay  in  the  house  was  much  longer  than  Mr.  Sill's, 
and  he  had  in  succession  as  partners,  Tlieodore  S.  Gold,  and 
his  own  brother  Charles  E.  The  place  of  business  was  for 
many  years  one  of  the  stores  now  filled  by  Charles  C.  Kings- 
ley,  w^hither  it  had  been  removed  from  lower  down  the  street. 
"A  ver}-  synonym  of  gentleness  and  integrity,"  Mr.  Doolittle's 
virtues  were  not  hid  from  his  townsmen,  for  he  was  the  friend 
of  every  body,  and  they  were  glad  to  place  him  in  positions  of 
responsibility  and  usefulness,  both  religious  and  secular.  He 
died  September  18,  1845,  aged  sixty-one.  His  wife,  Jerusha,. 
daughter  of  Jabez  Clark  of  Windham,  Conn.,  was  a  gentle, 
loving,  and  fit  companion.  She  outlived  him  many  years,  and 
died  October  20,  1866,  aged  seventy-one  years  and  seven  months. 
Their  children  were  John  of  Buffalo,  Edwards  of  Chicago, 
Charlotte,  (widow  of  James  Norris,)  Frederick  of  Chicago, 
Qeorge  of  Washington,  D.  C,  William  of  Chicago,  Grace,  (Mrs. 
Storrs  Barrows,)  deceased. 

Moses  Bagg,  son  of  an  early  settler  just  deceased,  entered  at 
this  time  into  mercantile  business  in  company  with  William 
Fellows,  already  mentioned.  He  had  been  previously  employ- 
ed in  surve^'ing,  had  assisted  in  laying  out  the  Seneca  turn 
pike,  and  in  surveys  in  the  southwestern  counties  of  the  State, 
and  had  afterwards  aided  his  father  in  the  management  of  his 
affairs.  His  connection  with  Mr.  Fellows  was  presently  ex- 
changed for  one  with  John  Camp,  when  the  latter  had  bought 
Mr.  Fellows'  interest.  Three  years  after  the  death  of  his  father, 
or  about  the  year  1808,  Mr.  Bagg  assumed  the  charge  of  the 
tavern  which  his  father  had  kept,  though  he  still  retained  for 
some  years  longer  an  interest  in  the  firm  of  John  Camp  &  Co. 


^/^£, 


y 


THE  SECOND  CHARTER. 


219^ 


This  tavern  was,  as  we  have  said,  a  two  story  wooden  build- 
ing standing  on  the  corner  of  Main  street  and  the  square.  Its 
meagre  dimensions  when  compared  with  the  present  enormous 
pile  known  as  Bagg's  Hotel  may  be  judged  from  the  following  i 
when  the  iii'st  board  of  canal  commissioners  in  the  course  of 
their  preliminary  survey  visited  ITtica  in  July  1810,  two  of 
them,  Messrs.  Stephen  Yan  Eensselaer  and  Gouverneur  Morris,, 
who  had  made  the  journey  by  land,  occupied,  with  their  ser- 
vants, the  whole  of  the  tavern,  while  the  rest  of  the  commis- 
sioners who  came  on  b}^  the  river  were  forced  to  seek  quarters 
elsewhere.  In  1812-15,  Mr.  Bagg  erected  on  the  site  of  this 
wooden  structure  the  central  portion  of  the  brick  hotel  which 
bears  his  name,  and  to  it  he  subsequently  added  on  either  side. 


BAGG'S  HOTEL  IN  1815 


This  he  conducted,  with  brief  intermissions,  until  the  year  1836, 
when  it  was  sold  to  a  company  of  individuals.  In  the  latter 
part  of  his  career  in  the  hotel  he  was  associated  with  Alfred 
Churchi]l,"who  eventually  bought  out  the  company  and  joined 
also  the  Bleecker  house  on  the  north.  Soon  after  the  erection 
of  the  earlier  portion,  J.  Parker  &  Co.,  established  their  office 
in  the  basement  corner,  and  thus  the  house  became  the  princi- 
pal stopping  place  for  the  stages  from  all  directions,  and  was 
more  generally  resorted  to  by  travellers  than  any  other  public 


'220  THE   PIONEERS  OF  UTICA. 

liouse  of  the  village.  On  the  opening  of  the  Utica  and  Schen- 
ectady Railroad  the  nearness  of  the  hotel  to  the  terminus  of 
the  road  gave  it  an  advantage  that  was  enjoyed  by  no  other 
house  but  the  one  adjoining  it,  with  which,  as  has  been  stated, 
it  was  shortly  united.  The  part  taken  by  Mr.  Bagg  in  influ- 
encing the  proceedings  of  a  meeting  that  was  held  at  Congress 
Hall,  in  Albany,  to  decide  upon  the  termination  of  this  road,  is 
thus  stated  in  a  letter  addressed  to  the  author  by  Rutger  B. 
Miller,  Esq.  "  The  power  of  location  w^as  vested  by  the  charter 
of  the  road  in  the  canal  board,  of  which  Stephen  Van  Rens- 
selaer of  Albany,  was  president.  But  Mr.  V.  R.  had  been  con- 
fined to  his  room  for  a  long  time,  and  it  was  doubtful  whether 
he  would  ever  leave  it.  The  board  without  him  were  a  tie 
"upon  the  question,  and  the  chairman  pro  tern,  having  the  casting 
vote,  was  opposed  to  the  present  location.  Hence  the  import- 
■ance  of  obtaining  the  vote  of  Mr.  Y.  R.,  who  as  president  might 
turn  the  scale.  But  who  could  tell  how  he  would  vote,  and 
who  could  obtain  his  j^i'esence?  To  this  question  there  was 
no  response,  until  after  a  solemn  pause,  Mr.  Bagg,  (who,  with 
-other  parties  deeply  interested  in  the  result,  was  present  at  the 
meeting)  quietly  but  confidently  answered :  "  I  will  see  the 
Patroon."  He  saw  him  in  his  sick  room,  and  after  stating  his 
case,  retired  with  the  assurance  that  the  patroon  would  take  the 
chair  at  the  canal  board.  His  appearance,  leaning  on  the  arm 
of  an  attendant,  operated  like  a  bomb  shell.  The  die  was  cast ; 
and  the  last  vote  of  tlie  patroon  was  given  in  favor  of  locating 
the  road  on  Water  street!"  "  One  of  the  board,"  Mr.  Miller 
a,dds,  "  who  had  voted  for  the  \\\)  town  route  afterwards  con- 
fessed to  me  that  he  had  never  fully  examined  the  question, 
and  felt  ashamed  of  his  vote  after  comparing  the  routes  by 
■actual  observ^ation." 

In  1824.  Mr.  Bagg  built  the  house  now  occupied  by  Mrs. 
Mann,  on  the  corner  of  Broad  and  Second  streets,  into  which 
he  removed  his  family,  and  there,  after  his  own  retirement  from 
the  hotel,  he  spent  the  latter  years  of  his  life.  He  died  Janu- 
ary 9,  1844.  He  was  a  man  of  few  words  and  staid  demeanor; 
unostentatious  yet  dignified  and  self-respecting,  whose  judg- 
ment was  deliberate  but  weighty ;  his  standard  of  conduct 
higli,  and  his  life  unsullied ;  his  benevolence  warm  and  freely 
exercised,  though  guided  less  by  instinct  than  by  strict  justice 


THE  SECOND  CHARTER.  221 

and  strong  principle.  Ready  in  sympathy  and  social  in  tastes, 
his  self -distrust  kept  him  silent,  and  made  him  an  actor  rather 
than  a  talker.  Earnest  in  his  own  affairs,  he  was  alive  also  to 
the  public  interests,  and  faithful  in  such  obligations  as  fell  to 
his  lot.  In  his  younger  years  he  was  active  as  an  officer  of  the 
fire  department,  and  took  his  turn  also  as  a  village  trustee  ; 
later,  he  was  successively  trustee  of  the  Ontario  Branch,  the 
Bank  of  Utica,  and  the  Savings  Bank  of  Utica,  and  treasurer 
of  the  Presbyterian  Church  and  the  Female  Academy.  His 
hospitable  gifts  were  best  exhibited  in  his  ability  "  to  keep  a 
good  tavern,"  the  report  of  which  was  extended  throughout  the 
country. 

In  its  management  Air.  B.  was  greatly  aided  by  his  wife, 
who  was  a  woman  of  more  than  common  strength  of  mind  and  of 
rare  executive  ability.  "  To  a  clear  and  discriminating  j  udgment 
she  added  a  firmness  of  purpose  and  an  energy  of  execution 
that  fitted  her  to  discharge  with  fidelity  all  her  domestic  and 
social  duties."  Her  matronly  presence  at  the  head  of  the  pub- 
lic table  long  after  so  purely  domestic  a  custom  had  ceased  at 
similar  houses,  her  care  for  the  wants  and  the  enjoyment  of 
her  guests,  and  the  sense  of  C[uiet  English  comfort  she  inspired 
within  them,  caused  her  to  be  remembered  with  i-espect  and 
kindness  by  many  an  old-time  traveller,  and  contributed,  with 
the  excellence  of  the  fare  provided,  to  the  earl}^  celebrity  of 
the  house.  "  At  the  same  tune,  as  an  eminent  Christian  phi- 
lanthropist, she  was  enabled  to  enlarge  the  sphere  of  her  benev- 
olence, and  to  leave  behind  her  substantial  memorials  of  her 
usefulness.  To  her  efforts  and  to  the  peculiar  adaptation  of 
her  faculties  to  the  promotion  of  such  an  enterpj-ise  the  Utica 
Orphan  Asylum  chiefly  owes  its  existence  and  much  of  its 
present  capacity  for  good."  From  its  inception  she  gave  to  it 
her  affections  and  endeavors,  and  when  for  years  its  prospects 
were  still  dubious,  when  its  resources  were  whollj'  dependent 
on  the  diligent  fingers  of  a  few  ladies,  she  directed  their  efforts, 
cut  and  distributed  most  of  the  garments  that  were  made,  and 
with  her  own  hands  produced  numerous  articles  of  taste  and 
skill.  Of  the  Asylum  she  was  first  directress  up  to  the  time 
of  her  death.  This  took  place  September  19,  1833,  when  she 
was  aged  fifty-three.  She  left  one  daughter  and  three  sons,  all 
of  whom  are  now  living  in  Utica:  Emma  (widow  of  Charles. 
A.  Mann)  ;  Dr.  Moses  M.,  Matthew  D.  and  Egbert. 


"222  THE   PIONEERS  OF  UTICA. 

A  few  years  after  the  death  of  this  wife — who  was  Sophia, 
daughter  of  Matthew  Derbyshire,  and  a  native  of  Yorkshn-e,  Eng- 
land— Mr.  Bagg  was  again  married.  His  second  wife  was  Susan, 
daughter  of  William  G.  Tracy,  of  Whitesboro ;  and  if  he  had 
been  fortunate  in  his  first  companion,  he  was  not  less  so  in 
his  later  one.  Mrs.  Bagg  united  a  number  and  variety  of  ex- 
■cellencies.  Noble  in  person,  with  "  a  well  poised  and  well  dis- 
ciplined mind,  with  a  delicate  and  cultivated  taste,  with  fervor 
of  feeling  and  coolness  of  judgment,  with  energy  and  unflag- 
ging zeal,  she  combined  a  Christian  benevolence  that  was  pre- 
eminent and  controlling.  Usefulness  was  the  end  of  her  life. 
In  every  relation  and  in  every  sphere  she  merged  herself  in 
others."  While  she  shone  in  societ}^  by  her  intelligence  and 
cheerfulness,  she  gave  dignity  and  honor  to  humble  labors  of 
usefulness.  As  a  member  of  a  sewing  society,  by  her  presence 
and  example  she  encouraged  charity  to  the  poor ;  as  a  teacher 
in  a  mission  Sunday  school,  she  faithfully  and  successfully  in- 
structed the  children  of  parents  of  German  birth  ;  as  principal 
directress  of  the  Orphan  Asylum,  she  copied  the  career  of  her 
predecessor  and  watched  over  motherless  children  with  mater- 
nal tenderness  and  assiduity.  Her  later  years  were  passed  in 
New  York,  but  she  died  at  Saratoga  Springs  July  17,  1859,  in 
her  lifty-ninth  year. 

There  is  another  name  on  our  list  of  one  wlio  was  by  turns 
mercliant  and  hotel  keeper,  though  at  this  time  but  a  clerk. 
This  was  Seth  Dwight,  who  was  born  in  Williamburgh,  Massa- 
chusetts, December  15,  1769,  and  was  the  son  of  Josiah  Dwight 
and  Tabitha  Bigelow.  He  was  for  a  short  time  a  merchant  at 
Williamsburgh,  but  emigrated  to  Utica  in  1805,  His  first  po- 
sition was  that  of  clerk  to  William  Fellows,  succeeding  John 
Camp  when  the  latter  went  into  business  on  his  own  account. 
But  in  January  1809  Mi'.  Dwight  opened  a  store  on  the  square, 
next  door  below  Bagg  &  Camp.  Two  yesivs  later  he  formed  a 
connection  with  William  Pitt  Shearman,  and  they  began  the 
auction  and  commission  trade.  In  June  1815,  the  firm  was 
Dwight  &  Hooker,  and  the  business,  which  was  of  similar  char- 
acter, was  carried  on  at  the  brick  store  (No.  98  Genesee)  that 
Mr.  Hooker  had  just  built  on  the  west  side  of  Genesee,  oppo- 
site Catherine.     They  also  dealt  in  lumber,  having  a  yard  near 


THE  SECOND  CHARTER.  223 

where  the  c.mal  cuts  Genesee  and  Hotel  streets.  They  encoun- 
tered a  disastrous  failure,  from  which  neither  of  them  ever 
fully  recovered  himself.  The  next  we  learn  of  Mr.  Dwight  is 
from  his  advertisement  of  August  1818,  that  he  is  about  to 
open  a  boarding  house  at  his  residence,  x^o.  18  Hotel  street. 
The  following  year  (June  1,  1819)  he  took  the  York  House, 
(the  old  ''Hotel,")  and  fitted  it  up  for  a  boarding  house  and 
reading  room,  Avith  newspapers  of  the  principal  cities.  We 
have  one  more  public  announcement,  and  this  time  it  is  from 
his  wife,  who  tells  us  in  August  1820,  that  she  is  prepared  to 
do  mantua  making  and  millinery.  And  then  we  learn  of  his 
death  at  Buffalo,  whither  he  had  removed  a  short  time  previ- 
ous, and  this  occurred  April  80,  1825. 

Mr.  Dwight  was  a  man  of  handsome  features,  and  he  bore 
himself  handsomely,  being  showy  of  presence  and  agreeable  in 
manners.  He  was,  however,  less  a  man  of  business  than  of 
strong  and  even  gay  social  instincts  and  visionary  tempera- 
ment. To  some  extent  he  was  a  public  character,  having  been 
village  clerk  for  }■  ears,  and  afterwards  trustee.  His  wife  was 
Hannah,  daughter  of  E,ev.  Joseph  Strong,  of  Granby,  Connect- 
icut, and  was  "  the  opposite  of  her  husband  in  all  her  natural 
characteristics  and  cherished  habits  of  feeling,  having  a  charac- 
ter fall  of  solid  qualities,  and  being  earnestly  religious  in  her 
aims  and  aspirations."  She  was  remarkable  for  her  gentle  spirit, 
and,  in  the  estimation  of  her  son,  the  missionarj^,  "the  holiest 
woman  he  ever  met."  She  died  April  16,  1813,  from  an  epi- 
demic then  prevalent.  Their  children  who  reached  adult  life 
were  Harriet  (Mrs.  James  Dana) ;  Delia  J.  H.  (Mrs.  Jolm  White, 
of  Dedham,  Massachusetts) ;  Cornelia  Strong,  (Mrs.  William  J. 
Buck)  deceased;  Eev.  Harrison  Graj"  Otis,  D.  D.,  the  widely 
known  and  much  respected  missionary  to  Constantinople,  who 
was  born  at  Conway,  Massachusetts,  Nov.  22,  1803,  graduated 
at  Hamilton  College  in  1825,  and  at  Andover  in  1828,  and  em- 
barked for  the  east  in  January  1830,  where  for  nearly  thirty 
years  he  preached,  superintended  schools  and  edited  a  religious 
paper,  and  was  the  author  of  "  Christianity  Brought  Home  from 
the  East,"  and  of  a  Memoir  of  his  Wife,  Mrs.  E.  O.  Dwight.  He 
was  killed  on  the  Trov  and  Bennington  railroad,  January  25, 
1862. 

Mr.   Dwight  married,  in  1815,  Mrs.  Susan  Hewson,  widow  of 
Caspar  Hewson  of  Albany,  and  daughter  of  Samuel  Hooker 


224  THE  PIONEERS  OF  UTICA. 

of  Utica,  and  by  ter  he  had  three  children  :  Susan  H.  (Mrs. 
Phineas  M.  Crane),  William  H.  and  Eliza  K.  (Mrs.  William  B. 
S.  Gay). 

George  Tisdale,  who  had  removed  the  year  previous  fi'om 
Taunton,  Massachusetts,  to  "Schuylertown,"  in  this  vicinity, 
came  in  the  spring  of  1805  to  take  charge  of  the  tavern  of 
Moses  Bagg,  Sr.,  who  had  just  lost  his  wife,  and  who  not  long- 
after  died  also.  In  this  house  Mr.  Tisdale  remained  two  3'ears  or 
more,  and  then  for  a  3^ear  conducted  the  House  tavern,  whence 
he  removed  to  Division  street.  He  was  afterwards  the  owner 
of  the  tavern  stand  in  Deerfield,  which  was  kept  during  the 
war  of  1812  by  his  son  Eladsit  He  moved  to  Sacketts  Har- 
bor. His  Avife  was  Kanah  Hicks  ;  his  sons  George  L.  and  Elad- 
sit ;  his  daughter  Kanah,  (Mrs.  Benjamin  Hicks,  and  afterwards 
Mrs.  J.  G.  Weaver.) 

Nearl}-  on  the  site  of  the  store  of  Post  &  Hamlin,  burned 
down  the  winter  previous,  there  started  as  "  ironmongers,"  in 
February  1805,  James  A.  &  Lynott  Bloodgood.  They  were 
brothers  of  Francis  A.,  already  sometime  a  resident,  and  sons 
of  Abraham  Bloodgood,  of  Albany.  The  father  was  a  highly 
respectable  man  and  once  an  Alderman  of  that  city.  He  would 
seem  to  have  had  a  turn  for  mechanical  invention,  for  it  is  re- 
lated in  the  American  Historical  Record  (April  1874,)  that  in 
1807,  when  Fulton  had  just  obtained  his  great  trinm])h  in  nav- 
igation by  steam,  Abraham  Bloodgood  suggested  the  construc- 
tion of  a  floating  battery  not  unlike,  in  its  essential  characters, 
the  turret  of  Captain  Ericsson's  monitor  of  1862.  He  is  said 
also  to  have  been  somewhat  stern  in  charactei*,  or  at  least  stern 
in  the  management  of  his  boys.  For  when  his  son  Ljaiott  dis- 
appointed him  by  not  taking  to  study  as  he  had  wished,  he 
bound  him  to  the  trade  of  silversmith,  holding  the  while  av raw- 
hide over  his  head.  This  Lynott  was  exceedingly  jovial  in 
disposition,  delighted  in  amusement,  and  could  cut  a  pigeon- 
wing  to  perfection.  Coming  home  at  one  time  in  dancing  cos- 
tume from  some  frolic  he  had  been  engaged  in,  the  father  broke 
forth  upon  him  :  "  What !  an  apprentice  with  pumps  and  white 
silk  stockings!  Out  of  my  sight!"  His  trade  learned,  he 
came  here  with  his  brother  James,  and  they  began  business  as- 


THE  SECOND  CHARTER.  225 

ironmongers,  though  they  sold  also  gold  and  silver  ware,  and 
James  acted  as  assistant  State  sealer  of  weights  and  measures. 
They  continued  here  about  five  years,  long  enough  for  each  to 
marry  a  wife  and  acquire  a  reputation  as  honorable  citizens, 
and  then  returned  to  Albany,  taking  with  them  their  clerk, 
Jedediah  Burchard. 

James  married  Miss  Lucy  Marsh,  and  when  he  died  left  three 
children.  Lynott's  wife  was  Ruth,  youngest  daughter  of  the 
Mrs.  Dakin,  who  had  given  wives  to  his  brother  Francis  A. 
and  to  James  S.  Kip  and  his  brother,  Henry  Kip.  After  liv- 
ing at  Albany  a  few  years,  he  moved  to  Mechanicsville,  but 
spent  his  later  years  with  his  daughter  in  Utica.  His  old  age 
found  him  as  mirthful  and  as  fond  of  a  practical  joke  as  he  had 
been  in  his  youth.  His  children  were  Elizabeth  (Mrs.  P.  Shel- 
don Root) ;  Louisa,  (Mrs.  Dr.  Grant  of  Hartford,  Conn.)  de- 
ceased ;  Abraham,  Presbyterian  minister,  settled  in  Monroe, 
Michigan ;  Margaret  (Mrs.  William  Wallace  McCall,  afterwards, 
Mrs.  Robert  W.  Chubbuck.) 

A  watch  maker  of  taste  and  enterprise  and  a  much  respected 
person,  who  came  from  Stockbridge,  Massachusetts,  was  Joseph 
Barton.  He  succeeded  to  the  shop  and  goods  of  Flavel  Bing- 
ham, which  shop  was  on  the  west  side  of  Grenesee,  below  Broad. 
In  1811  he  took  into  the  concern  Joseph  S.  Porter,  and  after 
their  separation  in  1816,  Mr.  Barton  became  a  dry  goods  mer- 
chant, and  lived  in  Utica  until  August  23,  1832,  when  he  died 
of  the  epidemic  of  that  season,  at  the  age  of  sixty-eight.  His 
wife  survived  him  until  the  following  May.  Mr.  Barton  built 
and  occupied  the  house  on  Broad  street  now  occupied  by  D.  L. 
Clarkson,  the  first  three  story  brick  house  in  Utica.  Of  his  family 
of  eight  cliildren  the  only  one  who  lived  of  late  in  this  vicinity 
was  Rev.  John  Barton,  of  Clinton.     He  died  in  May  1877. 

Walter  Morgan,  a  native  of  Chepstow,  in  Monmouthshire,  an 
educated  and  gentlemanly  man,  had  been  in  business  in  two  or 
three  places  in  this  State  before  coming  to  Utica.  He  joined 
John  Hooker  in  trade  in  1806,  but  within  a  few  months  took 
his  departure  to  Denmark,  in  Lewis  county.  Coming  back 
again,  he  remained  until  1815,  and  then  settled  in  Madison, 
where  he  died  in  January  1820.  He  was  a  brother-in-law  of 
p 


226  THE    PIONEERS  OF  UTICA. 

John  Hooker  and  Aloses  Bagg,  Jr.,  they  having  married  sisters. 
Mrs.  Morgan  returned  to  Uticain  1826,  and  was  here  some  years. 
Of  fonr  surviving  children,  Jane,  wife  of  Dr.  Alonzo  Churchill, 
is  the  only  present  resident. 

The  father  of  three  brothers  Sn^^der,  who  successively  made 
Utica  their  home,  was  William  H.  Snyder,  a  Holland  immi- 
grant, who  came  with  some  money  to  Virginia,  bore  an  humble 
part  in  the  old  French  war,  and  subsequently  settled  in  New 
York,  wdiere  he  was  a  jobber  and  shipping  merchant.  Ru- 
dolph, the  eldest  of  these  brothers,  was  born  in  New  York  in 
1778,  and  was  a  short  time  a  member  of  Kings,  now  Columbia 
College.  But  not  being  willing  to  accede  to  his  father  s  wishes, 
who  would  have  him  become  a  minister,  while  he  was  himself 
equally  bent  on  the  study  of  medicine,  he  was  removed  from 
college  before  graduating.  He  entered  into  business  with  his 
father,  and  for  this  purpose  went  to  Albany,  whither  his  father 
made  him  shipments  of  goods,  and  while  there  he  married  Ra- 
chel Barneveldt  Storm,  of  Easton,  Pennsylvania.  Dissatisfac- 
tion witli  the  paternal  management,  and  perhaps  an  unusual 
amount  of  self-will  on  both  sides,  soon  caused  a  separation,  and 
the  son,  after  short  service  at  cabinet  making,  came  to  Utica  to 
tr}^  the  world  anew.  He  accepted  a  proposal  from  William 
Tillman,  a  practical  mechanic,  to  join  him  in  the  manufacture 
and  sale  of  cabinet  ware.  This  connection,  shortly  terminated, 
was  followed  by  one  with  Demas  Robbins,  who  died  not  long 
afterward.  The  business  Mr.  Snyder  continued,  however,  to 
pursue  many  years  longer,  and  until  he  had  obtained  what  he 
deemed  enough,  when  he  retired. 

His  education  and  his  tastes  led  him  to  spend  much  time  in 
self-improvement,  while  his  strong  sense  and  jjractical  talent, 
his  independent  spirit  and  his  concern  for  matters  of  general 
interest,  brought  him  into  public  estimation  and  justified  the 
part  he  was  called  to  take  in  all  that  related  to  the  common  good. 
He  was  long  a  trustee  of  the  village,  and  for  two  terms  its  pres- 
ident For  live  successive  years  he  was  pi-esident  of  the  Me- 
chanics Association,  and  for  two  years  one  of  the  commission- 
ers of  common  schools.  In  the  Methodist  society  he  was  a  per- 
son of  consideration  and  influence,  and  was  elected  one  of  the 
first  trustees  on  the  incorpoi'ation  of  the  society  and  the  erec- 


THE  SECOND  CHARTER.  227 

tion  of  their  chapel  in  1815.  At  an  earher  ])eriod  he  had  put 
up  a  school  house  on  ground  adjacent  to  the  Pkrker  block 
which  was  used  by  them  as  a  place  of  worship.  Later  in  life, 
and  after  the  settlement  of  Eev.  Heni}^  Anthon  as  rector  of 
Trinity  Church,  Mr.  Snyder  returned  to  the  Episcopal  com- 
munion with  which  he  had  been  first  connected.  High  in  per- 
sonal character,  of  varied  information,  cheerful  and  companion- 
able, he  was  decided  in  his  opinions,  obstinate  in  their  main- 
tenance, and  could  tolerate  no  contradiction.  He  built  and  oc- 
cupied the  house  on  the  corner  of  Liberty  and  Seneca  streets 
that  is  now  occupied  by  his  son-in-law.  This  was  in  1816 — 
the  cold  summer — and  during  the  month  of  August  the  mortar 
was  at  one  time  so  stiff  with  frost  as  to  compel  a  temporary 
suspension  of  the  work.  And  here  he  died  August  11,  1861, 
his  wife  having  depmrted  the  year  previous.  Their  only  child,  an 
adopted  daughter,  is  Mrs.  James  M.  Weed. 

Benjamin  Payne  was  a  fashionable  tailor,  and  the  principal 
rival  of  John  C.  Hoyt.  He  came  to  Utica  from  Oriskany.  and 
"was  for  some  time  prosperous.  While  Mr.  Hoyt  did  more  cut- 
ting and  making  for  the  villagers,  Mr.  Payne's  circuit  of  custom 
was  the  widest.  Not  a  few  were  the  yards  of  butternut  home- 
spun as  well  as  of  English  broad  cloth  that  he  made  up  into 
shapely  garments.  But  not  content  with  his  sphere,  nor  satis- 
fied with  being  captain  of  the  Utica  Fire  Company,  he  was  am- 
bitious to  be  on  a  footing  with  men  of  larger  means  and  greater 
abilities.  And  this  led  him  to  spend  his  money  freely.  His 
first  shop  had  been  opposite  Kane  &  Van  Rensselaer,  on  the 
west  side  of  Grenesee.  In  1810,  he  moved  into  a  new.  store 
beside  them  on  the  corner  of  Broad  and  Genesee.  At  the  same 
time  he  occupied  a  new  brick  house  on  Broad  street,  a  little 
east  from  the  corner,  and  set  up  his  carriage.  This  broke  him 
and  he  never  rallied.  He  died  March  6,  1821,  aged  thirty-nine. 
Two  of  his  daughters  still  live  in  Utica. 

William  Hayes  made  earthenware  near  what  is  now  the 
north-east  corner  of  Liberty  and  Washington  streets.  Ere 
many  years  he  and  his  son  William  Hayes,  Jr.,  both  of  whom 
were  accomplished  penman,  were  posting  books  and  giving  in- 
structions in  these  accomplishments,  and  in  various  branches  of 


228  THE   PIONEERS  OF  UTICA. 

mathematics  on  Broad  street  near  Genesee  ;  and  at  a  still  later 
period  the  father  was  writing  master  in  the  Academy,  where  we 
shall  again  meet  with  him. 

A  gardener  in  the  service  of  Colonel  Walker,  was  like  the 
preceding,  an  Englishman,  and  one  who  had  seen  better  days. 
This  was  William  Baxter,  late  of  Brooklyn,  and  more  recently 
of  Eemsen.  He  became  a  baker,  lived  on  Main  street,  about 
where  Mi-.  Butterfield  keeps  his  livery,  and  carried  on  the  busi- 
ness for  several  years,  as  did  his  sons  John  and  William,  after 
he  became  disabled  by  infirmity.  He  visited  England  and  was 
absent  a  year,  but  on  his  return  was  struck  by  a  bridge  while 
on  the  canal,  and  was  killed  almost  within  sight  of  his  home. 

Among  the  clerks  of  1805,  was  Alexander  Stewart,  a  Scotch- 
man who  had  been  a  peddler,  but  was  now  in  the  service  of 
John  C.  Devereux.  A  few  years  later  he  and  Augustus  Hickox 
each  built  a  store  below  Bagg's,  and  while  Hickox  went  into 
his  own,  the  other  was  taken  by  Abraham  Van  Santvoort,  with 
Stewart  as  his  clerk.  He  was  still  a  clerk  when  he  died  Jan- 
uary 15,  1810.  Elijah  Boardman,  from  Whitesboro,  at  first 
with  William  Fellows,  and  subsequently  with  one  of  the  Burch- 
ards,  had  a  further  clerkship  in  Troy,  whence  he  removed  to 
Tennessee,  was  an  importer  and  breeder  of  horses,  and  became 
wealthy.  His  wife  was  Lucretia,  sister  of  Morris  S.  Miller. 
Erastus  Hunt  with  his  brother  Flavel  was  at  work  for  Bryan 
Johnson.  They  for  a  short  time  carried  on  a  store  of  their  own, 
but  soon  left.  Loring  Buss,  while  living  on  Frankfort  hill,  came 
often  to  Utica  to  peddle,  but  afterwards  removed  and  trafficked 
here.     He  v/as  a  man  of  some  stir  and  was  once  deputy  sheriff. 

A  few  other  persons  belonging  to  the  mercantile  class,  may 
be  barely  enumerated  for  their  residence  was  short.  These  were 
J.  Mayo,  brewer,  and  who  dealt  likewise  in  corn-meal  and  flour; 
John  D.  Cunningham,  in  dry  goods ;  Daniel  Marshall,  in  combs, 
indigo,  &c. ;  Smith  Bartlett,  and  Joseph  Bow'es. 

Among  the  mechanics  not  before  enumerated  were  Samuel 
Stow,  cabinet  maker,  who  removed  in  about  three  years  to 
Eaton,  Madison  county  ;  John  H.  Fisher,  coppersmith  ;  Reuben 
Brown,  saddler;  Avery  Bi-own,   carpenter;  John  George  and 


THE  SECOND  CHARTER.  229 

*Garrett  Vreeland,  journe3niien  wagon  makers;  Seth  Board- 
man,  tailor ;  Joel  Vizor,  laborer  in  Mr.  Inman's  brewery ;  John 
Hull,  shoemaker,  and  so  rabid  a  tory  that  he  illuminated  his 
house  on  occasion  of  the  ill-sifccess  of  his  namesake,  General 
Hull,  toward  the  beginning  of  the  war  of  1812  ;  Moses  Kams- 
dale,  farmer  on  the  south-eastern  border;  Lewis  Hubbell,  an- 
other farmer,  at  the  east  end  of  Broad  street ;  and  Samuel 
Hickox,  who,  it  is  said,  was  the  builder  of  Cayuga  bridge,  that 
noted  line  across  which  politicians  in  after  years  exulted  in  lead- 
ing their  forces,  a  bridge  that  has  been  as  famous  in  the  politi- 
cal campaigns  of  the  State  of  New  York,  as  was  the  bridge  of 
Lodi  in  the  campaigns  of  Napoleon.  The  volunteer  watchman's 
pledge  of  December,  1805,  furnishes  us  the  following  names  of 
parties  who  were  but  temporary  stayers,  viz :  Charles  Bartles, 
Joseph  Chapel,  Jr.,  W.  Fryatt,  B.  B.  Rathbun.  It  contains  also 
that  of  Theophilus  Morgan,  who  kept  tavern  in  Herkimer  in 
1808,  and  went  thence  to  Oswego,  where  he  represented  his  dis- 
trict in  the  State  Legislature. 

Below  Bagg's,  toward  the  line  of  Water  street,  were  two 
saloons,  kept,  the  one  by  George  Calder,  and  the  other  by  J. 
Wharton,  and  kept  as  such  places  are  apt  to  be  where  the 
keeper  is  his  own  best  customer.  Wharton's  sign  read  as  fol- 
lows :  "  Cakes  and  Beer  sold  here,"  and  on  the  reverse  :  "Bread 
and  Cider  if  you  please."  Of  this  shop  the  mainstay  was  the 
wife.  Wharton  himself, — when  himself, — was  crier  of  auctions, 
his  cry  being,  "  Walk  up,  walk  up,  gentleman,  to  Dwight  & 
Hooker's  auction  rooms,  where  they  have  every  thing  to  sell, 
and  what  they  don't  sell  they  mean  to  give  away." 


1806. 

At  the  annual  meeting  of  freeholders  and  inhabitants  held 
in  May  1806,  the  former  trustees  were  reelected.  The  pro- 
ceedings of  five  of  their  monthl}^  meetings  are  duly  recorded, 
those  of  the  remaining  seven  months  being  wanting  in  conse- 
quence of  the  sickness  and  absence  of  Mr.  Childs,  the  clerk, 
The  sum  of  two  hundred  dollars  was  deemed  sufficient  for  the 
expenses  of  the  year,  including  the  digging  of  a  well  on  the 
^corner  of  Main  and  Church  (now  First)  street,  which,  however, 


230  THE   PIONEEES  OF  UTICA. 

was  never  dug.  Tlie  detennination  of  the  assize  of  bread! 
seems  to  have  been  the  only  business  occupying  the  attention 
of  the  trustees  that  is  deemed  worthy  of  a  place  in  their  min- 
utes. 

By  direction  of  the  Whitestown  commissioners  of  highways,. 
"Washington  street,  which  had  been  just  opened  on  the  property 
of  Mr.  Bellinger,  was  now  declared  a  public  street  as  far  as  the- 
present  Liberty,  and  the  last  named  street,  extended  from  Hotel 
to  meet  it,  was  also  recognized  as  public. 

The  first  benevolent  association  of  the  county  of  which  we 
have  any  knowledge  had  its  inception  at  this  time  in  Utica,  and 
if  we  may  credit  a  writer  in  the  Wesie7m  Recorder  of  1824,  it 
owes  its  beginning  to  the  pious  zeal  of  the  first  wife  of  Erastus 
Clark.  This  was  the  Female  Charitable  Society  of  Whitestown, 
Its  constitution,  bearing  date  September  23,  1806,  provides  for- 
the  holding  of  the  first  annual  meeting  at  the  house  of  Mr.  Clark,. 
on  the  third  Tuesday  of  the  ensuing  month.  In  its  preamble- 
the  object  of  the  society  is  thus  set  forth :  "  The  subscribers, 
believing  that  a  portion  of  the  bounties  of  Providence  can  be 
applied  in  no  better  wa)^  than  in  administering  to  the  spiritual 
necessities  of  our  fellow  creatures,  and  convinced  of  the  utility 
and  importance  of  missionary  societies,  by  whose  benevolent 
exertions  the  glad  tidings  of  redemption  are  carried  to  multi- 
tudes who  perish  for  lack  of  knowledge ;  and  wishing  to  coop- 
erate with  such  societies  by  contributing  our  mite  toward  the 
advancement  of  so  good  a  cause,  do  agree  to  associate  ourselves- 
for  that  purpose  under  the  following  regulations."  The  society 
was  made  up  of  females  who  paid  one  dollar  annually,  and  was 
managed  by  six  of  their  number  as  trustees  who  were  to 
meet  at  least  twice  in  each  year.  The  funds  were  to  be 
transmitted  to  such  missionary  institutions  as  might  be  there- 
after agreed  on.  The  address  accompanying  the  constitution  was 
signed  by  the  following  as  trustees :  Elizabeth  Breese,  Helen 
Piatt,  Susan  B.  Snowden,  Sophia  Clark,  Sibella  A.  Van  Eens- 
selacr,  Mary  K.  Stanle}".  From  time  to  time  meet  with  public 
amiouncements  of  the  time  of  holding  the  annual  meeting,  but 
have  seen  no  report  of  the  doings  of  the  society  until  after  the 
year  181-i,  when  the  association  was  rc-constituted  under  the 
title  of  the  Female  Missionaiy  Society  of  Oneida. 


THE  SECOND  CHARTER.  231 

Agreeably  to  an  act  of  the  Legislature  tlien  recently  passed, 
the  physicians  of  Oneida  county  met  at  Eome,  in  July  1806, 
and  organized  a  County  Medical  Society.  This  society  has  con- 
tinued in  being  to  the  present  time  and  has  been  to  its  mem- 
bers, as  well  as  to  the  community,  a  source  of  much  good — to  the 
former  as  an  oft  recurring  means  of  mutual  encouragement  and 
instruction,  and  to  the  latter  as  a  monitor  in  matters  of  public 
and  private  hygiene.  But  aside  from  the  fact  that  a  goodly 
number  of  its  members  have  been  residents  of  Utica,  and  that 
its  anniversary  meetings  have,  for  the  most  part,  been  held  in 
the  place,  its  history  has  too  little  relation  to  that  of  Utica,  to 
justify  us  in  enlarging  upon  it  here.  The  interest  in  this  his- 
tory is  of  course  the  greatest  to  these  physicians  themselves,, 
and  for  them  it  has  been  already  written. 

It  has  been  heretofore  stated  that  in  the  year  1803  the  Epis- 
copalians took  measures  for  the  erection  of  a  church  edifice, 
and  that  having  raised  a  little  more  than  one-half  of  the  funds 
required  for  the  purpose,  they  had  entrusted  the  work  to  the 
Messrs.  Hooker.  These  builders  began  it,  and  continued  to 
prosecute  it  until  the  funds  were  exhausted,  when  there  ensued 
a  temporary  suspension.  On  the  promise  of  a  gift  of  two  thou- 
sand dollars  from  Trinity  Church  in  New  York,  the  building 
committee  anticipated  the  gift  by  a  loan,  and  early  in  1805  en- 
gaged the  services  of  James  Watson  to  go  on  with  the  building 
begun  by  the  Hookers.  Tliis  Watson  of  whom  I  meet  with  no 
previous  mention,  was  an  Englishman,  wdio  had  the  name  of 
being  a  first-class  workman,  and  was  possessed  of  intelligence 
and  a  certain  degree  of  polish.  We  hear  of  him  afterward  as  en 
gaged  in  erecting  several  other  wooden  buildings,  and  as  enjoy- 
ing the  confidence  of  the  community  for  his  skill  as  an  architect 
and  his  merits  as  a  man.  In  1811  he  was  superintendent  of 
the  Utica  Glass  Works,  situated  in  Marcy.  Being  now  author- 
ized to  assume  the  work  on  the  church  and  render  the  building 
fit  for  use,  he  put  in  the  sashes,  laid  the  floors,  built  the  pews, 
desk  and  chancel,  placed  a  temporary  roof  on  the  tower,  and 
brought  the  building  to  such  a  state  of  forwardness  that  in  Sep- 
tember 1806,  it  could  be  used  for  divine  service.  In  the  month 
of  September  it  was  duly  consecrated  by  Bishop  Moore  of  New 
York,  who  came  to  Utica  for  the  purpose,  accompanied  by  sev- 


■232  THE  PIONEERS  OF  UTICA. 

eral  of  the  clergy.  Greater  deference  was  then  paid  to  rank  and 
station  than  at  present,  and  the  visit  of  the  bishop,  then  venera- 
ble with  years,  was  quite  an  event  in  the  obscure  village.  He 
confirmed  eighteen  persons. 

In  the  same  month  Eev.  Amos  G.  Baldwin  of  Stockbridge, 
Mass.,  then  a  missionary  of  the  Protestant  Episcopal  Church, 
was  invited  to  officiate  until  Easter  following,  in  place  of  Rev. 
Mr.  Judd,  who  had  received  a  call  elsewhere.  In  September 
of  the  following  year,  Mr.  Baldwin  was  tendered  a  perma- 
nent call,  though  the  vestry  were  unable  to  offer  him  a  salary 
which  should  compensate  him  for  devoting  his  full  time  to  the 
service  of  the  church.  Being  then  a  young  man  and  full  of 
interest  in  his  calling,  he  did  not  confine  his  labors  to  the  church 
•of  Utica,  But  officiating  here  one-half  his  time,  he  devoted  one- 
quarter  to  Paris,  and  one-sixth  to  Fairfield.  He  continued 
rector  of  these  various  societies  until  1814,  while  in  1811  was 
added  the  rectorship  of  Christ  Church  in  Eaton,  Madison  county. 
His  duties  in  Utica  must  have  been  prosecuted  amid  serious 
discouragements,  for  the  church  building  was,  during  several 
years,  in  an  unfinished  state,  being  in  fact  but  a  mere  shell,  and 
of  course,  very  uncomfortable  in  the  winter  season.  It  was  in- 
adequately warmed,  and  the  congregation  in  severe  weather  was 
but  scanty.  Earl}^  in  1810  a  fresh  contract  was  made  with 
Samuel  Hooker  to  finish  the  church,  in  consideration  of  the  sum 
of  $2,540,  payable  in  ten  3'ears  with  interest  annually.  As  soon 
as  the  season  would  permit,  he  began  the  work,  and  finished  it 
in  December  followin*?,  the  cono^reo-ation  meanwhile  holdino- 
their  services  in  the  Presbyterian  Church.  In  redemption  of  a 
promise  made  by  Trinity  Church  of  New  York,  three  lots  in 
that  city  were  given  the  struggling  society,  the  avails  of  whicli 
were  to  be  devoted  to  the  support  of  the  minister.  A  donation 
of  two  hundred  and  sixty-five  acres  of  land  in  the  town  of  Eaton, 
Madison  county,  had  been  made  two  3'ears  before  b}*  Lady 
Bath,  who  owned  lands  there,  the  administration  of  which  were 
entrusted  to  Col.  Benjamin  Walker,  and  it  was  b}^  his  interven- 
tion that  the  gift  was  obtained.  This  gift  did  not,  however, 
prove  a  profitable  one,  and  was  a  soui'ce  of  trouble  rather  than 
of  substantial  assistance.  But  the  prosperity  of  Trinity  was 
now  established.  At  Easter  1813,  the  rectors  salary  was  raised 
by  the  contributions  of  the  congregation,  the  rectorships  of  the 


THE  SECOND  CHARTER.  233 

Madison  and  Herkimer  county  churches  were  relinquished,  and 
thus  Mr.  Baldwin  was  enabled  to  give  more  care  to  the  duties 
of  his  parish.  He  remained  rector  until  Ma}^  1818.  By  his  in- 
fluence with  friends  in  New  York,  he  procurred  the  means  to 
establish  a  theological  library  for  the  benefit  of  the  clergy  and 
students  of  divinity.  This  library  was  taken  in  charge  by  the 
vestry  of  Trinity,  and  the  pastor  became  its  librarian.  He  also, 
with  his  own  hands,  constructed  an  organ  for  use  in  the  church. 
In  addition  to  his  parochial  services  here,  he  preached  frequently 
in  Holland  Patent  and  at  the  glass  works  in  Marcy.  He  also 
cooperated  in  promoting  the  interests  of  the  Western  Education 
Societ}",  of  which  be  was  one  of  the  vice  presidents. 

When  he  withdrew  from  the  parish,  his  zeal  and  fidelity,  his 
purity  of  doctrine  and  of  conduct  during  the  long  exercise  of 
his  rectorship,  were  commended  b}^  resolutions  of  the  wardens 
and  vestr}-.  He  is  represented  as  an  amiable  man,  and  though 
moderate  in  ability  as  a  preacher,  warmly  devoted  to  the  church, 
and  zealous  for  its  advancement.  He  continued  man}^  years  longer 
to  serve  as  a  missionary  among  the  churches,  and  in  later  life 
was  familiarly  known  as  Father  Baldwia  He  died  at  Auburn, 
N.  Y.,  December  25,  1844,  and  was  administered  to  in  his  last 
illness  by  Eev.  Dr.  Coxe,  who  succeeded  to  his  rectorship  after 
long  years  of  interval.  He  had  a  wife,  but  no  children.  Her 
maiden  name  was  Eupbemia  Van  Kirk.  Their  residence  was 
at  first  on  Whitesboro  street,  a  httle  west  of  Washington,  and 
afterwards  on  Broad  street,  east  of  J.  C.  Devereux. 

One  who  as  an  effective  friend  of  Trinity  may  be  rightly 
mentioned  next  after  its  rector,  and  who  for  other  reasons  holds 
a  strong  claim  upon  the  kindly  remembrance  of  his  fellow 
townsmen,  was  Judge  Morris  S.  Miller.  He  was  born  in  1780, 
and  was  the  son  of  Dr.  Matthias  Burnett  Miller  of  Long  Island, 
a  surgeon  during  the  war  of  the  Eevolution,  attached  to  the 
regiment  of  Col.  Rutgers.  On  the  death  of  Dr.  Miller,  while 
still  in  the  service,  his  widow  opened  a  boarding  house  in  the 
city  of  New  York,  and  thus  obtained  the  means  to  support  her 
family  and  educate  her  son.  He  was  sent  to  Union  College, 
where  he  was  graduated  with  valedictorian  honors  in  1798.  He 
studied  law  with  Coi'nelius  Wendell  of  Cambridge,  Washington 
county,  and  then  became  private  secretary  to  Governor  Jay. 


234  THE  pk)Xep:ks  of  utica. 

About  1802,  Nicholas  Low,  a  wealthy  landholder  in  Lewis 
county,  who  had  been  one  of  his  mothers  boarders,  appointed 
him  as  his  agent  to  superintend  the  sale  of  lands  at  Lowville  and 
its  vicinity.  There  Mr.  Miller  resided  until  his  removal  to  Utica 
in  1806.  During  the  course  of  that  residence  he  was  united  to 
Miss  Maria  Bleecker  of  Albany,  a  lady  whom  he  had  met  for 
the  first  time  at  a  ball  given  on  his  Commencement  night.  The 
match  was  not  a  pleasing  one  to  the  conservative  old  Dutch 
family  to  which  the  lady  belonged.  And  it  was  not  until  after 
their  first  visit  home  from  Lowville,  when  he  presented  his  eldest 
child,  then  an  infant  of  six  weeks,  as  a  sample  of  a  Black  River 
trout,  that  the  friends  became  fully  reconciled. 

Upon  his  arrival  m  Utica,  Mr.  Miller  began  the  practice  of 
his  profession,  and  being  a  man  of  decided  ability,  well  versed 
in  the  law,  and  conciliating  in  manner,  he  soon  established  him- 
self in  the  public  confidence.  Within  two  years  he  was  made 
president  of  the  village,  and  within  four  years  he  received  the 
appointment  of  first  judge  of  the  county.  The  latter  office  he 
continued  to  hold,  by  successive  reappointments,  until  his  de- 
cease, discharging  its  duties  with  credit  and  public  approval. 
In  1813-15  he  represented  his  district  in  the  thirteenth  Con- 
gress. His  first  speech  received  the  warm  commendation  of 
John  Randolph.  By  it  and  by  others  directed,  likewise,  against 
the  war  measures  of  the  administration,  he  gained  some  reputa- 
tion. He  was  then  a  Federalist,  but  some  years  later  he  de- 
serted his  former  political  friends  and  became  a  bucktail  demo- 
crat, being  one  of  the  so-called  "  higli-minded  gentlemen"  who 
opposed  the  nomination  of  DeWitt  Clinton.  Having  decided 
to  attach  himself  to  the  new  party,  he  addressed  a  letter  to 
Erastus  Clark  (>;iN'inf»;  his  reasons  therefor.  There  had  been  a 
conversation  between  the  judge  and  Mr.  Clark  relative  to  call- 
ing together  the  Federal  committee,  and  in  his  letter  Judge 
Miller  said  he  could  not  attend  this  committee  meeting  because 
he  had  left  the  Federal  party.  This  letter  was  published  in  the 
Albany  Argus.  The  letter  of  Mr.  Clark  in  reply,  which  was 
also  published,  was  in  its  original  form  extremely  caustic,  but 
was  very  much  modified  and  softened,  as  it  is  said,  by  the  request 
of  his  wife,  to  whom  he  read  it,  and  whom  he  afterwards  thanked 
for  her  advice.  Thei'e  continued  to  be  friendliness  between 
these  gentlemen  while  they  lived,  but  their  former  political  in- 
timacy was  not,  of  course,  renewed. 


THE  SECOND  CHARTER.  235 

In  July  1819,  Judge  Miller  was  sent  by  Mr.  Calhoun  to  Buf- 
falo to  repi-esent  the  United  States  Government  at  the  negotia- 
tion of  a  treaty  between  the  Seneca  Indians  and  the  proprie- 
tors of  the  Seneca  Reservation.  The  conference  was  held  in  a 
barn  on  the  treat}^  grounds,  six  miles  from  Buffalo ;  the  war- 
riors, some  three  hundred  in  number,  being  closely  crowded 
upon  the  mow  and  in  the  corners  of  the  floor,  of  which  the 
greater  part  was  occupied  by  Judge  Miller  and  his  party, 
including  his  wife,  Charles  E.  Dudley  of  Albany,  Peter  B. 
Porter  of  Buffalo,  Mr.  Ogden  and  others.  The  rosy  and 
beautiful  boy  Mrs.  Miller  held  asleep  in  her  arms,  fixed  the 
admiring  gaze  of  the  Indians,  and  was  probably  of  more  inter- 
est than  the  Judge  or  his  speech.  It  is  said  that  Eed  Jacket,, 
the  chief,  on  being  asked  what  he  thought  of  Judge  Miller  s 
address,  replied  b}'-  puffing  out  his  cheeks  and  sending  forth  a 
tremendous  blast  of  air.  Whether  the  gesture  was  simply  in- 
dicative of  opposition  to  the  arguments  made  use  of  and  an 
attempt  to  discredit  them  with  the  listeners,  or  whether  the  chief 
really  regarded  the  oration  as  mere  ivind^  "  sound  and  fury  sig- 
nifying nothing,"  is  best  interpreted  by  those  who  are  conver- 
sant with  Indian  character  and  usages.  Certain  it  is  that  in 
other  respects  he  showed  no  lack  of  consideration  for  the  com- 
missioner, and  having  been  presented  to  his  squaw,  insisted  on 
knowing  \k\G  papoose  also.  To  the  honor  of  the  Judge  it  should 
be  added  that  the  only  comment  made  upon  his  work  by  Mr. 
Calhoun  was  a  comment  upon  the  smallness  of  his  account. 

Besides  the  offices  we  have  mentioned,  and  a  trusteeship  of 
Hamilton  College,  he  held  other  positions  of  trust  and  honor. 
For  his  public  spirit  and  liberality  were  active,  and  his  merit 
•acknowledged ;  capable  and  conscientious,  intelligent  and  re- 
fined, courteous  to  all,  and  hospitable  almost  to  excess,  he  was 
deservedly  esteemed,  and  his  standing  was  one  of  mark  and 
influence.  His  character  is  well  depicted  in  a  commemorative 
discourse  by  his  pastor.  Rev.  Henry  Anthon,  from  which  I  ex- 
extract  a  passage  :  "  He  possessed  an  ardent  and  well  cultivated 
mind,  a  frank,  humane  and  generous  disposition.  To  the  more 
solid  qualities  of  the  mind  were  added  a  singleness  and  warmth 
of  heart,  an  affability  and  cheerfulness  of  deportment,  and  an  ur- 
banity of  manners  which  were  not  confined  to  his  friends  only,, 
but  diffused  around  him.     Blessed  bv  Providence  with   the 


236  THE  PIONEERS  OF  UTICA. 

means  of  relieving  the  wants  of  others,  his  benevolence  was 
active  and  uniform.  His  purse  was  always  open  at  the  call  of 
the  needy.  From  sordid  parsimony  and  narrowness  of  spirit 
no  man  was  ever  more  perfectly  free.  In  his  address  and  de- 
portment he  was  affable  and  kind  to  all.  To  his  particular 
friends  Judge  Miller's  social  intercourse  added  grace  and  de- 
light. The  cheerfulness  of  his  welcome,  the  assiduity  of  his 
attentions,  the  kindness  and  open-hearteduess  of  his  reception, 
were  features  conspicuous  in  his  character."  "  In  his  friend- 
ships he  was  wai-m  and  sincere,  sometimes  to  a  degree  border- 
ing on  enthusiasm."  "  To  the  church  especially,"  says  Mr.  An- 
thon,  "it  is  a  time  to  mourn.  In  him  she  has  lost  one  of  her 
founders ;  one  of  her  warmest  friends ;  one  of  hei'  firmest  and 
most  liberal  supporters.  A  striking  trait  in  his  character  was 
his  attachment  to  the  Episcopal  Church, — an  attachment  not 
hastily  formed,  but  the  result  of  a  rational,  diligent  and  well- 
matured  inquirj^ ;  3'et  whilst  he  valued  his  church  before  every 
other,  he  freely  conceded  to  all  that  liberty  of  conscience  which 
he  required  for  himself,"  and  willingly  cooperated  with  tlioseof 
a  different  faith  in  efforts  to  promote  good  morals  and  extend 
evangelical  religion.  An  elderly  person  still  living  relates  the 
following  incident:  "I  happened  to  be  at  Kome  in  the  winter 
of  1815-16  where  the  Judge  was  holding  the  Court  of  Common 
Pleas.  A  trial  was  going  on  which  excited  much  interest  and 
in  which  two  important  witnesses  had  been  examined  on  oppo- 
site sides  of  the  case,  whose  testimony  was  so  directly  opposed 
to  each  other's  that  either  one  or  the  other  must  have  been  per- 
jured Judge  Miller,  in  his  elo(|uent  charge  to  the  jury,  said 
that  they  must  reconcile  the  lamentable  conflict  of  testimony 
the  best  way  they  could  to  secure  the  ends  of  justice,  and  so 
warmly  ex])ressed  his  feelings  in  witnessing  such  an  unfortu- 
nate scene  of  human  frailty  as  to  draw  tears  not  from  himself 
alone  but  from  the  whole  audience."  It  may  be  added  that  he 
was  prompt  in  his  affairs,  neat  to  fastidiousness  in  his  j)erson 
and  his  grounds,  and  though  neither  tall  nor  s])are,  being  rather 
midway  of  extremes,  his  frame  was  both  delicately  and  firmly 
knit  and  his  features  regular  and  pleasing.  Throughout  his 
residence  he  managed  the  interests  of  the  Bleecker  family  in 
Utica — an  estate  which  was  thought  to  be  worth  four  hundred 
thousand  dollars,  and  of  this  Mr=;.  Miller  owned  one  quarter. 


THE  SECOND  CHARTER.  237 

They  occupied  the  house  at  the  lower  end  of  Main  street,  al- 
ready spoken  of  as  the  earlier  residence  of  Peter  Smith  and  also 
of  James  S.  Kip.  It  was  a  two  story  house  of  wood,  painted 
yellow  and  having  a  piazza  on  the  front  or  north  end.  The 
grounds  about  it  were  ample,  and  the  garden  well  stocked  with 
fruit  trees,  especially  the  Bleecker  or  Orange  plum,  which  the 
Judge  first  introduced  here  from  Albany.  Free  as  he  was  in 
dispensing  this  choice  plum  among  the  gardens  of  his  neighbors,, 
he  was  equally  free  in  disseminating  the  products  of  his  extensive 
orchard  of  grafted  apples.  This  orchard  filled  the  space  now 
bounded  by  West,  Rutger,  Steuben  and  South,  and  from  it  any 
farmer  who  would  be  at  the  trouble  to  plant  them  might  take  fifty 
young  trees.  Before  his  death  Judge  Miller  had  made  j^repara- 
tions  to  build  at  the  head  of  John  street,  had  put  out  the  shrub- 
bery and  shade  trees,  and  had  erected  a  wall  in  front  of  the  site 
where  his  son,  Rutger  B.  Miller,  erected  in  1830  the  fine  stone 
-mansion  which  now  forms  the  central  building  of  the  Rutger 
place.  His  death  occurred  while  he  was  still  in  the  prime  of 
his  years,  November  19,  1824.  His  remains  were  taken  to  Al- 
bany for  interment. 

Mrs.  Miller  survived  him  upwards  of  a  quarter  of  a  century, 
living  in  the  house  he  was  himself  preparing  to  build,  and  died 
March  15,  1850.  She  was  in  her  turn  a  zealous  cooperator, 
and  indeed  the  principal  agent  in  the  organization,  in  1830,  of 
the  Reformed  Dutch  Church.  "  She  remained  to  the  last  a  lady 
of  the  old  school,  simple  in  her  manners,  grave  and  dignified  in 
her  deportment.  To  a  quiet  resolution  and  energy  of  mind  that 
fitted  her  foj-  trying  and  difficult  occasions,  she  added,"  says  her 
pastor,  Rev.  Charles  Wiley,  "  a  grace  and  gentleness  of  female 
propriety  that  were  never  for  a  single  instant  forgotten,  and 
that  enabled  her  to  command  the  respect  of  those  around  her, 
without  at  the  same  time  repelling  their  aft'ections." 

Their  children  were  Rutger  Bleecker,  still  living  in  Utica ; 
Morris  Smith,  Brevet  Brigadier  General  United  States  Army, 
who  was  educated  at  West  Point,  bore  a  part  in  the  Florida 
and  Mexican  wars,  and  in  that  for  the  Union,  and  died  in  Texas 
March  11,  1870;  Sarah,  (Mrs.  E.  S.  Bray  ton),  died  May  10, 
1853 ;  Charles  Dudley  of  Geneva,  New  York ;  and  John  B., 
editor  and  lawyer,  who  died  while  consul  at  Hamburgh,  April 
22,  1861. 


238  THE  PIONEERS  OF  UTICA. 

In  the  3^ear  1798  John  Post  had  received  as  an  inmate  of  his 
household  his  nephew,  Abraliam  Van  Santvoort,  who  beeame_ 
eventually  his  successor  in  the  business  of  transporting  on  the 
Mohawk.     He  was  a  native  of  Schenectad}',  and  was  baptized 
December  26,  1784     He  was  the  son  of  Cornelius  and  the  great 
grandson  of  Rev.  Cornelius  Van  Santvoort,  wlio  emigrated  fromi 
Holland,  and  died  pastor  of  the  Reformed  Dutch  Church  of 
Schenectady,  in  1752.     After  a  few  years  residence  with  his 
uncle,  Abraham  was  sent  b}^  Mr  Post  to  Schenectady  to  super- 
intend the  forwarding  of  goods.     In  1806  he  was  again  a  resi- 
dent of  Utica,  as  we  learn  from  the  following  announcement  of 
September  23  :  "  The  subscriber  informs  the  public  that  he  has 
commenced  the  storage  and  forwarding  business  to  and  from 
Schenectada,  Albany  and  New  York,  and  any  part  of  the  west- 
ern  country,  for  which  purpose  he  has  taken  one  of  the  large 
and  convenient  stores  of  Mr.  John  Post  on  the  dock  in  Utica.     He 
has  made  arrangements  with  Mr.  Eri  Lusher  for  convej'ing  by 
water  between  this  place  and  Schenectada,  and  with  Mr.  David 
Boyd  between  Schenectada  and  Albany."     Two  years  later  he 
took  for  his  store  the  old  stand  of  Bryan  Johnson,  near  the 
corner  of  Genesee  and  Whitesboro,  whence  he  afterwards  moved 
to  the  east  side  of  Genesee,  below  Bagg's,  and  in  April  1816, 
back  again  to  the  west  side,  to  the  new  brick  store  next  J.  C. 
Devereux.     The  storehouse  he  at  first  occupied  was  originally 
above  the  bridge,  but  ^'ery  near  to  it.     It  was  afterwards  moved 
up  the  stream  U)  the  foot  of  Division  street.     And  nearly  on 
the  last  named  site  Mr.  Van  Santvoort  in  company  witli  Mr. 
Lusher  and  others,  erected  toward  the  close  of  the  war  of  1812 
a  brick  warehouse,  which  has  remained  standing  until  a  com- 
paratively recent  period.     About  this  time  Eri  Lusher  &  Co. 
were  running,  during  the  season,  a  weekly  line  of  boats  from 
Schenectady  for  Cayuga,  Seneca  Falls  and   Oswego,  and  by 
means  of  wagons  also,  which  were  kept  in  constant  readiness 
they  were  enabled  to  "  trans] )ort  from  Albany  to  an};^  part  of 
the  western  country,  either  by  land  or  water,  whatever  property 
migiit  be  directed  to  their  care."     Parties  living  at  a  distance 
from  the  water  communication  were  assured   that  their  goods  • 
would  be  delivered  at  any  place  the}^  might  designate.     They 
advertised  also  stage  boats  to  run  between  Utica  and  Schenec- 
tady for  the  accommodation  of  passengers,  which  leaving  Utica 


THE  SECOND  CHARTER.  239 

twice  a  week  at  5  A.  M.  were  to  arrive  in  Schenectady  the  fol- 
lowing morning  in  time  for  breakfast,  and  from  thence  the  pas- 
sengers were  to  be  conveyed  in  carriages  to  Alban}-. 

Mr.  Van  Santvoort  held  during  tlie  war  the  office  of  sub- 
contractor for  the  supply  of  provisions  for  the  soldiers,  and 
acted  as  government  storekeeper.  About  the  same  time,  or 
shortly  afterward,  he  was  interested  with  Peter  Sken  Smith, 
son  of  Peter  Smith,  and  William  Soulden,  in  the  manufacture 
of  glass  at  Peterboro,  and  acted  as  agent  for  the  companj^  in 
the  sale  of  the  glass.  The  project  proved  unsuccessful,  and 
resulted  in  the  failure  of  Messrs.  Soulden  and  Smith  as  w^ell  as  of 
Mr.  Van  Santvoort.  His  affairs  with  the  government  had  beside 
proved  embarrassing,  for  his  returns  were  slow  and  rare  in  coming, 
so  that  he  depended  largely  on  the  bank  and  spent  much  money 
in  the  payment  of  interest. 

On  the  17th  December,  1818,  the  forwarding  firm  with  which 
he  was  connected, — known  at  this  time  as  that  of  Abraham  Van 
Santvoort  &  Co., — was  dissolved.  It  had  consisted  of  Eri 
Lusher,  Jonathan  Walton  and  John  I.  DeGraff  of  Schenectady, 
and  Abraham  Van  Santvoort,  John  Beggs  and  Harry  Camp  of 
Utica.  Leaving  his  warehouse  in  the  care  of  Mr.  Camp  and 
Mr.  Beggs,  Mr.  Van  Santvoort  returned  to  Schenectady  to  en- 
gage anew  in  forwarding.  Thence  he  went  to  Dunkirk,  and 
after  a  short  residence,  and  a  still  shorter  one  at  Eochester,  he 
moved  to  New  York.  Here  he  was  concerned  in  steamboats, 
became  quite  successful,  and  so  far  won  the  confidence  of  the 
people  of  Jersey  Citj^,  which  was  his  final  home,  as  to  be  made 
mayor  of  the  cit}^  and  here  he  died. 

While  living  in  Utica  Mr.  V.  S.  was  much  esteemed,  for  besides 
the  respect  felt  for  his  enterprise  in  business  he  was  admired  for 
his  pleasing  face  and  form,  his  social  excellence,  his  jovial  humor 
and  his  uniform  uprightness  of  conduct.  Though  he  lacked 
some  of  the  essentials  of  a  good  mercantile  education,  especially 
a  S3'stematic  skill  in  the  keeping  of  books,  he  held  a  high  place 
among  the  merchants  and  was  a  leader  in  his  department. 
During  some  je^rs  he  was  a  trustee  of  the  village,  and  in  1815-16 
he  was  its  president.  His  wife,  who  was  Sally,  sister  of  Dr. 
Marcus  Hitchcock,  w^as  living  in  1873,  at  the  age  of  83.  His 
son  Cornelius  is  a  lawyer  in  New  York  ;  Abraham  died  young ; 
Alfred  has  for  many  years  been  engaged  in  running  steamboats 
on  the  Hudson,  and  lives  in  New  York. 


240  THE   PIONEERS  OF  UTICA. 

In  further  illustration  of  boat  travelling  on  the  Mohawk  in 
former  times,  I  insert  the  following  from  the  journal  of  travels 
lAade  through  several  of  the  inland  states  in  the  year  1807-8 
by  Christian  Schultz,  Jr. 

''  I  have  noticed  but  three  different  kinds  of  boats  used  in  nav- 
igating this  river.  Those  called  Schenectady  boats  are  gener- 
all}''  preferred ;  and  will  carry  about  ten  tons  burthen  when  the 
river  is  high  ;  but  when  it  is  low,  as  at  this  time,  they  will  not 
take  more  than  from  three  to  four;  they  generally  advance 
against  the  stream  at  the  rate  of  from  eighteen  to  twenty  or  twenty- 
five  miles  a  day.  These  boats  are  built  very  much  after  the 
model  of  our  Long  Island  round  bottom  skiffs,  but  proportion- 
ately larger,  being  from  forty  to  fifty  feet  in  length,  and  steered 
by  a  large  swing  oar  of  the  same  length.  They  have  likewise 
a  moveable  mast  in  the  middle.  Wlien  the  wind  serves  they 
set  a  square  sail  and  top  sail,  which,  at  a  few  miles  distance, 
give  them  all  the  appearance  of  small  square-rigged  vessels  com- 
ing down  before  the  wind.  Our  galley,  which  I  am  just  now 
informed,  is  called  the  'Mohawk  Regulator,'  has  gone  at  the 
rate  of  six  miles  an  hour  against  the  stream ;  and  during  this 
time,  believe  me,  nothing  can  be  more  charriiing  than  sailing 
on  the  Mohawk. 

"It  is  not  often,  however,  that  a  fair  wind  will  serve  for  more 
than  three  or  four  miles  together,  as  the  irregular  course  of  the 
river  renders  its  aid  very  precarious ;  their  chief  dependence, 
therefore  is  upon  their  pike  poles.  These  are  generally  from 
eighteen  to  twenty-two  feet  in  length,  having  a  sharp  pointed 
iron,  with  a  socket  weighing  ten  or  twelve  pounds  afhxed  to  the 
lower  end ;  the  upper  has  a  large  knob,  called  a  button,  mounted 
upon  it,  so  that  the  poleman  may  press  upon  it  his  whole  weight 
without  endangering  his  person.  This  manner  of  impelling  the 
boat  forward  is  extremely  laborious,  and  none  but  those  who 
have  been  for  some  time  accustomed  to  it,  can  manage  these 
poles  with  any  kind  of  advantage.  Within  the  boat  on  each 
side  is  fixed  a  })lank  running  fore  and  aft,  wath  a  number  of 
cross  cleats  nailed  upon  it,  for  the  purpose  of  giving  the  pole- 
man  a  sure  footing  in  hard  poling.  The  men,  after  setting  their 
poles  against  a  rock,  bank  or  bottom  of  the  river,  declining  their 
heads  very  low,  place  the  upper  end  or  button  against  the  back 
(front  ?)  part  of  their  right  or  left  shoulders,  (according  to  the 
side  on  which  they  may  be  poling,)  then  falling  down  on  their 
hands  and  toes,  creep  the  whole  length  of  the  gang-boards,  and 
send  the  boat  forward  with  considerable  speed.  The  first  sight 
of  four  men  on  each  side  of  a  boat,  creeping  along  on  their  hands 
and  toes,  apparently  transfixed  by  a  large  })ole,  is  no  small  curi- 
osity, nor  was  it  until  I  had  observed  their  perseverance  for  two 
or  three  hundred  yards,  that  I  became  satisfied  they  were  not 


-=^ 

^ 


> 


THE  SECOND  CHARTER.  241 

playing  some  pranks.  From  the  general  practice  of  this  method, 
as  hkewise  from  my  own  trials  and  observations,  I  am  convinced 
that  they  have  fallen  upon  the  most  powerful  way  possible  to 
exert  their  bodily  strength  for  the  purpose  required.  The  posi- 
tion, however,  was  so  extremely  awkward  to  me  that  I  doubt 
whether  the  description  I  have  attempted  will  give  you  an  ade- 
quate idea  of  the  procedure.  I  have  met  with  another  kind  of 
boat  on  this  river,  which  is  called  a  dorm  or  dorem  :  how  it  is 
spelt  I  know  not  [Durham].  The  only  difference  I  could  ob- 
serve in  this  from  the  former  one  is  that  it  is  built  sharp  at 
both  ends,  and  generally  much  larger  and  stouter.  They  have 
likewise  flats,  similar  to  those  you  have  seen  on  the  Susque- 
hanna, but  much  lighter  built  and  longer.  On  all  these  they 
occasionally  carry  the  sails  before  mentioned. 

"The  Mohawk  is  by  no  means  dangerous  to  ascend,  on  account 
of  the  slowness  of  the  boat's  progress;  but,  as  it  is  full  of  rocks 
stones  and  shallows,  there  is  some  risk  in  descending  it  of  stav- 
ing the  boat ;  and,  at  this  season,  is  so  low  as  to  require  it  to  be 
dragged  by  hand  over  many  places.     The  channel  in  some  in- 
stances IS  not  more  than  eight  feet  in  width,  which  will  barely 
permit  a  boat  to  pass  by  rubbing  on  both  sides.     This  is  some- 
times caused  by  natural  or  accidental  obstructions  of  rocks  in 
the  channel ;  but  oftener  by  artificial  means.     This,  which  at 
first  view  would  appear  to  be  an  inconvenience,  is  produced  by 
two  fines  or  ridges  of  stone  generally  constructed  on  sandy,  grav- 
elly or  stony  shallows,  in  such  a  manner  as  to  form  an  acute 
angle  were  they  to  meet,  the  extremities  of  which  widen  as  they 
extend  up  the  river;  whilst  at  the  lower  end  there  is  iust  space 
enough  left  to  admit  the  passage  of  a  boat.     The  water  beino- 
thus  collected  at  the  widest  part  of  these  ridges,  and  continually 
pent  up  withm  narrower  limits  as  it  descends,  causes  a  rise  at 
tfie  passage ;  so  that  where  the  depth  was  no  more  than  eiffht 
inches  before,  a  contrivance  of  this  kind  will  raise  it  to  twelve- 
and  strange  as  it  may  appear,  a  boat  drawing  fifteen  inches  will 
pass  through  it  with  ease  and  safety.     The  cause  is  simply  this  • 
the  boat  being  somewhat  below  the  passage  is  brought  forward 
with  considerable  velocity,  and  the  moment  it  dashes  into  the 
passage,  its  resistance  to  the  current  is  such  as  to  cause  a  swell 
ot  tour  or  five  inches  more,  which  afliords  it  an  easy  passaffe 
over  the  shoal."  ^ 

A  citizen  whose  stay  in  Utica  was  short,  though  long  enough 
to  secure  to  him  the  regard  of  his  contemporaries,  was  Jonathan 
Child.  Elsewhere  in  the  course  of  an  active  and  useful  life, 
Mr.  Child  identified  himself  with  work  in  preparation  for  the 
Erie  canal,  as  Mr.  Van  Santvoort  had  done  with  navigation 
on  the  Mohawk.     A  son  and  a  grandson  of  a  Eevolutionary 


242     .  THE  PIONEERS  OF  UTICA. 

soldier,  he  was  boi"n  at  Lyiie,  New  Hampshire,  Januaiy  30,  1785. 
Coming  to  Utica  a  young  mau  of  twenty-one,  he  beeame,  in  Sep- 
tember 1806,  the  teacher  of  its  children  in  a  scthool  that  was  kept  in 
the  Welsh  church  on  the  corner  of  Washington  and  AVhitesboro 
streets.  Little  is  to  be  said  of  his  mastership,  for  though  it  was 
satisfactory  he  remained  but  a  short  time  in  the  office,  and  was 
soon  installed  as  a  clerk  of  Bryan  Johnson.  But  in  1810,  in 
company  with  a  fellow  clerk  named  Gardner,  he  left  the  vil- 
lage altogether,  and  settled  himself  with  a  small  stock  of  goods 
at  Charlotte.  Coing  thence  to  Bloomfield  and  tarrying  there 
briefly,  he  finally  fixed  himself  more  permanently  at  Roches- 
ter. He  was  one  of  the  contractors  for  cutting  the  Erie  canal 
through  the  mountain  ridge  at  Lockport,  a  formidable  part  of 
the  whole  work.  He  was  twice  a  trustee  of  the  village  of 
Rochester,  and  in  1834  its  fii'st  mayor  under  the  city  charter. 
A  Rochester  paper  says  of  him  ;  "  No  man  among  his  towns- 
men was  more  respected.  He  had  no  enemies  and  was  beloved 
by  all."  The  loss  of  all  the  gains  of  his  early  life,  a  loss  which 
he  encountered  tow^ards  its  close,  he  "  met  with  fortitude,  and 
moved  on  with  the  same  cheerfulness  and  equanimity  that  had 
characterized  him  in  youth."  He  was  a  sincere  Christian,  and 
for  many  years  a  member  of  St.  Luke's  Church.  His  wife  was 
a  daughter  of  Colonel  Nathaniel  Rochester. 

Another  person  who  was  a  few  years  in  Utica,  and  then  went 
elsewhere  to  fill  up  the  measure  of  a  busy  and  honored  life, 
was  Bennett  Bicknell,  from  Mansfield,  Conn.  In  1806  he  was 
a  comb-maker,  and  an  occupant  of  Mr.  Stocking's  Mechanic 
Hall.  In  1808  he  established  himself  in  Morrisville,  Madison 
county.  There  he  was  successively  member  of  Assembly,  State 
senator,  county  clerk  and  representative  in  Congress  ;  enjoyed 
a  wide  and  enviable  reputation  in  his  business  and  public  ca- 
pacity, and  in  his  private  character  was  unreservedly  commen- 
dable. 

Calvin  Bicknell,  his  brother,  continued  the  manufacture  of 
combs  some  years  longer,  on  the  west  side  of  the  way  nearly 
opposite  the  former  stand,  but  in  1811  became  insolvent.  Af- 
ter this  there  are  no  further  traces  of  him. 

The  first  mention  we  have  seen  of  Henry  Ki[)  is  contained 
in  the  Castorland  Journal,  under  date  of  May  1794.     From  this 


THE  SECOND  CHARTER  243 

it  would  seem  that  he  was  at  that  time  in  charge  of  the  busi- 
ness of  his  brother,  James  S.  Kip,  then  temporarily  absent. 
That  he  continued  to  live  in  Utica  from  that  time  onward 
is  probable  though  not  assured.  On  the  3d  of  July,  1806,  he 
married  Miss  Christiana  Dakin,  sister  of  his  brother's  wife,  and 
of  the  wives  of  two  of  the  Bloodgoods.  He  took  up  his  resi- 
dence in  the  house  on  the  Whitesboro  road  that  had  been  just  va- 
cated by  William  Inman.  In  July  1811  he  announces  that  the 
Oneida  Rope  Factory  is  now  in  complete  operation.  This  factory 
was  situated  a  little  east  of  the  half-way  bridge  and  ran  across 
the  line  of  the  canal.  It  was  therefore  destroyed  when  the 
canal  was  opened.  Mr.  Kip  removed  to  Buffalo,  and  set  up 
another  rope  walk,  which  was  in  like  manner  invaded  by  the 
canal  when  the  latter  was  extended  through  to  that  place.  Mr. 
Kip  was  over  six  feet  in  height  and  large  in  proportion  ;  full 
of  fun,  courtesy  and  benevolence  ;  and  bore  his  full  share  in 
the  socialities  of  his  time.  As  a  business  man  he  was  not  very 
efficient.  He  was  an  early  vestryman  of  Trinity.  His  family 
was  a  numerous  one. 

Among  the  temporary  sojourners  in  Utica,  traders  and  others, 
are  to  be  reckoned  Hugh  Goif,  merchant  near  the  corner  of 
Genesee  and  Main,  who  remained,  at  least,  until  1810 ;  Wil- 
liam Ward,  book  seller,  who  issued  one  single  lengthy  adver- 
tisement of  the  "  Utica  Bookstore,"  and  then  sold  out  to  George 
Richards,  Jr.  John  B.  Nazro,  who  opened  a  store  in  October 
1806,  and  died  in  December,  and  whose  family  returned  to 
Troy,  whence  they  came  ;  two  brothers  Oudenaarde,  Henry 
and  Marinus,  who  coming  from  New  York,  traded  in  Marcy, 
(then  Deerfield)  in  1800-2,  and  removed  to  Utica  about  1806, 
Henry  alone  attempted  business,  but  made  an  assignment  in 
1812,  and  died  in  1819.  He  was  a  smart  and  active  man,  de- 
spite the  fact  that  prosperity  did  not  crown  his  endeavors. 
His  wife  was  a  daughter  of  Thomas  Sickles.  Marinus  was 
very  decrepid. 

Two  tavern  keepers,  named  Nathaniel  Scott  and  Otis  Dexter, 
conducted  the  House  tavern  in  partnership.  The  former,  a 
Rhode  Islander,  had  lived  in  Deerfield  since  1798,  on  a  farm 
which  he  had  bought  of   one  of  the  Damuths.      This  he  sold 


244  THE   PIONEERS  OF  UTICA. 

when  he  came  to  Utica  in  18U6,  to  ArabeUa  Graham,  who  on 
the  delivery  of  the  deed  took  from  her  thimble  and  handed  ta 
Mr.  Scott,  three  one  thousand  dollar  notes  on  the  Manhattan 
Bank.  He  kept  tavern  only  about  two  years,  and  moved  to  a 
farm  on  the  Trenton  road  where  he  died,  an  old  man,  February 
1,  1847.  A  son  of  his  was  the  late  Martin  B.  Scott,  of  Cleve- 
land, Ohio,  and  a  daughter,  Cynthia,  who  married  Eladsit  Tis- 
dale,  became  some  years  afterward  t'lc  wife  of  James  C.  DeLong, 
of  Utica. 

Another  Scott,  (James)  a  foreigner  by  birth,  was  a  l)aker  on 
Main  street.  His  daughter  married  John  Baxter,  and  has  left 
descendants  still  in  Utica.  Charles  Brewster,  wheelwright,  who 
had  served  his  apprenticeship  with  Gurdon  Huntington  of  Rome, 
associated  himself  with  Abijali  Thomas,  but  had  failed,  and 
was  gone  by  1810  ;  Demas  Bobbins,  from  Stockbridge,  cabinet 
maker  and  an  early  partner  of  Rudolph  Snyder,  died  in  1809 ; 
John  Taggart,  shoemaker,  is  known  only  by  his  one  announce- 
ment, and  a  like  report  may  be  made  of  J.  Bedlock,  writing 
master.  Thomas  Gimbrede,  took  likenesses  in  miniature  or  pro- 
file, and  taught  dancing  and  fencing  as  well  as  painting.  Of 
one  of  his  accomplishments  he  has  left  proofs  that  are  still  ex- 
tant. 

Three  mechanics,  much  less  transitory  in  their  stay  were 
John  Culver,  Thomas  James,  John  Queal.  John  Culver,  joiner, 
worked  in  180H  upon  the  First  Presbyterian  Church,"  and  in 
1826  he  worked  upon  tlie  l)rick  one  which  succeeded  it.  For 
many  years  in  partnership  with  his  brother  Abraham,  he  was 
a  builder  in  good  repute,  and  an  honest  straightforward  man. 
His  wife  was  a  Miss  Flint  of  Rome,  and  he  had  a  son  named 
Amos.  Tliomas  James,  from  Pembrokeshire,  blacksmith,  en- 
tered Utica  on  the  first  day  of  January,  1806,  and  continued 
in  it  until  his  death,  October  30,  1837.  He  is  still  remembered 
as  an  industrious,  hard-working  mechanic,  and  his  shop,  near 
the  corner  of  Whitesboro  and  Washington  streets,  is  one  of 
the  few  lingering  mementoes  of  the  past.  His  son  Thomas 
is  probably  the  oldest  resident  of  the  second  ward,  if  not  of  the 
city.  John  Queal,  Irish,  and  a  shoemaker,  survived  until  1851, 
doing  business  during  nearly  all  of  the  intervening  time.  His 
descendants  are  still  here. 


THE  SECOND  CHARTER.  245 


1807. 


At  the  freeholder's  meeting  of  May  1807,  the  trustees  who 
were  elected  were  the  same  as  those  of  the  two  preceding  years, 
except  that  John  Hooker  was  substituted  for  Francis  A.  Blood - 
good.  The  board  made  Erastus  Clark  their  president.  The 
principal  business  recorded  as  done  by  them  throughout  the 
year  related  to  the  fire  company.  Having  in  July  examined 
the  books  of  the  clerk  of  this  compan}',  and  discovered  frequent 
absences,  they  resolved  that  every  fireman  noted  as  absent  from 
the  monthly  meetings  seven  times  between  May  1806,  and  June 
1807,  should  be  ordered  to  appear  before  them.  Twelve  ap- 
peared agreeably  to  such  citation,  and  after  a  full  examination 
of  their  several  excuses,  all  were  excused  except  one  who  had 
been  absent  twelve  times ;  he  was  removed.  The  clerk  of  the 
company  was  directed  to  report  thereafter  every  quarter  such 
firemen  as  were  absent  from  the  monthly  meetings ;  and  as 
a  consequence  a  few  were  subsequently  removed,  and  their 
places  supplied  from  the  list  of  ready  candidates.  The  coming 
of  the  Fourth  of  July  brought  its  troubles  to  the  officials  of 
1807,  just  as  its  approach  entails  anxiet}^  and  care  upon  the 
authorities  of  1877  ;  and  trivial  as  would  seem  the  prank  which 
now  occupied  their  attention,  the  author  of  it  was  not  thought 
unworthy  of  detection  and  punishment  by  the  village  fathers. 
Under  date  of  July  6,  we  find  the  following: 

Resolved^  that  five  dollars  be  given  to  any  one  who  will  dis 
cover  the  person  who  took  away  the  bolt  from  the  pump  at  the 
lower  end  of  Genesee  street,  on  the  evening  of  the  3d  instant, 
so  that  the  offender  may  be  prosecuted  ;  and  that  the  same  be 
advertised  three  weeks  in  both  the  papers. 

In  order  to  judge  righth^  of  the  gravity  of  the  oft'ence,  it  should 
be  remembered  that  the  town  pump  was  an  important  auxiliary  in 
the  extinguishment  of  fires,  as  it  was  the  usual  place  and  means  of 
drill  for  the  firemen  at  their  monthly  meetings ;  and  though  a  miss- 
ing bolt  could  be  easily  replaced,  it  might  be  lacking  when  most 
it  was  needed,  and  hence  exemplaiy  punishment  was  required. 
An  ordinance  was  passed  in  amendment  of  a  previous  one, 
wdiich  was  designed  to  prevent  the  erection  of  buildings  on  a 
street,  and  to  cause  the  removal  of  buildings  already  so  erected. 
Besides  the  foregoing  proceedings,  the  board  granted  a  license. 


246  THE  PIONEERS  OF  UTICA. 

for  the  erection  of  a  slaughter  house,  and  considered  an  appli- 
cation for  a  recommendation  to  the  board  of  commissioners  of 
excise  to  enable  the  applicant  to  obtain  a  license  as  an  inn- 
keeper. But  as  the  president  remarked  that  a  complaint  had, 
to  his  knowledge,  been  made  of  the  petitioner's  having  heretofore 
kept  a  house  unfavorable  to  good  morals,  thej^  advised  the  lat- 
ter to  wait  on  the  commissioners  and  learn  the  ground  of  com- 
plaint, with  leave  to  report  again  to  themselves,  intimating  also 
a  disposition  to  do  him  justice.  There  is  no  evidence  that  he 
returned.  Before  the  expiration  of  the  year  they  resolved 
that,  with  their  consent,  seven  persons  and  no  more  be  licensed 
to  keep  tavern  in  the  village  during  tlie  ensuing  year. 

Having  witnessed  the  watchful  care  exercised  by  the  trustees 
over  the  firemen  of  their  creation,  it  is  pleasing  to  see  that  these 
firemen  were  equally  watchful  in  their  own  behalf.  The  book 
of  their  clerk  shows  us  lists  of  delinquents  at  each  meeting, 
not  only  of  such  as  were  absent  during  the  exercise  with  the  en- 
gine, and  of  those  absent  at  roll  call  before  the  engine  was 
drawn  out,  but  likewise  of  such  as  appeared  without  their  lire- 
men's  hats.  The  three  classes  of  dehnquents  were  amenable  to 
fines,  differing  in  amount  in  the  respective  cases.  These  were 
adjudged  at  the  ensuing  meeting  by  a  judge  appointed  for  the 
occasion,  and  those  firemen  who  suffered  their  fines  to  remain 
unpaid  three  months  after  such  adjudication,  were  presented  to 
the  trustees  with  a  request  for  their  removal.  Towards  the  end 
of  winter  the  company  solaced  themselves  for  their  diligence  by 
a  supper  at  Tisdale's  ;  at  wdiich,— as  the  certified  bill  assures  us^ 
— twenty  three  were  present,  who  consumed  one  gallon  of  beer, 
three  pints  of  brandy,  three  pints  of  whiske)',  thirteen  bottles 
of  wine  and  one  hundred  cigars,  at  a  total  cost  of  £10,  17s. 

Another  traveller  has  left  us  his  impressions  of  the  appear- 
ance of  Utica  in  the  summer  of  1807.  This  was  Christian 
Schaltz,  Jr.,  Esq.,  whose  account  of  Mohawk  navigation  has 
been  before  quoted.  He  speaks  of  it  as  a  flourishing  village, 
and  tells  us  it  "  contains,  at  present,  about  one  hundred  and 
sixty  houses,  the  greatest  part  of  which  are  painted  white,  which 
gives  it  a  neat  and  lively  appearance.  Foreign  goods  are  nearly 
as  cheap  here  as  in  New  York,  which,  I  presume,  is  owing  to 
the  merchants  underselling  each  other;  for  this,  like  all  other 


THE  SECOND  CHARTER.  247 

country  towns,  is  overstocked  with  shop-keepers.  Most  of  the 
goods  intended  for  the  salt  works  are  loaded  here  in  wagons 
and  sent  on  over  land,  a  distance  of  fifty  miles.  The  carriage 
over  this  portage  is  fifty  cents  a  hundred  weight." 

The  newly  come  shop-keepers  of  the  year,  or  those  at  least 
of  whom  we  now  get  the  earliest  intimation,  were  Peter  Bours^ 
Stalham  Williams,  Winne  &  Evertsen,  William  Pitt  Sherman 
and  Luke  Devereux. 

Peter  Bours  was  another  Ehode  Islander,  having  b'een  a  na- 
tive of  Newport,  where  his  father  and  his  grandfather  had  lived 
before  him.  He  was  born  May  5,  1782.  In  October  1807  he 
opened  in  Utica  what  he  termed  a  "  new  cheap  store"  at  the 
sign  of  the  golden  eagle.  His  stock  was  large,  and  consisted 
of  the  miscellaneous  assortment  then  kept  by  others  of  the 
time,  including  dry  goods,  groceries,  crockery,  hardware,  &c. 
Some  three  years  later  lie  gives  notice  of  his  intention  to  close 
his  present  concern,  and  offers  his  stock  at  cost.  Taking  into 
partnership  Stalham  Williams,  he  devotes  himself  exclusively 
to  the  sale  of  hardware.  They  characterize  their  establishment 
as  the  first  of  the  kind  in  the  western  district,  and  declare  that 
they  import  direct  from  the  manufacturers  in  London,  Birm- 
ingham and  Shefiield.  In  August  1811  the  firm  is  dissolved, 
and  early  the  following  year  the  creditors  of  Mr.  Bours  are 
invited  to  show  cause  why  he  should  not  be  discharged  from 
his  debts.  Meanwhile  he  had  married  Mary  Eobinson,  niece  of 
the  wife  of  Colonel  Benjamin  Walker,  and  was  living  in  the 
house  which  he  had  built  for  himself  on  the  north  west  corner 
of  Broad  and  First  streets,  the  same  which  is  now  occupied  by 
T.  K.  Butler.  This  house,  which  was  an  uncommonly  expen- 
sive and  stylish  one  for  the  time,  had  been  begun  before  Broad 
street  was  fully  opened.  As  it  was  heavily  mortgaged,  and  in 
May  1814  was  to  be  sold  under  foreclosure,  it  was  now  given 
up.  But  Mr.  Bours  had  found  a  new  occupation  and  with  it  a 
new  residence.  He  was  very  active  in  organizing  the  Utica 
Glass  Factory,  a  manufactory  started  at  Glassville,  so  called,  in 
the  present  town  of  Marcy.  He  acted  for  some  time  as  its 
superintendent,  and  moved  thither  with  his  famil}^  The  fac- 
tory proved  unsuccessful,  as  will  be  shown  in  a  future  notice  of 
its  operations,  and  in  1818  Mr.  Bours  opened  a  land  office  in 


248  THE   PIONEERS  OF  UTICA. 

Utica  for  recording  and  exliibiting  for  sale  unsettled  lands  and 
improved  farms.  This,  too,  bringing  liim  no  compensation,  be 
next  entered  upon  the  profession  of  an  auctioneer,  a  profession 
in  which  his  active  spirit  and  his  plausible  address  soon  secured 
liim  plentiful  employment.  The  frequent  noisy  cries  of  his 
sturdy  negro,  as  he  patrolled  the  streets,  bell  in  hand,  proclaim- 
ing a  sale,  and  calling  bystanders  to  walk  up  to  Mr.  Bours'  auc- 
tion rooms,  are  recollections  fast  in  the  memor}^  of  all  older 
citizens  of  Utica.  After  the  death  of  Colonel  Walker,  the 
house  of  this  gentleman,  with  thirteen  acres  of  land  attached, 
was  sold  at  auction,  and  was  bought  by  Mr.  Bours.  Here  he 
took  up  his  residence,  and  here,  towards  its  latter  part,  he  raised 
vegetables  for  the  village  market.  His  next  cliange,  which 
took  place  about  the  year  1826,  carried  him  away  to  Geneva. 

He  had  boundless  activity  and  enterprise,  but  was  specula- 
tive and  visionary.  Having  a  good  opinion  of  himself  and  be- 
ing fond  of  making  a  show,  he  came  much  into  public  notice 
and  position,  though  his  opinions  did  not  carry  the  weight  of 
others  of  sounder  judgment  who  were  less  forward.  Making 
money  readily  during  a  part  at  least  of  his  career,  he  spent  it 
as  freely,  and  consumed  a  large  share  of  his  commissions  in 
advertising  and  ofhce  hire.  He  was  rather  stocky,  light  com- 
plexioned,  wore  glasses,  a  flowing,  ruffled  shirt  and  large  gold 
cliain  and  seal.  For  many  years  he  was  a  vestryman  of  Trini- 
ty Church,  and  in  1822  he  was  its  treasurer.  He  died  at  Ge- 
neva, October  30,  1860.  Mrs.  Bours  was  a  daughter  of  Captain 
Thomas  Robinson  of  the  United  States  Navy,  who  in  1799  com- 
manded the  frigate  John  Adams.  He  became  a  paralytic  and 
was  several  years  disabled.  Before  his  death,  in  1812,  he  spent 
some  time  in  Utica.  His  daughter,  Mrs.  Bours,  was  a  tall,  vig- 
orous looking  lady,  and  a  truly  noble  domestic  character,  straight 
forw?rd  and  independent.  After  their  removal  to  Geneva,  and 
when  her  husband  had  lost  his  eyesight,  she  contributed  in  va- 
rious ways  to  their  su])port.  Her  death  occurred  October  1, 
18o9.  The  following  children  are  now  living :  Mary  Robinson, 
(Mrs.  Joseph  Stow),  at  Stockton,  California;  Thomas  Robinson, 
at  Alamos,  Mexico;  Benjamin  Walker,  at  Stockton;  John  H. 
H.,  at  Jacksonville,  Florida;  Allen  Lee,  at  Lansing,  Michigan; 
Caroline,  (Mrs.  Hugh  W.  Taylor),  at  Stockton. 


THE  SECOND  CHARTER.  249 

Stalham  Williams  caine  to  ITtica  in  1807,  and  died  there 
April  8,  1873,  at  the  age  of  almost  one  hundred  years,  having 
been  born  October  3,  1773,  at  Hatfield,  Massachusetts.  An 
experience  so  lengthened  was  naturally  varied,  covei'ing  numer- 
ous changes  in  the  career  of  its  subject  as  well  as  in  the  town 
and  among  the  people  with  whom  he  dwelt.  Fitted  for  Har- 
vard College  at  the  expense  of  his  grandfather,  Hon.  William 
Williams,  the  sudden  death  of  his  benefactor  deprived  him  of 
the  expected  liberal  education,  and  he  returned  to  his  father's 
farm.  After  removing  to  Utica,  he  began  as  a  book-keeper  for 
John  C.  Devereux,  and  then  was  similarly  employed  by  Peter 
Bours.  He  was  next  a  pai'tner  with  the  latter.  Then,  after 
being  for  awhile  a  dry  goods  merchant  on  his  own  account,  he 
shifted  to  an  association  with  Jason  Parker,  and  was  interested 
with  him  until  September  1817.  In  June  1820  he  was  ap- 
pointed collector  on  the  newly  opened  middle  section  of  the 
Erie  canal,  and  served  some  time  as  such.  From  the  expira- 
tion of  this  service  until  he  again  entered  the  employ  of  the 
Messrs.  Devereux,  he  was  a  short  time  a  book-keeper  for  James 
Dana,  and  during  a  still  longer  period  acted  as  secretary  and 
treasurer  of  the  Erie  Canal  Packet  Boat  Company.  He  also 
cooperated  with  his  wife  the  leading  milliner  and  fancy  dealer 
of  her  time,  and  supervised  her  books  and  accounts. 

After  Messrs.  John  C.  and  Nicholas  Devereux  had  retired 
from  active  business,  they  retained  an  office  on  Bleecker  street, 
and  managed  a  sort  of  unchartered  savings  bank.  Here  the 
scant  savings  of  poorer  citizens,  who  confided  in  the  integrity 
of  these  gentlemen,  were  sacredly  guarded,  and  regular  inter- 
est was  paid  on  all  accumulated  balances.  The  routine  work 
was  performed  by  Mr.  Williams,  and  was  performed  with  rare 
fidelity.  When  in  process  of  time  the  deposits  had  grown  so 
large  that  it  was  deemed  best,  for  the  accommodation  of  all 
classes  of  depositors,  that  a  savings  bank  should  be  organized, 
Mr.  Williams  was  made  its  secretary  and  treasurer.  This  was 
in  1839,  and  the  office  he  continued  to  hold  until  his  death. 
When  lie  had  reached  the  age  of  seventy  he  tendered  his  resig- 
nation to  the  directors  of  the  Bank,  fearing  that  age  had  im- 
paired his  usefulness.  But  they  refused  to  part  company  with 
their  faithful  officer,  and  he  remained  long  after  he  had  passed 
his  ninetieth  year  in  the  daily  performance  of  his  duty. 


250  THE   PIOXEERS  OF  UTICA. 

Modest  and  retiring  almost  to  a  fault,  his  life  was  marked  bj 
perfect  purity,  honor  and  probity,  and  rounded  into  such  noble 
christian  grace  that  his  memory  will  be  tenderly  cherished  in 
the  cit}'  which  was  so  long  his  home.  The  i^eople  of  Utica, 
when  he  entered  it,  he  computed  at  about  five  hundred  in  num- 
ber ;  he  left  them  at  least  sixty  times  as  numerous.  The  suc- 
cessive changes  he  observed  with  interest,  and  took  a  melan- 
choly pleasure  in  chronicling  the  times  of  decease  of  his  early 
associates.  When  he  died  he  was  almost  the  last  link  of  its 
older  class  of  business  men.  His  wife,  who  from  the  year  1808 
for  twenty  years  and  more  was  the  chief  importer  and  artificer 
of  ladies'  dresses  for  the  head,  and  was  invaluable  for  her  taste, 
her  skill  and  her  business  capacity,  was,  moreover,  in  all  re- 
spects a  woman  of  excellent  qiialities;  refined,  dignified  and 
gentle,  she  commanded  respect  and  affection.  She  was  Miss 
Mary  Augusta  Barron,  of  Amherst,  Massachusetts,  but  had  been 
tenderly  and  thoroughly  educated  by  her  step-father,  Judge 
Simeon  Strong,  who  succeeded  to  the  place  of  her  father  while 
she  was  still  quite  young.  She  died  June  1, 1863,  at  the  age  of 
eighty-five.  Their  only  son,  William  Barron,  resided  most  of  his 
life  at  Eochester,  where  he  died  in  1861.  The  daughters  were 
Frances  Lucretia  (widow  of  Richard  W.  Sherman) ;  Caroline 
Sophia  (widow  of  Francis  W.  Sherman  of  Marshall,  Michigan)  ; 
Sarah  (Mrs.  David  Scoville  of  Rochester,  and  afterwards  Mrs. 
Thomas  H.  Wood  of  Utica) ;  and  Lucy  Jane,  who  died  in  child- 
hood. 

Killian  Wiiine  and  John  E.  Evertsen,  from  Albany,  began 
in  the  white  store  opposite  Watts  Sherman,  which  had  been  be- 
fore occupied  by  John  Bissell.  They  remained  together  until 
Septcml)er  1812,  and  soon  after,  the  former  was  selling  cari)ets 
on  the  corner  of  Grenesee  and  Main,  while  his  quondam  asso- 
ciate kept  the  original  store.  Wiinie  was  in  Utica  until  his 
death  in  April  1823,  and  in  his  latter  years  had  a  lottery  and 
exchange  office.  His  first  wife  dying  in  May  1809,  he  married 
two  years  later  the  widow  of  William  Fellows.  He  was  driv- 
ing in  business,  bat  loved  company  and  a  frolic;  ball  playing 
was  one  of  his  special  pleasures. 

Evertsen  kc})t  on  at  the  old  place  until  after  the  war,  but 
continuing  to  hold  his  goods  at  war  })rices,  he  could  not  sell 


THE  SECOND  CHARTER.  251 

them,  and  so  failed  and  returned  to  Albany.  Barney  Evertsen, 
his  brother  and  clerk,  and  a  very  expert  book-keeper,  remained 
some  little  time  longer,  and  was  in  the  service  of  E.  B.  Shear- 
man. 

William  Pitt  Shearman  arrived  this  year  from  Rhode  Island, 
and  became  assistant  of  his  brother  Ebenezer.  A  few  years 
later  he  was  in  company  with  Seth  Dwight,  but  in  1815  formed 
a  business  connection  with  his  brother  Robert.  This  connection 
was  of  some  years  standing,  and  though  the  elder  brother  ere 
long  moved  to  Rochester,  Robert  remained  his  partner,  the  firm 
name  being  at  one  place  William  P.  &  Robert  Shearman,  while 
at  the  other  the  order  of  the  names  was  reversed.  Striking  in 
personal  appearance,  possessed  of  decided  enterprise,  he  took  a 
high  stand  as  a  merchant,  and  accumulated  a  handsome  prop- 
erty. Politically  he  was  of  the  notorious  twenty-one  high- 
minded  gentlemen.  He  died  rather  suddenly  in  New  York  City 
when  not  past  thirty.  His  wife  was  Miss  Marietta  Andrews  of 
Rochester.  His  children  were  Julia  (widow  of  Charles  H.  Doo- 
little  of  Utica),  and  Ebenezer,  of  Rochester. 

Luke  Devereux,  who  had  been  a  clerk  for  his  brother  John 
C,  was  taken  into  partnership  in  1807.  Four  years  later  the 
house  was  conducted  in  his  name  only.  He  remained  in  Utica 
until  1814,  but  died  of  yellow  fever  in'  Natchez,  in  February 
1818,  at  which  place  he  was  then  living.  He  was  a  man  of 
genteel  carriage  and  brilliant  parts. 

Another  long  continued  establishment  started  in  November 
1807,  was  that  of  Bagg  &  Camp.  John  Camp,  eldest  son  of 
Talcott  Camp  (of  1796),  was  born  in  Glastonbury,  Connecticut, 
February  11,  1786,  and  was  in  his  eleventh  year  when  he  came 
with  his  father  to  this  place.  He  soon  became  a  clerk  for  Wil- 
liam Fellows,  and  two  years  after  the  latter  had  associated  him- 
self with  Moses  Bagg  he  bought  out  the  interest  of  Mr.  Fel- 
lows and  the  new  firm  was  formed.  Under  the  name  of  Bagg 
&  Camp  the  two  carried  on  for  some  years  the  usual  miscella- 
neous business  of  the  time.  When  the  former  ceased  from  its 
active  prosecution,  retaining  only  a  pecuniary  interest,  the  firm 
assumed  the  name  of  John  Camp  &  Co.  Next  it  was  changed 
to  John  Camp  &  Brothers,  and  under  this  name  the  three  Messrs. 


252  THE  PIONEERS  OF  UTICA. 

Camp,  John,  Harry  and  Charles,  continued  their  business  until 
about  the  3'ear  1834,  the  period  of  the  death  of  Charles,  when 
John  withdrew.  The  store,  which  at  first  had  been  kept  in  the 
building  next  adjoining  Bagg's  tavern  on  the  north,  was  in 
later  years  on  Genesee  street,  nearly  opj^osite  Catherine.  Mr. 
Camp  continued  to  act  as  director  of  the  Bank  of  Utica  the 
remainder  of  his  days. 

He  was  a  man  of  unobtrusive  and  rather  retiring  manners, 
clear  and  calm  in  judgment,  kind  and  benevolent  in  disposition, 
awake  to  public  and  to  private  interests,  and  of  unblemished 
private  character.  He  survived  to  reach  the  age  of  eighty,  and 
died  July  21,  1867.  Among  the  last  of  the  older  class  of  mer- 
chants, not  one  of  them  left  behind  a  fairer  reputation  for  hon- 
esty in  dealing  or  freedom  from  personal  failings.  Somewhat 
late  in  life  he  married  the  widow  of  Charles  R  Doolittle,  who 
was  the  daughter  of  Captain  Obear.  Mrs.  Camp  is  still  living, 
as  also  their  only  child  Harriet  (Mrs.  George  D.  Dimon). 

Jacob  Snyder,  brother  of  Rudolph  previously  described,  has 
a  history  which  in  its  beginning  is  very  like  to  his.  He  was 
born  in  New  York,  September  28,  1781  ;  was  engaged  in  ship- 
ping stores  in  that  city,  whence  he  went  to  Albany  and  was 
similarly  engaged ;  dissatisfied  with  business,  he  learned  the 
trade  of  chair  making  and  came  to  Utica  to  practice  it.  This 
was  in  1807,  about  two  years  after  Rudolph.  He  had  a  shop 
near  the  site  of  the  Bradish  block,  his  dwelHng  being  on  the 
side  street.  Subsequently  he  conducted  business  on  Catherine 
street  near  Genesee,  and  in  later  years  on  Liberty  near  Seneca. 
The  chairs  he  made  have  not  their  match  in  modern  times  for 
strength  and  durability,  and  in  the  sale  of  them  he  liad  almost 
the  monopoly  of  the  market  until  after  the  war  of  1812.  Some 
thirty  years  before  his  death  he  withdrew  from  business,  because, 
as  he  believed,  it  was  no  longer  carried  on  as  honestly  as  it 
should  be.  He  was  a  leader  among  the  society  of  Methodists, 
and  his  house  a  coveted  place  of  rest  and  refreshment  for  the 
travelling  preachers  of  the  sect.  With  a  voice  like  rolling  thun- 
der, he  exercised  it  often  in  exhortation  and  in  prayer,  wherein 
his  language  was  clioice  and  scriptural.  Temperance  and  anti- 
slavery  were  reforms  which  were  near  to  his  heart,  and  formed 
themes  for  liis  tongue  and  his  pen.  He  was  one  of  the  delegates 
to  the  convention  of  abolitionists,  which  was  opened  in  Utica 


THE  SECOND  CHARTER.  253 

in  1835,  and  which  was  broken  up  by  a  mob  instigated  by  some 
of  the  best  of  its  citizens.  Mr.  Snyder  was  one  of  those  who 
went  home  covered  with  the  filth  of  misbegotten  fowls.  Some- 
what of  a  reader,  he  was  principled  against  fiction,  "  Uncle 
Tom's  Cabin  "  being  the  only  novel  he  ever  looked  into.  He 
died  April  24,  1863.  His  wife,  to  whom  he  was  united  in  1810, 
and  who  was  some  ten  years  his  junior,  still  survives.  Three 
sons  and  two  daughters  of  a  large  family  are  still  living,  viz. : 
William  H.  of  Galena,  111.,  Eudolph  D.  of  Utica,  and  F.  L. 
of  Chicago.     The  daughters  are  of  Utica. 

January  27,  1807,  AVilliam  Haywood  advertises  that  he  has 
taken  the  Hotel  at  Utica,  which  he  intends  to  open  by  the 
name  of  the  Mohawk  Hotel.  As  brief  an  occupant  as  some 
other  proprietors  of  this  house,  he  was  cut  ofi;  by  death  on  the 
14th  of  August  following.  The  next  March  a  successor  is  in 
his  place,  and  the  original  name  is  resumed.  His  son  John 
lived  with  the  family  in  Utica  until  1819,  and  two  years  after- 
ward went  to  Rochester,  which  was  his  home  until  he  died  in 
July  1873,  at  the  age  of  seventy-six.  There  he  was  alderman^ 
supervisor,  first  treasurer  of  the  Eochester  Savings  Bank,  and 
vestryman  of  St  Luke's  Church.  A  brother,  William,  went 
with  him  to  Eochester,  a  sister  was  married  in  Utica. 

Another  temporary  proprietor  of  a  public  house  was  Joab 
Stafford.  ■  Brother  of  the  David  Stafford  already  noticed,  and 
seventh  son  of  Col.  Joab  Stafford  of  Coventry,  E.  I.,  he  came 
from  Albany  to  Peerfield  sometime  previous  to  1798.  There 
he  had  a  brewery,  an  ashery  and  a  store,  and  there  he  married 
Hannah  Biddlecom.  In  1807  he  succeeded  Scott  k  Dexter 
as  keeper  of  the  House  tavern  in  Utica.  Next  he  began  to  man- 
ufacture tin  and  copper  ware,  having  a  shop  on  the  west  side  of 
the  square,  and  a  home  in  Seneca  street  He  was  thus  employed 
until  his  death.  May  10,  1810,  in  his  forty-fifth  year.  His  chil- 
dren were  Daniel,  who  followed  him  in  coppersmithing ;  Isabella^ 
first  wife  of  Enos  Brown;  George,  a  hardware  merchant  in 
Geneva;  and  Hannah,  wife  of  Eev.  William  B.  Lacey,  D.  D.^ 
rector  of  St  Peter  s  Church  in  Albany. 

Bildad  and  Isaac  Merrell,  brothers  of  the  Ira  Merrell  before 
noticed,  had  both  a  lengthened  abode  in  Utica.     The  former 


254  THE   PIONEERS  OF  UTICA. 

kept  a  livery  stable  on  Hotel  street,  was  godly  in  life,  and 
head  of  a  respectable  family.  In  the  fall  of  1814,  by  direction 
of  Postmaster  Hitchcock,  he  went  with  men  and  horses  to  or- 
ganise an  express  system  between  Sacketts  Harbor  and  our 
army  at  Plattsburg.  The  battle  of  Plattsburg  soon  followed, 
the  enemy  withdrew,  and  but  one  express  was  ever  carried. 
After  the  opening  of  the  middle  section  of  the  Erie  canal,  he 
drew  up  a  boat  from  the  river  and  kept  it  on  livery  for  pleasure 
excursions.  Something  later,  when  he  had  gotten  together  a 
moderate  ])roperty,  he  engaged  in  staging,  running  lines  north 
and  south  of  Utica.  His  conscientious  objections  to  Sunday 
travelling  led  him  to  take  a  pecuniary  interest  in  the  Pioneer 
line,  which  was  run  on  weekdays  only.  But  in  this,  he  with 
other  stockholders,  was  borne  down  by  su})erior  competition, 
and  lost  the  most  of  his  gains.  Poverty  he  preferred  to  wealth 
obtained  at  the  expense  of  his  principles.  H  e  died  September  28, 
1851,  aged  seventy  four.  An  unostentatious  man,  he  was  em- 
phatically an  upright  one,  and  a  zealous  and  consistent  Christian. 
As  his  father  and  his  grand-father  before  him  had  been  church 
elders,  so  he  as  well  as  his  brothers  Ira  and  Andrew,  performed 
for  many  years  the  duties  of  this  office  in  the  Presbyterian 
Church  of  Utica.  His  son,  Bildad,  jr.,  died  a  few  months  before 
him.  Of  two  daughters  one  only  survives,  Mrs.  Piatt  of  Newark, 
N.  J.  Isaac  was  long  the  sexton  of  the  Presbyterian  Church, 
and  grave  digger  of  the  old  burying  ground.  How  devout 
may  have  been  his  part  in  the  service  of  the  sanctuary,  we  are 
unable  to  say ;  the  sanctuary  and  its  vessels  he  worshipped 
with  slavish  and  unvarying  devotion.  He,  too,  died  an  old 
man  in  May  1860. 

An  a])prentice  or  journeyman  hatter  of  some  two  years  resi- 
dence was  Levi  Barnum.  He  now  entered  on  business  inde- 
pendently, and  continued  in  it  long  enough  to  become  old, — 
most  of  the  time  on  the  west  side  of  the  square, — pursuing 
a  quiet  but  industrious  course,  and  leaving  sons  to  honor 
him. 

John  B.  Harrington,  butcher,  though  he  did  not  ask  the  trus- 
tees for  a  license  until  1814,  was  before  that  time  a  caterer  to 
the  necessities  of  the  soldiers  at  Sacketts  Harbor.     He  kept  up 


THE  SECOND  CHARTER,  255 

the  trade  for  a  long  course  of  years.     He  was  eighty  when  he 
died  in  1852. 

Mrs.  Bethiah  Williams,  widow  of  a  sea  captain,  sustained 
herself  and  family  by  the  making  of  millinery.  Of  this  family 
one  was  for  a  time  a  teacher  and  afterwards  the  second  wife  of 
Thomas  Eockwell ;  another,  Elhanan  W.  Williams,  was  a  law- 
yer, whose  decease  is  but  a  recent  event,  and  whose  family  are 
still  in  the  city;  yet  another  son  died  many  years  since. 

Just  over  the  eastern  frontier,  John  Gilbert,  an  Englishman, 
began  in  1807  to  make  starch.  He  was  joined  in  1812  by  his 
brother  Edward  ;  and  there  the  manufacture  was  kept  up  until 
within  a  few  years. 

There  came  with  John  a  most  ingenious  and  accomplished 
macliinist,  a  Welshman,  named  Evan  Thomas,  who  was  much 
resorted  to  for  advice  and  assistance.  He  built  a  mill  near  the 
Starch  Factory  in  which  he  had  many  ingenious  contrivances. 
He  aided  Mellen  Battle,  to  be  hereafter  mentioned,  in  construct- 
ing a  machine  for  the  making  of  wagon  wheels. 

A  comical  character  of  this  date  was  Jacob  Barker,  a  barber, 
liberal  to  recklessness,  and  uj)  to  all  sorts  of  capers.  It  is  said 
of  him  that  having  drawn  a  prize  in  a  lottery,  he  was  so  elated 
b}^  it,  that  one  Fourth  of  July  he  hired  a  sleigh  with  a  team  of 
six  horses,  and  thus  equipped  drove  about  the  village,  distrib- 
uting handfuls  of  coin  among  the  boys  who  followed  him,  or 
casting  it  into  the  river  for  the  pleasure  of  seeing  them  dive  after 
it.  He  drove  his  horses  into  the  hall  of  the  Hotel,  called  for  a 
"  gin  twist,"  and  paid  the  bar  keeper  fifty  dollars.  He  was  ac- 
customed to  wear  white  cravats,  and  when  one  was  soiled  he 
covered  it  with  a  clean  one,  until  his  neck  was  so  encumbered 
that  he  was  forced  to  take  them  off  and  begin  anew.  Pennies 
he  despised,  and  such  as  were  given  him  by  his  customers  he 
thrust  into  a  hole  in  his  shop  wall,  which  was  not  plastered  but 
ceiled.  When  the  house  was  taken  down  over  a  pint  of  cop- 
pers was  gathered. 

Residents  for  a  period  comparatively  brief,  were  John  B. 
Mitchell,  butcher  in  1807,  starch  maker  in  1809  ;  Calvin  Lin- 
coln, who  wrought  nails  for  Augustus  Hickox;  William  Pitt- 


256  THE  PIONEERS  OF  UTICA. 

man,  blacksmith,  who  moved  to  Slaj^ton's  Bush  on  the  borders 
of  the  village,  but  whose  descendants  are  now  in  the  city ; 

George  Spitzenburger,  furrier;  Eappelyea,  a  retired  or 

broken  merchant  from  the  east ;  Freienmoet  Van  Buren,  farmer, 
who  went  to  Canandaigua;  E.  G.  Gridlej,  engraver;  G.  W. 
Vaughan,  shoemaker;  James  Murray,  soap  boiler;  Mandeville 
Tuttle,  hostler,  a  character  unique  enough  for  remembrance,  if 
not  for  pei'petuation. 


1808. 

In  May  1808,  the  freeholders  met  to  elect  trustees,  and  for 
the  last  time  in  the  old  Main  street  school  house,  the  furniture  of 
the  building  having  been  advertised  for  sale  shortly  afterward. 
The  new  trustees  were  Morris  S.  Miller,  Jerathmel  Ballou,  John 
Hooker,  Nathaniel  Butler,  and  John  Bellinger.  Morris  S.  Miller 
was  made  president  of  the  board.  Of  their  proceedings  there  is 
not  mucit  that  is.noteworthy ;  the  meetings  were  held  regularly 
every  month,  and  the  assize  of  bread  made  out  and  published. 
The  usual  vigilance  is  evinced  with  respect  to  danger  from  fires 
and  to  faithfulness  on  the  part  of  the  firemen;  absentees  being 
duly  reported  and  those  of  them  who  were  unexcused  removed 
from  position.  It  was  ordered  that  firemen  exi^ecting  to  be  ab- 
sent from  a  regular  meeting  of  the  company  should  notify  the 
clerk  of  the  fact  with  the  reason  for  their  absence,  or  if  suddenly 
called  away  give  their  excuse  immediately  afterwards,  which 
notice  and  excuse  were  to  be  reported  to  the  corporation.  An 
ordinance  was  passed  forbidding  the  use  of  firearms,  rockets  or 
squibs  between  the  east  line  of  Lot  No.  92  and  the  west  line  of 
No.  96,  and  the  southern  boundary  of  the  village ;  also  forbid- 
ding fast  driving  and  ball  playing  between  90  and  96.  A  sub- 
scription was  set  on  foot  to  fence  the  burying  ground,  and  an- 
other to  procure  a  hearse,  and  these  moneys  so  subscribed  the 
collector  was  directed  to  collect.  One  special  meeting  was  called 
to  consider  the  case  of  John  C,  Hoyt,  who  had  raised  his  house 
in  order  to  under-pin  it,  and  he  was  advised  to  move  the  house 
back.  The  firemen  likewise  met  monthly  for  practice  with  the 
engine,  but  did  nothing  else  except  to  mark  the  absent  ones 
and  assess  them  with  fines  the  next  time  thcv  came. 


THE  SECOND  CHARTER.  '  257 

As  yet  I  have  made  no  mention  of  tlie  society  of  Metho- 
dists in  Utica,  because  they  had,  until  now,  no  place  of  worship 
within  the  village  hmits.  They  were  in  existence,  however, 
and  were  meeting  often  together,  and  exhorting  one  another  to 
good  works ;  as  where  do  they  not,  wherever  there  is  a  pioneer 
settlement  formed  or  missionary  enterpi-ise  to  be  achieved  ?  At 
first  the  members  residing  in  Utica  were  attached  to  a  class  that 
met  in  a  small  church  on  the  road  to  New  Hartford.  This  was 
a  centre  for  the  members  living  at  New  Hartford,  Slayton's  Bush 
and  Utica,  The  relic  of  that  church  remains,  and  may  be  identi- 
fied as  a  part  of  the  small  white  dwelling  house  directly  opposite 
the  west  end  of  Pleasant  street.  In  1808  Solomon  Bronson,  a 
man  of  means  and  influence,  living  near  this  church,  was  con- 
verted, and  being  earnest  and  zealous,  a  good  singer  and  a  fer- 
vent exhorter,  he  used  to  come  down  to  Utica  and  hold  meet- 
ings in  a  building  back  of  the  line  of  Genesee  street,  and  in  the 
rear  of  where  the  store  of  Newell  &  Son  now  stands,  which 
building,  it  is  said,  was  designed  and  used  as  a  school  house. 
This  then  was  the  first  place  of  meeting,  and  here  the  society 
had  occasional  preaching.  J.  Huestes,  Benjamin  Gr.  Paddock 
and  Charles  Giles  preached  in  that  school  house  while  they 
travelled  the  circuit  which  included  Utica,  and  which  was  known 
as  the  Westmoreland  Circuit.  But  very  soon, — probably  in 
the  year  1808, — Rudolph  Snyder  built  for  the  society  a  house 
of  worship  on  ground  situated  where  the  southern  end  of  the 
Bradish  block  now  stands,  beside  the  shop  of  his  brother  Jacob, 
which  occupied  the  corner  of  Elizabeth  street.  Tt  was  a  small 
wooden  building  of  a  single  story,  and  was  intended  for  a  school 
house  as  well  as  a  church.  It  was  occupied  by  the  society 
about  six  years.  Through  the  influence  of  Solomon  Bronson,, 
quite  a  number  were  converted,  and  the  influence  of  Methodism: 
in  Utica  began  to  be  strongly  felt  and  its  adherents  respected. 

During  the  summer  of  1808  an  additional  street  was  opened. 
This  was  Broad  street,  which,  though  laid  out  and  partially 
worked  a  little  time  before,  was  now  extended  to  Genesee  street. 
Two  brick  houses  were  commenced  upon  it.  A  small  brook, 
coming  in  from  a  south-easterly  direction,  formerly  crossed  the 
course  of  this  street  between  John  and  First  streets,  aud  entered 
the  river  just  below  the  bridge.  Trout  were  sometimes  taken 
near  its  outlet. 

R 


258  THE  PIONEERS  OF  UTICA. 

A  meeting  was  held  this  year  of  the  electors  of  the  county 
to  take  into  consideration  the  expediency  of  petitioning  the 
President  oj  the  United  States  to  suspend  the  operation  of  the 
embargo.  Tlie  meeting  was  held  at  the  Hotel  on  the  3d  of 
Septend^er,  and  was,  according  to  the  federal  paper,  the  lai-gest 
assemblage  of  farmers  and  citizens  that  had,  up  to  that  time, 
been  witnessed  in  the  county.  The  wdiole  country  was  excited 
by  the  depressed  condition  of  affairs  resulting  from  the  embargo 
policy  of  Mr.  Jefferson,  and  similar  meetings  were  held  elsewhere 
in  order  to  petition  the  government  for  the  suspension  of  this 
policy.  At  the  gathering  in  Utica,  Col.  Benjamin  Walker  was 
called  to  the  chair  and  Bezaleel  Fisk,  of  Trenton,  was  chosen 
secretary.  After  the  meeting  had  been  organized  and  its  object 
stated  in  a  few  })ertinent  remarks  by  the  chairman,  Thomas 
R.  Gold,  of  Whitesboro  offered  resolutions,  prefaced  by  a  speech 
of  considerable  length,  in  which, — as  sa_ys  the  reporter, — in  a 
very  candid  and  dispassionate  manner  he  took  a  view  of  the 
alarming  situation  of  the  country,  of  the  present  effects  of  the 
embargo,  and  of  its  probable  consequences,  if  continued.  These 
resolutions  after  being  warmly  seconded  by  Judge  Vanderkemp, 
of  Trenton,  M^ere  unanimously  adopted.  Jonas  Piatt  of  Whites- 
boro, offered  to  the  consideration  of  the  meeting  a  draft  of  a 
petition  to  the  President,  which  was  agreed  to  with  enthusiastic 
unanimity.  After  the  appointment  of  a  committee  of  highly 
respectable  and  influential  citizens  of  the  county  to  procure  tlie 
printing  of  the  petition  and  its  circulation  by  sub-committees 
from  each  town  in  the  county,  and  to  recommend  other  counties 
of  the  western  district  to  adopt  similar  measures,  the  meeting 
adjourned.  In  this  petition  the  memorialists  say  that  "the 
losses  and  embarrassments  which  had  arisen  from  the  existing 
embargo  they  had  thus  far  submitted  to  without  opposition  or 
complaint,  in  the  hopes  that  the  avowed  policy  of  the  meas- 
ure might  be  realized."  Yet  "  after  eight  months  endurance  of 
the  rigorous  system,  they  feel  constrained  by  the  most  ardent 
patriotism,  as  well  as  by  the  imperious  duty  of  providing  for 
their  families  and  satisfying  their  engagements,  respectfully  to 
declare  that  the  embargo  has  failed  of  the  effects  wdiich  were 
^ticipated.  Instead  of  restraining  or  a})pcasing  the  lawless 
violence  and  domineering  pretensions  of  the  Em[)eror  Napoleon, 
the  embargo  has  furnished  him  with  an  apology  for  still  greater 


THE  SECOND  CHARTER.  259 

insults  and  hostility  towards  our  country."  Reviewing  the  ef- 
fects upon  England  of  this  weapon  of  coercion,  the  memorial- 
ists believe  that  "  its  further  continuance  will  greatly  favor  her 
■commercial  interests,  and  prove  subservient  to  her  views  of  ex- 
clusive maritime  dominion."  As  farmers  they  are  firmly  per- 
suaded that  "  the  value  of  the  soil  depends  in  a  great  degree  on 
the  unrestrained  privilege  of  sending  their  surplus  pi'oduce  to 
foreign  markets  through  the  agency  of  American  merchants 
and  shipowners;"  that  "the  value  of  their  territorial  rights  de- 
pends essentially  upon  the  maintenance  of  their  rights  upon  the 
ocean."  A  paragraph  or  two  is  expended  in  deprecation  of  the 
expediency  of  employing  the  industry  of  a  large  portion  of  the 
citizens  of  the  United  States  in  manufactures,  however  honor- 
able may  be  the  calling  when  voluntarily  and  naturally  fol- 
lowed. And  in  conclusion,  with  "  all  the  respect  due  from  freemen 
to  rulers  of  their  own  choice,"  they  earnestly  request  the  Pres- 
ident "  to  suspend  the  further  operation  of  the  embargo  and  the 
laws  supplementary  thereto,  and  that  he  take  the  earliest  op- 
portunity to  recommend  to  Congress  a  I'epeal  of  the  existing 
laws  on  that  subject." 

The  reply  of  President  Jefferson  to  the  Oneida  petition  was 
received  about  six  weeks  after  the  meeting.  In  this  he  tells  the 
petitioners  that  he  "should  with  great  willingness  have  executed 
their  wishes,  if  peace,  or  a  repeal  of  the  obnoxious  edicts, — 
with  which  the  belligerent  powers  had  beset  the  highway  of 
commercial  intercourse, — or  other  changes,  had  produced  the 
case  in  which  alone  the  laws  have  given  him  that  authority. 
But  while  these  edicts  remain  the  Legislature  alone  can  prescribe 
the  course  to  be  pursued." 

It  was  during  this  same  exciting  era  that  a  military  company 
was  drafted  in  Utica  to  serve  in  case  hostilities  should  ensue. 
The  drafting  took  place  in  the  public  room  of  the  Hotel.  Ma- 
jor John  Bellinger  was  chosen  captain,  the  second  and  third 
officers  being  Silas  Clark  and  Benjamin  Ballou,  Jr.  But  their 
military  prowess  was  not  then  called  to  the  test. 

The  proprietor  of  the  Hotel  at  this  time  was  one  who  had 
himself  experience  in  military  matters.  This  was  Thomas  Sick- 
les, who  during  the  war  of  the  Revolution  was  attached  to  the 
staff  of  Col.  Morgan  Lewis,  and  bore  the  rank  of  Major.  He 
resided  for  some  time  in  Rensselaer  county,  being  a  Judge  of 


260  THE  PIONEERS  OF  UTICA. 

the  Court  of  Common  Pleas,  and  four  times  representing  the- 
coiinty  in  the  Legislature  between  the  3'ears  1787  and  1794. 
How  soon  he  came  to  XTtica  to  live  is  not  accurately  known. 
There  was  a  letter  to  him  advertised  by  the  postmaster  in  1804. 
February  27,  1808,  he  informs  the  public  that  "  on  Saturday 
next  he  will  take  possession  of  the  Hotel  in  Utica ;  and  he 
hopes  that  it  will  be  in  his  power  to  accommodate  his  friends 
and  the  public  in  general."  He,  too,  like  some  of  his  prede- 
cessors, was  in  person  a  recommendation  of  his  skill  as  a  caterer 
of  good  things,  being  large  and  fleshy.  And  like  them  his  stay 
was  short,  for  he  was  not  prospered.  He  opened  a  house  in  Her- 
kimer, and  died  there  in  1811.  His  wife,  a  dignified  woman  of  con- 
siderable strength  of  character,  afterwards  kept  a  boarding  house- 
on  Main  street.  Of  their  eleven  children,  the  last,  Miss  Mary  Ann. 
Sickles,  died  August  16, 1873.  Other  daughters  were  Eliza  (Mrs. 
John  Williams) ;  Joanna  (Mrs.  Silas  Clark,  Jr.)  Amelia  (Mrs.  Ma- 
rinus  Oudenaarde).  Of  the  sons,  William  was  an  apprentice  with 
Thomas  Walker,  then  a  printer  in  Shepardstown,  Va ,  where  he 
studied  theology,  became  a  Presbyterian  minister,  and  settled  at 
Terre  Haute,  Indiana  ;  one  (George)  was  a  grocer  in  Utica ;  and 
one  a  livery  keeper  in  Oswego. 

During  Mr.  Sickles'  brief  occupancy  of  the  Hotel,  it  was  a 
witness  also  of  some  tranquil  occurrences.  On  the  anniversary 
of  the  festival  of  St.  John,  June  24,  1809,  the  Oneida  Lodge- 
held  therein  their  Masonic  festival,  assisted  by  the  lodges  of  this 
and  the  adjoining  counties,  about  one  hundred  being  present, 
from  the  Herkimer  Lodge.  Thence  a  procession  moved  to  the 
Presbyterian  "  meeting  house,"  where  a  discourse  was  delivered 
by  Rev.  Amos  G.  Baldwin,  rector  of  Trinity.  Three  or  four 
days  previous-  there  had  been  announced  to  be  held  at  the  Ho- 
tel the  semi-annual  meeting  of  the  "  Utica  Uranian  Society."' 
Of  this  society  I  have  no  information.  Was  it  astronomical  in 
its  aims,  and  were  there  star-gazers  among  the  early  settlers  of 
Utica  as  among  the  Chaldeans  of  old,  and  did  they  assume  the 
name  from  Urania,  the  astronomic  sister  of  the  nine,  as  signili- 
caut  of  tlieir  pursuit,  or,  ]>erciiance,  from  Uranus  the  latest 
great  planet  that  had  been  discovered  ?  Or  was  the  name  de- 
rived from  the  god  Ouranos  of  Greek  mythology,  who  having 
married  Terra  might  be  presumed  to  feel  some  interest  in  landed 
estate,  and  had  it  thus  a  mystic  reference  to  the  proceedings  of 
an  association  of  land  speculators  ? 


THE  SECOND  CHARTER  261 

But  leaving  useless  conjectures  and  mythological  fictions  aside, 
let  us  turn  to  the  veritable  men  and  women  of  the  era,  and  m- 
•quire  who  came  in  the  year  1808  to  dwell  in  Utica. 

One  of  the  prominent  men  of  Oneida  county  while  the  county 
was  yet  new  was  Arthur  Breese.  He  was  born  in  Shrewsbury, 
N.  J.,  September  16,  1770,  and  was  the  second  son  of  Samuel 
and  EHzabeth  Breese.  His  paternal  grandfather,  a  native  of 
Shrewsbury,  in  England,  and  of  Welsh  parentage,  had  been  an 
officer  in  the  Bitish  navy,  and  a  Jacobite,  but  resigned  his  com- 
mission after  the  Pretender's  defeat,  and  came  to  America.  An 
■extremely  social  man  in  his  lifetime  and  noted  for  giving  good 
•dinners,  at  which  he  always  sang  songs  and  told  stories  with 
much  spirit,— he  lies  buried  in  Trinity  Church  yard.  New  York, 
beneath  an  epitaph  made  by  himself,  and  which  reads  as  fol- 
lows : 

Ha  !  Sidney,  Sidney, 

Lyest  thou  here? 

I  here  lye 

Till  time  is  flown 

To  its  extremity. 

Arthur  Breese's  mother  was  the  grand-daughter  of  Eev.  James 
Anderson,  first  minister  of  the  Wall  Street  Presbyterian  Church, 
New  York.  He  was  graduated  at  Princeton,  studied  law  with 
Elias  Boudinot,  and  was  admitted  an  attorney  of  the  Supreme 
•Court  in  August  1792.  As  early  as  1794  he  removed  to  Whites- 
boro,  where  he  became  a  partner  in  practice  with  Jonas  Piatt. 
He  acted  also  as  deputy  clerk  of  the  county,  Mr.  Piatt  being 
clerk,  was  a  master  in  chancery,  and  in  1796-7  was  a  represent- 
ative in  the  Legislature.  Upon  the  organization  of  the  new 
county  of  Oneida  he  was  appointed  surrogate,  and  lield  the  of- 
fice so  long  as  he  remained  at  Whitesboro.  But  when  a  clerk- 
:ship  of  the  Supreme  Court  was  established  at  Utica,  in  180S,  he 
was  made  clerk  and  removed  thither.  The  building  he  occu- 
pied stood  where  now  stands  the  office  of  the  county  clerk,  to 
which  it  has  but  recently  given  way.  He  soon  built  for  his 
dwelling  a  large  stone  house  directly  opposite,  and  next  above 
Jeremiah  Van  Rensselaer's,  a  site  now  filled  by  the  Miller,  or 
.step-ladder  row.  On  the  death  of  its  first  jn-esident,  Mr. 
Breese  held  also  for  a  time  the  position  of  president  of  the 
Ontario  Branch  Bank.     He  was  himself  cut  down  in  the  very 


262  THE   PIONEERS  OF  UTICA. 

prime  of  life,  having  died  August  14,  1825,  at  tlie  age  of  fifty- 
three,  in  the  city  of  New  Yorlv,  whither  he  had  gone  to  seek 
for  the  restoration  of  his  health. 

By  nature  inactive  in  temperament  and  easy  of  disposition, 
Mr.  Breese  was  yet  possessed  of  strong  sense  and  much  per- 
sonal worth,  of  sterling  integrity,  of  large  hospitality,  and  gen- 
erous in  his  care  for  the  religious,  educational  and  other  impor- 
tant interests  of  the  town  and  neighborhood.  He  bore  his  part 
among  the  founders  of  the  Oneida  Bible  Society  and  the  Utica 
Academy,  and  as  trustee  of  the  village  corporation,  and  of  the 
Presbyterian  Church,  of  which  latter  he  was  a  communicant. 
He  was  somewhat  of  an  epicure,  and  fond  of  the  delicacies  of 
the  table,  his  larder  and  ice-house  being  always  well  supplied, 
and  he  never  so  happy  as  when  surrounded  by  his  friends,  to 
enjoy  with  him  his  good  cheer.  A  capital  judge  of  wines,  his 
cellar  was  liberally  stocked  with  choice  kinds,  of  his  own  im- 
portation. In  manners  he  was  quiet  and  rather  taciturn,  thougli 
cheerful  and  genial,  with  the  looks  and  bearing  of  a  thorough 
gentleman.  His  features  were  regular,  his  eyes  large  and  ex- 
pressive, and  though,  in  later  life,  a  little  beyond  embojijjomt, 
he  was  in  his  younger  days  remarked  for  his  personal  beauty. 

Mr.  Breese,  was  twice  married,  and  the  father  of  a  large 
family  of  whom  some  have  risen  to  distinction,  and  all  were 
highly  respectable  and  well  connected.  Catharine,  his  first 
wife,  was  the  daughter  of  Harry  Livingston,  of  Poughkeepsie. 
She  died  August  21,  1808,  very  soon  after  their  removal  to 
Utica,  in  her  thirty-third  year.  She  is  represented  to  have 
been  a  faithful  guide  to  her  household  in  the  path  of  duty, 
and  an  example  of  Christian  meekness  and  piety.  Endeared 
to  all  her  acqiiaintances,  she  died  universally  lamented.  Her 
children  were  Samuel  Livingston,  rear  admiral  of  the  Navy 
of  the  United  States,  who  entered  the  navy  in  1810,  and  after 
sixty  years  of  dut}^,  including  the  war  of  1812,  the  Mexican 
war,  service  at  the  Norfolk  and  Brooklyn  navy  j^ards,  and  as 
commander  of  the  European  Squadron,  was  placed  on  the 
retired  list;  he  died  December  17,  1870;  Sarah  (Mrs.  B.  B. 
Lansing,  and  afterwards  Mrs.  James  Piatt:)  Elizabeth  (wife  of 
AVilliam  Malcom  Sands,  purser  of  the  United  States  Navy ;) 
Catharine  Walker,  (widow  of  Captain  Samuel  B.  Griswold,  of 
L^ni ted  States  Army);  Sidnc}^,   Chief  Justice  of  the  Supreme 


THE  SECOND  CHARTER.  263 

Court  and  United  States  Senator  from  Illin'ois ;  Susan  (Mrs. 
Jacob  Stout,  then  Mrs.  P.  A.  Proal,  died  1863.)  Henry  Liv- 
ingston, died  at  the  age  of  1-1 ;  Arthur,  died  in  Florida,  1838  ; 
Mary  Davenport  (Mrs.  Henry  Da^ds,  of  Waterford). 

Mr.  Breese  married  the  second  time  in  1810,  Miss  Ann  Car- 
pender,  of  New  York,  of  English  descent.  She  survived  her 
husband  many  years,  and  died  May  17,  1857,  in  the  seventy- 
third  year  of  her  age.  A  woman  of  marked  vigor  as  well  as 
vivacity  of  intellect,  she  managed  her  property  with  skill  and 
prudence,  so  that,  left  a  widow  with  no  superabundance  of 
means,  she  greatly  increased  her  income,  and  reared  a  lai'ge 
family,  with  all  the  SLiri'oundings  l:)eiitting  the  position  that  was 
always  accorded  her.  Though  her  habits  and  tastes  were  emi- 
nently domestic,  her  society  even  to  the  last  was  desired  by 
both  old  and  young,  for  she  shone  among  the  most  refined  in 
social  life,  was  admired  for  her  playful  wit,  her  dignit}^,  culture 
and  grace,  and  esteemed  for  her  consistent  discharge  of  Chris- 
tian duty.  She  had  six  children,  as  follows :  Sarah  Ann  (Mrs. 
Thomas  R  Walker  ;)  Josiah  Salisbury,  merchant  of  New  York, 
died  February  11,  1865  ;  William  Grregg,  merchant  of  Cincin- 
nati, afterwards  and  until  his  death,  which  occurred  June  15, 
1861,  a  resident  of  the  city  of  New  York;  Frances  Helen,  died 
June  4,  181:7 ;  Robert  Lenox,  died  July  15,  1835 ;  Aquila 
Stout,  died  August  31,  1825. 

Henry  W.  Livingston,  brother  of  the  first  Mrs.  Breese,  was 
born  about  1777,  and  was  admitted  an  Attorney  of  the  Supreme 
Court,  October  1790.  He  lived  in  Utica  and  carried  on  law 
business  from  the  year  1808  until  1813  or  '14  As  the  agent 
of  John  B.  Church,  he  sold  lands  in  Cosby's  Manor,  and  dealt 
also  in  land  elsewhere  in  the  State.  He  died  in  Hartford,  Conn. 
He  is  represented  as  of  tall  and  showy  physique,  and  altogether 
a  gentleman  of  the  old  school. 

A  lawyer  of  standing  in  his  profession,  and  an  eminently 
pure  and  devout  man  was  Walter  King ;  grave,  sedate  and 
reserved,  but,  instinct  with  love  toward  God  and  justice 
toward  his  fellows,  he  was  faithful  to  both,  and  fearless  in  the 
performance  of  every  dictate  of  an  enlightened  conscience.  He 
was  born  January  6,  1786,  in  Norwich,  Conn.,  of  the  Congre- 
gational Church  of  which  town  his  father  was  pastor.     Grrad- 


264  THE  PIONEERS  OF  UTICA. 

uated  at  Yale  College  in  1805,  be  came  shortly  afterward  to 
Utica,  and  commenced  a  course  of  law  studies  in  the  office  of 
Brastus  Clark.  With  Mr.  Clark  he  then  became  a  partner, 
and  continued  this  connection  until  the  death  of  the  latter  gen- 
tleman in  1825.  He  subsequently  pursued  the  practice  of  his 
profession  until  the  year  1832,  a  part  of  the  time  as  a  partner 
of  James  Dean,  and  was  a  good  office  lawyer.  Failing  health, 
induced  by  confinement  to  the  duties  of  his  office,  rendered  it 
necessary  for  him  to  seek  a  restoration  of  strength  in  the  active 
exercise  of  agricultural  pursuits.  He  purchased  a  small  farm 
in  Marcy,  and  for  twenty  years  busied  himself  in  its  cultiva- 
tion. He  died  suddenly  in  the  year  1852,  in  a  boat  upon  the 
Genesee  valley  canal,  while  returning  from  a  visit  at  Dunkirk. 
Of  Mr.  King  an  associate  remarks  as  follows :  "  Few  men 
sustained  a  more  stainless  and  consistent  religious  character ; 
and  the  writer  has  never  known  one  whose  Christian  life  was 
more  universally  respected  by  all  his  acquaintances,  whether  of 
his  own  or  of  other  denominations,  and  as  well  by  those  who 
felt  no  personal  interest  in  religious  truth  as  by  professing 
christians."  Before  his  removal  from  the  city  he  had  been  for 
a  long  time  the  most  trusted  elder  in  the  Presbyterian  Church 
and  a  favorite  teacher  in  a  Bible  class  connected  with  it.  His 
knowledge  of  sacred  literature  was  varied  and  exact.  The 
Scriptures  he  studied  in  their  original  languages  and  by  the  aid 
of  abundant  critical  authorities.  He  prepared  for  the  press 
a  series  of  questions  upon  the  gospels  for  the  use  of  Bible 
classes,  whicli  was  published  under  the  title  of  "  Questions  on 
the  Grospel  Harmony."  It  was  regarded  as  a  work  of  eminent 
utility,  and  passed  through  four  editions.  Mr.  King  was  twice 
married,  his  first  wife  being  Elizabeth  Clark,  of  Windham, 
Conn.,  a  niece  of  Erastus  Clark.  The  only  issue  ot;  this  mar- 
riasre  was  Elizabeth,  first  wife  of  James  Dutton.  His  second 
wife,  who  still  survives,  was  Electa  Jones,  of  Berkshire  county, 
Mass.,  to  whom  he  was  united  in  October  1815.  The  children 
were  a  daughter,  who  died  in  infancy,  and  Walter  Edwards 
King,  who  died  in  Marseilles, 'France,  in  1867.  Mr.  King  at 
first  lived  on  Whitcsboro  near  Seneca  street  Subsequently  he 
purchased  and  occupied  a  house  on  the  east  side  of  Genesee, 
near  where  John  Thorn  now  resides.  He  lived  afterwards  in 
a  house  he  built  on  the  site  of  the  one  he  had  at  first  occupied, 
remaining  there  until  his  removal  to  Marcy. 


THE  SECOND  CHARTER.  265 

About  this  time  came  the  first  of  two  brothers  Malcom  of 
most  honorable  connection,  and  pending  their  few  years  stay, 
their  pohshed  and  engaging  famihes  held  a  notable  place  in  the 
society  of  Utica,  They  were  sons  of  Col.  William  Malcom  of 
the  Revolution.  This  Col.  Malcom,  who  was  of  Scotch  descent, 
and  by  profession  a  lawj^er,  raised  and  commanded  the  First 
Regiment  of  artillery  from  this  State,  a  regiment  which  bore  a 
prominent  part  in  the  battle  of  White  Plains,  and  whose  lieu- 
tenant colonel  was  Aaron  Burr.  Col.  M.  proved  himself  a  re- 
liable and  worthy  officer,  served  also  as  delegate  in  the  Third 
Provincial  Congress  in  1776  from  Charlotte  county.  New  York, 
and  was  member  of  Assembly  from  the  City  of  New  York  in 
1784,  '86  and  '87.  His  wife  was  Miss  Sarah  Ayscough.  He 
left  two  sons  and  three  daughters. 

Of  these  two  sons,  the  first  who  resided  in  Utica  was  Samuel 
Bayard  Malcom.  He  was  born  in  New  York,  November  1, 
1776,  was  private  secretary  of  John  Adams  during  his  adminis- 
tration, studied  law  and  entered  u]3on  practice  in  the  metropolis, 
but  about  1808  removed  to  Oneida  county.  The  law  did  not 
much  occupy  him  while  here,  his  sole  business  being  the  care 
and  sale  of  lands  in  Cosby's  Manor,  the  property  of  his  wife. 
She  was  Catharine  Yan  Rensselaer  Sell uyler,  youngest  daughter 
of  General  Philip  Schuyler,  and  is  reported  to  have  received  at 
her  marriage  $100,000  in  money,  and  a  like  value  in  real 
estate,  situated  mosth"  in  this  vicinity.  They  lived  on  the  New 
Hartford  road  in  a  cottage  designated  in  the  advertisements  of 
Mr.  M.  as  "  near  Utica,"  the  same  cottage  which  in  after  years 
was  known  as  the  Thorn  farm  house,  now  the  property  of 
Egbert  Bagg.  Mi\  Malcom  was  far  from  being  thrifty  in  his 
management,  and  was  in  fact  a  spendthrift ;  he  wasted  the 
property  and  became  embarrassed  by  involving  himself  for  some 
of  his  relatives.  "  One  hundred  and  forty  acres  of  land  being 
part  of  Lots  Nos.  98,  99  and  100,  also  the  farm  of  Jeremiah 
Powell,  and  a  few  acres  next  Uriah  Alverson,"  were,  on  the  9th 
of  March  1812,  advertised  to  be  sold  by  the  sheriff.  About 
three  years  later  lie  died  at  Stillwater,  N.  Y.,  leaving  two  sons, 
William  Schuvler  and  Alexander  Malcom. 

Mrs.  Malcom  bore  her  misfortunes  with  Christian  resignation. 
From  being  accustomed  to  affluence  and  luxurj^,  she  was  now 
reduced  to  submit  to  the  deprivation  of  many  of  the  comforts 


266  THE  PIONEERS  OF  UTICA. 

and  even  necessaries  of  life.  In  1820  she  advertised  her  farm 
on  the  New  Hartford  road  containing  one  hundred  and  eighty 
acres.  In  January  1822,  she  married  Captain  James  Cochrane, 
and  in  1827,  with  her  sons  and  her  husband's  family,  removed 
to  Oswego.  This  remarkable  woman  was  born  at  Albany  on 
the  20th  of  February  1781,  and  at  her  baptism  General  and 
Mrs.  Washington  stood  as  two  of  her  sponsors.  The  daughter 
of  the  great  Revolutionary  patriot,  whose  name  is  so  illustrious 
in  our  annals,  she  was  closely  allied  by  blood  to  the  families  of 
Van  Rensselaer,  Van  Cortland  and  Livingston,  and  sister-in-law 
of  Alexander  Hamilton.  In  1794,  in  company  with  her  father, 
she  passed  through  the  Oneida  wilderness  to  Oswego,  then  still 
in  occupation  of  a  British  garrison,  and  shared  in  the  adventures 
of  what  was  then  a  difficult  and  romantic  expedition.  Many 
years  later,  and  when  she  had  become  a  second  time  a  widow, 
she  filled  the  office  of  post  mistresss  at  Oswego,  now  a  flourish- 
ing city.  Honored  for  her  noble  family  connection,  beloved  for 
her  estimable  virtues,  and  her  kind  and  courteous  manners,  re- 
spected for  her  mental  culture  and  high  intellectual  accomplish- 
ments, adorning  her  Christian  profession  by  a  life  of  faith,  obe- 
dience and  resignation,  she  survived  until  the  26tli  of  August, 
1857,  and  died  among  the  oldest  of  the  inhabitants  of  Oswego, 
as  she  was  among  the  earliest  of  its  residents.  Her  two  sons 
were  educated  as  civil  engineers.  The  eldest,  who  for  thirteen 
years  had  the  superintendency  of  the  public  harbors  on  Lake 
Ontario,  and  afterwards  the  conmiand  of  some  of  the  finest  pas- 
senger steamers  on  that  lake,  now  lives  at  Oswego.  The  home 
of  Alexander,  the  younger,  is  also  at  that  place,  though  he  has 
been  many  years  disqualified  by  ill  licallh  from  engaging  in  any 
employment. 

Stephen  Dorchester,  the  hatter  of  1794,  died,  as  I  have  said, 
in  1808.  The  same  year  his  son  Eliasaph,  now  at  the  ripe  age 
of  twenty-eight,  was  teaching  a  grammar  school  in  the  Welsh 
Church  on  Hotel  street,  and  may  possibly  have  been  thus  occu- 
pied for  some  time  previous.  This  school  he  continued  to  keep, 
by  night  as  well  as  by  day,  until  he  succeeded  Henry  B.  Gibson 
in  the  Bank  of  Utica.  There  he  remained  but  a  short  time, 
and  then  joined  Thomas  Walker  in  the  management  of  the 
Columbian   Gazette.     And  here,  while  writing  for  its  columns, 


THE  SECOND  CHAETER.  267 

he  picked  up  some  knowledge  of  printing.  Near  the  commence- 
ment of  the  year  181<),  he  estabhshed,  with  some  pecuniary 
assistance,  the  Utica  Observer^  as  the  organ  of  the  part}^  that 
elected  Mr.  Madison  to  the  Presidenc}^,  and  in  opposition  to 
De  Witt  Clinton.  Ere  long  he  transferred  the  paper  to  Rome  ; 
but  in  the  latter  part  of  1819,  or  early  in  1820,  he  brought  it 
back  to  Utica,  and  continued  to  publish  it.  When  his  party 
gained  the  ascendency  in  this  State  there  ensued  a  general  re- 
warding of  the  faithful  and  a  proscription  of  their  adversaries. 
Mr.  Doi'chester  was  appointed  by  the  Governor  to  the  office  of 
county  clerk  in  the  place  of  Francis  A.  Bloodgood,  its  former 
long-contuuied  incumbent.  This  post  he  filled  during  the  j^ears 
1821-23,  his  second  term  being  by  election  to  the  office.  Then 
he  became  once  more  a  teacher,  having  charge  of  the  Utica 
public  school.  Subsequently  he  was  absent  some  time  from  the 
place,  giving  lectures  on  geology.  On  his  return  he  again 
taught,  and  also  amused  himself  with  a  printing  press  in  his 
house  on  Lansing  street. 

Mr.  Dorchester  was  a  constant  reader,  and  had  acquired  quite 
an  amount  of  knowledge;  he  had  an  acquaintance  with  some 
of  the  modern  lansrua2;es,  was  an  accurate  sframmarian  and  an 
acute  critic.  His  intelligence  and  his  agreeable  social  qualities 
made  his  company  to  be  sought  by  the  cultivated  men  of  his 
party,  while  his  indolent  habits,  his  indifference  to  pecuniary 
gains,  and  his  lack  of  steadiness  of  purpose,  kept  him  needy,  as 
well  as  deprived  him  of  the  standing  in  the  community  to  which 
his  talents  entitled  him.  His  death  occurred  in  July  1864,  at 
the  age  of  eighty-four.  His  wife  was  Abigail  Allen  of  Fairfield, 
Conn.  His  only  son  died  young.  Two  of  his  five  daughters 
married  residents  of  Utica,  viz.  :  Elizabeth  (Mrs.  James  P.  Gil- 
more),  and  Hester  E.  (Mrs.  Cyrus  F.  Palmer) ;  two  others  were 
Mrs.  Albert  Ruloffsen,  and  Mrs.  George  A.  Talbot  of  New 
York;  one  is  unmarried. 

In  speaking  of  the  building  erected  for  the  use  of  the  Meth- 
odists, I  mentioned  that  it  served  also  as  a  school  house.  It 
has  sometimes  been  confounded  with  another  school  house 
which  stood  above  Elizabeth  street,  where  Grace  Church  now 
is.  This  latter,  which  was  two  storied  and  larger  than  the  pre- 
ceding, belonged  to  Jeremiah  Van  Rensselaer,  and  was  known 


268  THE   PIONEERS  OF  UTICA. 

as  the  Dixon  school  house,  the  first  teacher  who  occupied  it 
having  been  Eev.  David  R  Dixon.  The  Presbyterians  for  a 
while  held  their  evening  services  in  it.  This  Mr.  Dixon  was  a 
son  of  Major  Dixon  of  Sherburne,  Chenango  county,  and  hud 
graduated  at  Yale  College  in  1807,  only  a  short  time  before  he 
began  his  school.  The  first  of  his  advertisements  that  I  have 
met  with  is  dated  September  1809,  but  as  he  gave  a  pubHc 
exhibition  of  his  school  in  the  fore  part  of  this  same  month,  it 
is  natural  to  presume  that  it  was  given  at  or  near  the  close  of  a 
term,  and  that  tlie  school  had,  tlierefore,  been  some  little  time 
in  progress.  His  exhibition  was  held  in  the  Presbyterian  Church, 
and  was  witnessed  hy  a  ci'owded  audience.  Some  of  the  pu- 
pils enacted  the  play  of  Barbarossa,  the  parts  of  Selim  and 
Barbarossa  being  taken  by  Masters  Camp  and  Norton.  And, 
says  our  foreign  born  authority,  "  though  both  of  them  were  of 
New  England  parentage,  their  accent  was  correct  "  In  Febru- 
ary 1811,  Mr.  Dixon  opened  an  evening  school  for  instruction  in 
singing,  while  continuing  his  grammar  school  through  the  day. 
At  the  same  time  he  was  privately  carrying  on  a  course  of 
study  in  divinity.  This  he  prosecuted  under  the  direction  of 
Rev.  Mr.  Carnahan,  as  is  probable,  for  he  was  one  of  the  elders 
in  his  church,  and  he  never  attended  any  theological  seminary. 
In  1813  he  left  the  place.  As  a  teacher  Mr.  Dixon  was  capa- 
ble and  good  tempered.  His  school  was  the  federal  one  in  con- 
trast with  that  of  Mr.  Dorchestei',  whose  patrons  were  found 
among  the  democratic  families.  Among  his  pujnls  he  had  two 
who  were  subsequently  admirals  of  the  navy,  two  State  sena- 
tors, an  eminent  portrait  and  (jeiire  painter,  and  others  scarcely 
less  celebrated.  As  a  minister  he  was  slow,  but  weighted  with 
sound  learning.  In  1S19  he  was  moderator  of  the  Presbytery 
of  Oneida,  being  then  settled  at  Mexico,  Oswego  county,  in 
which  county  he  was  useful  also  as  a  missionary  under  the  au- 
spices of  the  Female  Missionary  Society.  His  first  wife  died 
in  1811.  For  his  second  he  married  Miss  Tafl't,  sister  of  the 
wife  of  Deacon  Nathaniel  l^utler,  who  followed  him  to  Mexico. 
His  death  took  place  in  1861. 

Shubael  Storrs  was  froin  Mansfield,  Connecticut,  and  had  al- 
ready'' worked  as  an  a})prentice  to  silver-smithing  in  Sjjringfield^ 
Massachusetts,  when  he  came  in  1803  to  Utica.     It  was  five  or 


THE  SECOND  CHARTER.  26^ 

six  years  longer  before  he  opened  a  shop  of  his  own.  Yet  he 
was  in  constant  employment  from  that  time  onward,  and  was 
successively  a  watch-repairer  and  maker  of  spoons  and  other 
silver  ware,  a  maker  of  mathematical  instruments,  of  compasses 
and  of  trusses.  Retiring  and  self-contained,  he  might  be  seen 
but  was  rarely  heard  ;  yet,  like  his  work,  he  was  irreproachable, 
and  what  he  commended  was  sure  to  be  as  he  said.  Credulous 
and  trustful,  he  might  be  imposed  on,  but  cause  was  never  found 
to  distrust  him.  He  did  not  marry  until  1820,  and  when  he 
died,  July  10,  1817,  left  a  widow  and  two  children.  His  widow 
still  survives,  and  one  son,  William  M.  Storrs ;  Harriet  (Mrs. 
Battle)  is  deceased. 

Other  residents  of  1808  were  J.  H.  Beach,  a  teacher,  who 
studied  law,  afterwards  lived  in  Auburn,  and  was  concerned 
with  his  brother  in  the  manufacture  of  flour,  and  was  also  a 
member  of  Assembly  ;  Asahel  Davis,  an  apprentice  to  the 
printing  business,  who  studied  theology  with  Rev.  Mr.  Bald- 
win, teaching  two  or  three  pupils  meanwhile,  became  an  Epis- 
copal minister,  was  settled  at  Oneida,  where  he  preached  to 
the  Indians,  and  went  with  them  to  Green  Bay  ;  in  1817,  he 
was  president  of  the  Utica  Sunday  school ;  Royal  Johnson, 
de{)uty  county  clerk ;  John  Ostrom,  brother  of  Judge  Ostrom, 
kept  tavern  on  the  eastern  border  of  the  village ;  Rev.  Morris 
Morris,  Welsh  Congregational  minister,  well  educated  and 
well  connected,  whose  son  Morris  was  killed  in  battle ;  William 
Donaldson,  baker  and  dealer  in  flour,  remained  until  1819,  but 
being  unfortunate  in  his  aifairs,  moved  to  Kingston,  Canada, 
where  he  was  a  victim  of  the  cholera  ;  Peter  B.  Markham,  gun- 
smith :  Lemuel  Brown,  blacksmith ;  Richard  Van  Dyke,  cabinet 
maker,  insolvent  about  three  years  later ;  John  H.  Deeper, 
his  journeyman  ;  Samuel  Hoyt,  tailor:  Chauncey  Rawson,  con- 
cerned in  staging ;  Oliver  Goodwin,  dealer  in  paints  and  oils  ; 
Lewis  Griffin,  associated  with  William  Hayes,  Jr.,  in  making 
earthern  ware ;  Eber  Adams,  who  lost  his  life  in  the  war  of 
1812,  and  whose  son,  Lyman  Adams,  lives  still  in  Utica;  Sim- 
eon Natten,  travelling  dentist ;  T.  Gladding,  profile  cutter ; 
and  A.  Philips,  another  wandering  practitioner  of  the  same  art 


270  THE  PIONEERS  OF  ITTICA. 

1809. 

The  freeholders'  annual  meeting  of  1809  was  held  at  the  Ho- 
tel. The  trustees  who  held  office  during  the  year,  w^ere  Tal- 
cott  Camp,  president,  Solomon  Wolcott,  John  Hooker,  Jerath- 
mel  Ballon  and  John  Bellinger.  The  amount  assessed  on  the 
inhabitants  was  but  three  hundred  and  fifty  dollars.  Further 
measures  were  adopted  to  provide  by  subscription  foi'  a  public 
hearse.  A  lot  for  an  engine  house,  situated  in  the  rear  of  Trinity 
church,  was  given  by  the  Bleecker  family  through  their  repre- 
resentative,  Morris  S.  Miller.  An  attempt  to  call  the  inhabi- 
tants together  to  consider  the  propriet}^  of  selling  the  engine 
and  buying  a  new  one  failed  of  result,  inasmuch  as  few  appeared, 
and  no  action  was  taken.  The  resignation  of  the  clerk  and  the 
appointment  of  a  successor  seems  to  have  been  thought  so 
pressing  a  matter  as  to  require  the  holding  of  an  extra  meeting 
of  the  trustees  on  a  Sunday  evening.  Occasion  for  another 
Sunday  meeting  was  found  when  the  president  reported  that  in 
compliance  with  instructions  previously  given  him,  he  had  em- 
ployed three  watchmen  to  serve  from  ten  o'clock  until  day- 
light. A  practice  so  difterent  from  the  modern  one,  and  ap- 
parently so  little  in  accordance  with  the  pious  habit  of  our 
fathers  is  readil}^  explained  when  we  remember  that  a  mn  jority 
of  them  were  emigrants  from  New  England,  where  the  evening 
of  Saturday,  not  that  of  Sunday,  was  looked  upon  as  a  pai"t  of 
the  sacred  day  of  rest,  and  where  sundown  of  the  latter  day 
still  ushers  in  the  secular  duties  of  another  week.  Of  the 
watchmen,  whom  the  president  now^  informs  the  trustees  he 
had  put  on  duty,  two  were  to  patrol  the  streets  from  Judge 
Cooper's  to  Morris  S.  Miller's,  and  from  the  bridge  to  Ai'thur 
Breese's,  including  the  side  streets,  while  the  third  was  to  re- 
main as  a  sentinel  at  the  watch-house.  The  following  were  the 
instructions  these  watchmen  were  to  observe:  "  In  the  event  of 
an  alarm  of  fire,  you  will  first  proceed  to  cry  fire,  and  the  place 
of  its  discover}^  Next,  instantly  (crying  'fire!'  as  you  go,) 
knock  at  the  door  of  each  trustee,  Mr.  Macomber  (the  man  who 
rings  the  bell),  the  captain  of  the  fire  company,  Benjamin  Paine, 
and  the  other  firemen,  and  then  to  continue  to  alarm  the  in- 
habitants generally ;  never  forgetting,  in  every  instance,  to  di- 
rect them  to  carry  their  buckets."      They  were  also  to  arrest 


THE  SECOND  CHARTER.  271 

and  detain  burglars  and  suspicious  persons.  Persons  of  this 
character,  with  bundles,  were  to  be  taken  to  the  place  where  thej 
said  they  got  the  bundle,  and  if  their  story  were  found  untrue 
they  were  to  be  kept  in  the  watch-house.  Besides  these,  there 
were  other  regulations  relating  to  their  deportment,  &c. 

Broad  street,  we  have  seen,  was  opened  the  previous  sum- 
mer. On  the  27th  of  February,  1809,  it  was  formerly  adopted 
as  a  street  by  order  of  the  commissioners  of  highways  of  the 
town  of  Whitestown,  from  Genesee  street  to  its  intersection 
with  the  road  leading  to  Slayton's  settlement  (two  thousand 
fifty  two  feet),  that  is  to  say,  a  short  distance  east  of  Third  street. 
At  the  same  time  the  following  were  also  adopted,  viz :  First 
and  Second  streets  from  Broad  to  the  river.  Third  street  from 
Main  to  Broad,  and  from  thence  to  be  continued  to  the  intersec- 
tion of  the  road  to  Slayton's  settlement,  and  Water  sti-eet  from 
First  across  Genesee  to  Hotel  vStreet. 

During  the  present  year  Bridge  street — the  present  Park  av- 
enue— was  laid  out  and  macadamized.  This  was  a  great  un- 
dertaking, and  involved  much  forethought  and  care  as  well  as 
a  very  considerable  pecuniary  outlay.  It  was  wholly  executed 
at  private  expense,  being,  like  Broad  street,  the  work  of  Judge 
Morris  S.  Miller,  with  the  cooperation  of  his  father-in-law  and 
brother-in-law,  of  Albany.  Beginning  opposite  Mr.  Plant's,  at 
the  head  of  Genesee  street,  it  ran  in  a  north  easterly  direction 
behind  the  southern  margin  of  the  village,  crossed  the  river  and 
tlie  farm  of  Mr.  George  I.  Weaver  until  it  intersected  the  river 
road  in  Deerfield.  Designed  apparently  to  draw  trade  and 
travel  from  their  present  course  along  the  Genesee  road,  it  failed 
of  wholly  accomplishing  its  object;  yet  it  did  much  to  pro- 
mote the  extension  of  the  village  in  a  southerly  and  easterly 
direction.  It  was  not  achieved  without  opposition,  being  op- 
posed not  only  by  parties  interested  in  the  western  part  of  the 
village,  but  more  especially  by  Mr.  Weaver,  of  Deerfield,  who 
could  nc^t  appreciate  the  advantage  the  road  would  be  to  him- 
self, and  was  unwilling  to  part  with  the  right  of  way  across  his 
land.  And  even  after  this  right  of  way  had  been  obtained  and 
the  land  secured,  the  matter  was  not  adjusted  without  an  alter- 
cation and  a  personal  affray,  in  which  Judge  Miller  was  charged 
by  the  son,  Col.  John  G.  Weaver,  with  cheating  his  father,  and 
was  so  abusively  treated  that,  in  his  indignation,  he  struck  the" 


272 


THE   PIONEERS  OF  UTICA. 


Golonel  with  some  weapon  at  hand,  and  drove  him,  bleeding 
and  threatening  vengeance,  from  his  office.  But  tlie  road  was 
finislied,  and  in  a  capital  manner,  and  an  excellent  bridge  was 
put  up  across  the  river.  McAdara  himself,  as  it  is  said,  had  a 
a  job  on  this  road,  which  was  one  of  the  first  he  had  built, 
though  not  as  good  as  many  later  macadamized  ones.  Across  the 
flats,  on  the  north  side  of  the  river  especially,  it  traversed  a  piece 
of  ground  that  seemed  even  wetter  than  the  former  road  to  Deer- 
field.  Cedar  boughs  were  first  laid  down,  upon  which  was  placed 
a  course  of  fifteen  inches  of  stone,  and  gi-avel  upon  the  to])  of  this. 

There  were  other  enterprises  that  had  their  origin  at  this  time 
and  which  enlisted  the  sympathy  and  the  efforts  of  the  leading 
men  of  the  village  and  the  county.  One  of  these  resulted  in 
the  creation  of  a  manufacturing  establishment ;  another  gave 
to  Utica  its  first  Bank. 

Stimulated  by  the  offer  of  cooperation  and  assistance  from 
Air.  Lawrence  Schoolcraft,  superintendent  of  a  glass  factory 
near  Albany,  a  company  was  formed  at  Utica  to  establish  glass 
works  in  this  vicinity.  It  was  incorporated  on  the  17th  of  Feb- 
ruary, 1809,  with  a  capital  of  $100,000,  and  was  known  as  tlie 
Oneida  Glass  Factory  Company.  Books  were  opened  and  the 
stock  soon  taken  up.  The  following  were  the  subscribers  and 
the  amounts  respectively  subscribed  to  this  first  manufacturing 
enterprise  that  was  unitedly  entered  upon  by  the  citizens  of 
the  county,  viz : 


Abraham  Varick,    .         .  .  |5,000 

Charles  C.  Brodhead,  .        2,000 
Peter  Bours,    ....     5,000 

John  Steward,  Jr.,       .  .          5,000 

Watts  Sherman,     .         .  .     5,000 

Nathaniel  Butler,         .  .         2,000 

Anson  Thomas,       .         .  .     2,000 

Bryan  Johnson,    .         .  .         2,500 

Alex'r  B.  Johnson,  .         .  .     2,500 

Frederick  White,          .  .         2,500 

John  C.  Devereux,  .         .  .     2,500 

Siil  &  Doolittie,   .         .  .        2,000 

Williams  &  Shearman,   .  .     2,000 

James  Dana,        .          .  .         1,000 

Walter  Morj^an,       .         .  .     2,500 

Ez.kicl  <  lurk,   .         .         .  $1,500 

Stalham  VN'illiams,          .  .         500 

John  Hooker,      .         .  .         5,000 

Erastus  Clark,         .         .  .         500 

Samuel  Hooker,            .  .         1,000 

Jason  Parker.           .         .  .     1,000 

Solomon  Wolcott  &  Co.,  .         1,000 


Isaac  Coe 9,500' 

Winne  &  Evertsen,      .         .         1,000' 
(All  of  the  above  being  residents    • 

of  Utica.) 
Kichard  Sanger,  .  .  .  2,000 
Frederick  Stanley, .  .  .  5,000 
Caleb  C.  Sampson,  •  .  1,000 
Joseph  Kirkland,  .  .  .  2,000 
Peter  tV)lt  and  Koswell  L.  Colt,  5,000 
Samuel  Peck,  .  .  .  1,500 
Philip  Hoagle,  .  .  .  2,000 
l.,awrence  Schoolcraft,  .  .  2,500 
Jonas  Piatt,  .  .  .  1,000 
Elizur  iMoseley,  .  .  .  1,000 
James  Lynch,  .  .  .  2,000 
Hoval  Johnson.  .  .  .  1,000 
Daiiiel  Cook,  ....  4,000 
George  Huntington  &  Co.,  .  2,500 
George  Bravton,  .  .  .  1,000 
R.  Cook  and  David  Cook,  .  1,000 
Blank, 1,000 


THE  SECOND  CHARTER.  27S 

The  first  directors  cliosen  were  Watts  Sherman,  Abraham 
Varick,  John  Steward,  Jr.,  Alexander  B.  Johnson,  and  Eichard 
Sanger  of  New  Hartford,  the  latter  being  president.  In  April, 
land  was  purchased  at  Vernon  of  Isaac  Coe,  Daniel  Cook  and 
Samuel  Peck,  and  contracts  for  the  supply  of  wood  were  made. 
Nor  was  it  long  before  the  making  of  cylinder  glass  was  begun. 
Success  speedily  crowned  their  endeavors,  and  from  that  time 
onward  the  business  was  prosecuted  with  a  fair  measure  of  suc- 
cess until  the  18th  of  August,  1836,  when  the  company  dis- 
posed of  their  real  estate  and  closed  up  their  affairs. 

Down  to  tlie  period  at  which  we  have  arrived,  the  money  in 
nse  was  chiefly  silver,  and  for  the  most  part  the  Spanish  milled 
coinage ;  bank  bills  were  comparatively  few,  and  consisted  of 
notes  of  eastern  banks.  For  loans,  men  of  business  were  de- 
pendent on  Albany.  The  commencement  of  banking  opera- 
tions in  Utica  dates  from  the  arrival  of  Montgomery  Hunt,  in 
1809,  he  having  been  sent  hither  by  the  Manhattan  Bank  of 
New  York  to  organize  a  branch  of  that  institution.  Of  Mr. 
Hunt  an  ample  notice  will  be  given  hereafter  in  connection 
with  the  history  of  a  bank  of  a  later  period  and  more  continued 
existence  than  the  Manhattan  Branch,  with  whose  concerns  the 
chief  part  of  his  life  was  identified.  Suffice  it  to  say  that  he 
was  well  qualified  for  the  business  on  which  he  was  commis- 
sioned, having  already  had  experience  therein. 

The  branch  he  started  was  at  first  located  in  a  small  building 
that  stood  back  from  the  west  line  of  Hotel  street,  a  little  south 
of  Whitesboro.  In  July  1809,  the  lot  on  the  corner  of  these 
streets  was  bought  and  the  brick  building  erected  for  its  use 
which  still  stands  there,  and  which  has  of  late  been  the  resi- 
dence of  John  E.  Hinman,  but  which  is  now  owned  by  Richard 
Schroeppel.  Mr.  Hunt's  only  associate  was  Henry  B.  Gibson,, 
who  acted  as  teller  and  book-keeper.  The  directors  during  the 
year  1810  were  as  follows :  William  Floyd  of  Westernville,. 
James  S.  Kip,  Francis  A.  Bloodgood,  Solomon  Wolcott,  John- 
Bellinger,  Thomas  Walker,  Apollos  Cooper,  Marcus  Hitch- 
cock, Henry  Huntington  of  Home,  Nathan  Smith,  Ephraim 
Hart  as  yet  of  Clinton,  and  Nathan  Williams,  who  was  the 
president.  With  one  exception,  all  of  these  gentlemen  seem 
to  have  left  the  Manhattan  in  1812,  and  taken  part  in  the  Utica. 


274  THE   PIONEERS  OF  UTICA. 

Bank  The  directors  of  1816,  the  only  ones  of  a  later  date 
whose  names  I  can  learn,  were  Morris  S.  Miller,  president, 
Nathan  Williams,  James  Yan  Rensselaer,  Jr.,  John  C.  Dever- 
eux,  Jolm  C.  Hojt,  John  H.  Handy,  James  Dana,  Windsor 
Maynard.  After  the  withdrawal  of  Messrs.  Hunt  and  Gibson, 
in  order  to  enter  the  new  institution,  it  was  managed  by  James 
S.  Kissam  until  he  became  cashier  of  the  Ontario  Branch,  when 
his  place  was  lilled  by  James  Nazro.  Of  its  internal  affairs 
and  general  conduct  I  am  unable  to  get  much  information.  I 
know  only  that  it  ])rospered  and  remained  in  existence  until 
1818,  but  when  two  or  three  local  banks  adequate  to  the  bus- 
iness of  the  place  had  gained  a  foothold,  it  was  withdrawn. 

The  Henry  B.  Gibson  just  spoken  of  as  teller  under  Mr 
Hunt,  and  who  afterwards  became  himself  a  banker  of  emi- 
nence, had  been  already  some  years  in  Utica,  in  the  position  of 
clerk.  He  was  born  in  Reading,  Pa.,  April  13,  1783.  When 
nine  years  old  he  moved  with  his  father,  John  Gibson,  to  Sara- 
toga, ISr.  Y,,  where  he  received  his  principal  education.  Find- 
ing that  he  excelled  in  mathematical  studies  and  not  in  learn- 
ing Latin,  he  determined  on  being  a  merchant.  His  business  life 
he  began  at  the  age  of  sixteen,  at  Cooperstown,  as  a  clerk  of 
Judge  Cooper,  the  father  of  the  novelist,  and  with  the  novelist 
himself  he  was  a  youthful  associate.  Thence  he  came  to  Utica 
as  a  clerk  of  Hugh  Cunningham.  In  1805  he  was  emploj'cd 
in  the  store  of  Watts  Sherman,  and  in  1809  he  was  a  writer 
for  Francis  A.  Bloodgood,  in  the  office  of  the  county  clerk. 
He  had  a  quickness  of  perception  and  a  corresponding  quick- 
ness of  action  that  were  quite  uncommon,  and  to  these  M^ere 
added  undeviating  industry,  excellence  of  judgment,  and  an 
integrity  beyond  suspicion.  These  were  the  qualities  which, 
when  the  Manhattan  Bank  was  put  in  operation,  secured  him 
the  position  of  teller.  Three  years  later,  when  the  Bank  of 
Utica  was  organized,  he  followed  his  principal  and  became  tel- 
ler of  the  new  institution.  While  here,  it  was  his  practice' to 
accommodate  persons  coming  to  the  bank  for  a  renewal  of  their 
notes,  by  loaning  them  from  his  own  purse  the  money  they 
needed  to  take  up  their  former  ones,  without  which  liquidation 
the  bank  would  not  give  them  further  credit  Mr.  Hunt  ob- 
jected to  the  practice,  and  a  disagreement  ensued,  which  even- 
tually led  to  the  resignation  of   Mr.    Gibson.      Rejoining  Mr. 


J 


THE  SECOND  CHARTER.  275 

Sherman,  lie  went  with  him  to  New  York  in  the  spring  of  1813. 
There  as  merchants  they  carried  on  an  unusually  successful 
business,  having  Alexander  Seymour  as  their  associate  and  rep- 
resentative at  Utica.  In  this  firm,  and  after  the  death  of  Mr. 
Sherman,  in  other  connections,  he  remained  in  the  city,  until 
1820,  and  had  already  acquired  a  property  of  $30,000,  when 
a  cashier  being  wanted  for  the  Ontario  Bank  at  Canaudaigua, 
he  was  called  to  the  position.  To  retrieve  its  affairs,  he  removed 
to  Canandaigua,  assumed  the  duties  and  continued  to  perform 
them  until  the  expiration  of  the  charter  in  1856.  In  this  posi- 
tion it  was  not  long  before  he  gained  a  wide  spread  reputation, 
and  became,  in  the  opinion  of  A.  B.  Johnson,  "  the  most  uni- 
formly successful  country  banker  the  State  has  produced."  His 
personal  fortune,  which  was  not  the  result  of  hazardous  adven- 
turing, but  the  accumulation  of  a  long  and  busy  life,  amounted 
at  his  death  to  moi"e  than  a  million  of  dollars. 

Yet  Mr.  Gibson  was  not,  as  might  be  presumed,  a  cold  and 
crafty  man.  He  was  of  an  ardent  temperament,  impulsive  in 
his  kindness  and  in  his  displeasui'e,  artless  and  open  in  his 
intercourse,  and  tender  though  hasty  in  his  feelings.  He  filled 
also  other  jDosts  of  trust  and  honor,  having  been  president  of  the 
Auburn  &  Rochester  Rail  Road  Co.,  and,  after  the  consolidation, 
a  director  of  the  N,  Y.  Central.  He  lived  six  months  beyond 
the  age  of  eighty,  and  died  November  20,  1863.  His  wife,  to 
whom  he  was  united  on  the  9th  of  December,  1812,  was  Sarah, 
eldest  daughter  of  Watts  Sherman.  His  surviving  children  are 
a  son  and  three  daughters,  of  whom  one  married  Watts  Sher- 
man 2d,  nephew  of  the  preceding,  and  late  of  the  firm  of  Duncan, 
Sherman  &  Co.,  another,  Henry  L.  Lansing,  formerly  of  Utica, 
and  now  of  Niagara,  Canada. 

On  the  Fourth  of  July,  1808  or  1809,  in  a  time  when  party 
spirit  ran  high,  there  w^as  a  great  gathering  of  the  Democrats  at 
Bellinger's  tavern,  the  head  quarters  of  the  party  They  had  a 
large  naval  cannon  to  make  a  noise  with,  and  Tom  Jones,  the 
blacksmith,  who  had  been  in  the  British  service,  and  was  well 
acquainted  with  the  handling  of  great  guns,  was  employed 
as  the  best  engineer  to  manage  it.  Toward  the  close  of  the 
day,  when  the  celebration  was  pretty  much  over,  and  the  com- 
pany tolerably  mellow  and  reckless,  the  young  men  were  bent 


276  THE    PIONEERS  OF  UTICA. 

on  having  anotlier  firing  of  the  cannon,  and  went  to  work  to 
give  it  a  heavy  load.  Over  the  powder  they  filled  to  the 
muzzle  with  turf  and  other  soft  material,  which  being  well 
rammed  would  increase  the  resistance  and  give  a  louder  report ; 
and  the  ramming  was  done  with  a  will.  Jones  dared  not  risk 
such  a  load,  and  declaring  that  he  would  have  nothing  to  do 
with  it,  he  withdrew  and  took  a  seat  on  the  horse  block  at  the 
eastern  end  of  the  house.  The  young  men  were  determined 
the  gun  should  go  off,  and  pointed  it  toward  Bagg's,  the  quar- 
ters, as  is  presumed,  of  the  opposite  party.  A  ^^outh  named 
Seymour  Tracy,  an  apprentice  in  the  office  of  the  Gazette,  and 
of  strong  political  tendencies,  volunteered  to  do  the  firing,  and, 
with  a  live  coal  held  in  a  pair  of  tongs,  he  proceeded  to  exe- 
cute his  purpose.  A  terrible  explosion  ensued,  which  shattered 
the  gun  to  fragments,  leaving  scarcel}^  a  bit  on  the  spot  where 
it  had  stood.  Though  the  street  was  filled  with  men  aud  boys, 
yet  strange  to  say,  Tracy  and  Jones  were  the  only  persons  hurt, 
and  the  latter  but  slightly,  his  skin  being  scraped  by  the  butt 
of  the  cannon  that  struck  with  violence  the  block  on  which  he 
sat.  Tracy  was  less  fortunate :  one  of  his  legs  was  so  badly 
smashed  that  amputation  was  necessary.  The  party  took  good 
care  of  him  and  showed  him  much  kindness  during  his  illness 
and  after  his  recovery.  For  a  time  he  was  employed  as  a  copy- 
ist in  the  office  of  the  county  clerk,  and  soon  became  the  dep- 
uty. He  afterward  repaired  to  Fairfield,  studied  law,  and 
returned  to  serve  the  Manhattan  Branch  Bank  as  its  attorney 
and  notary.  He  was  a  man  of  capacity  and  resolution,  and 
ready  as  a  speaker,  and  was  active  in  the  arena  of  politics.  In 
ISTovember  1810,  he  married  Olivia,  daughter  of  Joseph  Bar- 
ton. Before  1816  he  moved  to  Batavia,  but  died  in  Albany, 
His  sou  Thomas  and  his  daughter  (Mrs.  George  Tracy,)  have 
been  residents  of  more  recent  date. 

The  freshly  starting  mechanics  of  1809  were  the  following: 
Kobert  McBiide,  mason,  long  held  an  honorable  place  among 
the  workers  of  Utica.  He  built  the  nucleus  of  the  present 
Bagg's  hotel, — that  is  to  say,  the  corner  and  central  portion, — 
and  did  much  other  heav}''  work  in  the  place ;  completed  some 
important  contracts  on  the  Erie  canal,  and  was  an  alderman 
and  an  enter|)risiiig  and  respected  citizen.   He  made  his  final  home 


I 


THE  SECOXD  CHARTER.  277 

with  his  son-in-law  near  Canandaigiia.  Of  his  three  sons  and 
three  daughters,  none  are  now  resident.  Another  mason  was 
Thomas  .Thomas,  a  Welshman,  who  built  the  stone  house  of 
James  S.  Kip,  and  afterwards  one  of  the  structures  of  Hamilton 
College.  Two  apprentices  to  the  hatter's  art  indentured  with 
Samuel  Stocking  were  his  brother  Joseph  Stocking  and  Samuel 
Bull.  Thev  estabhshed  themselves  in  1811  at  Buffalo,  where 
they  were  the  earliest  hatters  of  that  place,  and  met  with  de- 
served success.  When  the  w^ar  came  on.  Bull  took  part  in  it, 
was  a  captain,  and  was  wounded  at  Black  Rock.  Of  furriers, 
there  were  three  in  1809,  viz. :  Joseph  Simons,  Charles  Blates, 
and  Adolph  Cotteriield.  The  first  was  the  only  one  of  them 
who  remained  long  enough  to  leave  a  remembrance  and  a  de- 
scendant. Charles  Simons  followed  in  the  footsteps  of  his  father 
and  died  in  1875,  an  old  man,  and  unmarried.  The  saddlers, 
Eliphalet  Tucker  and  Erastus  Burchard,  now  began  at  the  old 
stand  of  Grurdon  Burchard,  who  went  into  tavern  keeping.  The 
tanner,  Andrew  P.  Tillman,  brother  of  William,  succeeded  to 
the  tannery  of  Bela  Hubbard,  but  in  1815  removed  to  Geneva. 
The  fresh  carpenters  were  Samuel  Jones,  C  W.  Harris  and 
William  Morris.  Jones  was  engaged,  some  years  later,  to  make 
the  gallows  on  which  John  Tuhi,  the  Indian,  was  hung.  He 
was  not  told  for  what  it  was  intended,  and  was  greatly  surprised 
•and  shocked  when  he  learned  its  purpose :  "  They  told  me  it  was  a 
ga-at,"  said  he,  "and  it's  a  gallows."  The  cabinet  makers  were 
Asa  Palmer,  brother  of  Chauncey  now  resident,  J.  Andrews 
and  Obadiah  Cougar.  The  latter  had  a  shop  in  Utica  and  an- 
other in  New  Hartford.  Palmer  moved  to  Racine  about  18-12, 
and  died  in  1871.  T  H.  Nurse,  reed  maker,  had  for  some  years 
a  home  in  the  house  which  preceded  the  residence  of  Justice 
Ward  Hunt.  He  moved  to  a  farm  three  miles  east  of  Utica. 
Joel  Hmckley,  blacksmith,  ai  the  sign  of  the  "  king's  arms"  on 
Whitesboro  street,  became  insolvent  three  years  later.  Henry 
Bowen,  another  blacksmith,  had  a  son  who  still  carries  on  the 
trade  of  his  father.  Two  young  men,  who  came  m  1809  from 
Danbury,  Conn.,  bore  the  relations  of  brother-in-law  and  of  mas- 
ter and  apprentice  to  the  trade  of  shoe  making.  The  latter  was 
Ezra  S.  Barnum,  who,  after  finishing  his  apprenticeship,  re- 
moved temporarily  from  the  place  to  reappear  some  years  later. 
The  former,  Levi  Comstock,  lived  in  Utica  from  that  time  on- 


278  '         THE   PIONEERS  OF  UTICA. 

ward  for  nearly  fifty  years,  and  then  made  bis  home  with  a 
son  in  Cuvahoga  Falls,  Ohio,  until  his  death,  May  31,  1868. 
William  Honghton  was  a  stage  proprietor,  and  for  a  time  a 
partner  with  Jason  Parker.     A  son  of  his  was  a  harness  maker. 

Paul  Hochstrasser,  gentleman,  owned  and  occupied  the  house 
that  became  a  part  of  the  Franklin  House,  which  has  now  given 
W'ay  to  the  Arcade.  Brother-indaw  of  Rudolph  Snyder,  he  mar- 
ried the  widow  of  Watts  Sherman.  Mrs.  Flandrau,  widow  of 
Elias  Flandrau  of  New  Rochelle,  was  the  mother  of  Thomas 
H.  Flandrau,  an  acute  and  able  lawyer  of  more  recent  times. 
One  of  her  daughters  had  already  married  Thomas  Dean  of 
Deansville,  Indian  agent.  Others  of  them  were  busy  needle 
women,  much  relied  on  by  the  ladies  of  their  generation,  and 
one  became  subsequently  the  wife  of  Prof.  Marcus  Catlin  of 
Hamilton  College.  Mrs.  Sarah  Van  Syce  was  a  milliner  of 
many  years  experience.  William  Ladd,  grocer,  at  No.  1  Gene- 
see, corner  of  Water,  was  long  a  resident  of  the  eastern  part  of 
the  village,  and  had  sons  and  daughters, 

George  Stewart  practiced  the  tonsorial  art  at  "  The  Blue 
Academy,"  as  he  termed  it.  "between  Payne's  and  Barton's." 
He  was  a  pompous  negro,  known  by  the  title  of  Emperor,  who 
had  been  servant  to  Admiral  Hood,  and  was  with  him  during  the 
war  between  England  and  France.  "  He  married  into  General 
Piatt's  family,"  as  he  was  accustomed  to  boast,  that  is  to  say, 
his  wife  had  been  a  servant  in  it.  In  public  processions  he 
headed  the  colored  people,  dressed  in  the  highest  style,  fre- 
quently in  short  clothes,  and  flourished  a  gold-headed  cane. 
He  died  on  Main  street  at  an  advanced  age. 

Besides  the  foregoing  we  have  the  names  of  John  Chi  Ids, 
teacher,  who  died  August  1814;  of  J.  Wilkinson,  teacher  of 
sacred  music ;  of  Samuel  Haskell,  dancing  master ;  of  John 
Conway,  another  colored  man ;  and  of  J.  Singer  &  Co.,  merchants, 
and  S.  Ammidon,  grocer,  who  have  left  us  no  other  token  of 
remembrance  than  a  single  advertisement. 

1810. 

On  the  first  of  Ma}^,  1810,  the  freeholders  met  at  Mr.  Dixon's 
school  house  and  elected  as  their  trustees  for  the  ensuing  year,. 


THE  SECOND  CTTAETER.  279 

Talcott  Camp,  John  C.  Hoyt,  John  C.  Devereux,  Ka(:lol})h 
Snyder,  and  Abraham  M.  Walton,  the  former  of  whom  was 
appointed  president.  The  snm  voted  to  be  assessed  was  five 
Imndred  dollars,  which,  after  remunerating  the  treasurer  and 
collector,  was  to  be  appropriated  as  follows : .  First,  to  the  sexton 
for  ringing  the  bell  in  the  Presbyterian  meeting  house ;  second,  to 
fencing  the  lot  presented  by  M.  S.  Miller,  and  building  an 
engine  house  thereon  ;  third,  to  digging  and  stoning  a  sewer  on 
the  east  side  of  Genesee  street  from  the  corner  of  Broad  ;  fourth, 
to  pay  balance  due  the  watch ;  fifth,  to  pay  the  balance  due  for 
hearse  and  other  contingent  expenses.  And  these  were  accord- 
ingly the  principal  matters  that  occupied  the  attention  of  the  trus- 
tees throughout  the  year.  Mr.  Macomber  was  engaged  to  ring 
the  bell  at  9  a.  m.,  12  m.  and  2  P.  M.  ;  the  president  and  Mr. 
Devereux  were  authorised  to  contract  for  fencing  the  new  lot 
and  building  an  engine  house  thereon;  Mr.  Brodwell,  in  considera- 
tion of  the  sum  of  $1(30.85,  built  the  proposed  drain ;  the  balance 
due  for  hearse  and  for  watch  were  liquidated.  A  new  subscrip- 
tion was  started  to  provide  for  the  watch  of  the  current  year, 
and  also  a  subscription  for  the  purchase  of  a  new  engine,  the 
avails  of  which,  being  deemed  sufficient,  were  put  into  the 
hands  of  Watts  Sherman,  with  authority  to  buy  the  same.  In 
addition  to  the  foregoing,  as  also  the  repairing  of  the  fixtures 
about  the  wells,  the  appointment  of  a  new  treasurer  (E.  B.  Sher- 
man), and  the  discharge  of  a  few  small  accounts,  the  only  other 
transaction  of  the  board  was  the  offer  of  a  reward  of  one  hun- 
dred and  fifty  dollars  for  the  detection  of  the  incendiary,  who, 
on  the  night  of  the  2d  of  October,  set  on  fire  the  new  store  of 
Hugh  Cunningham. 

The  Whitestown  records  inform  us  that  in  November  1810, 
C.  C.  Brodhead  surveyed,  and  the  commissioners  of  highways 
adopted,  the  following  streets,  viz. :  part  of  First  from  Broad  to 
Rutger,  thence  south-westerly  to  the  bridge  over  the  old  road  ;* 
Broad  street  extended  to  the  lands  of  Col.  Walker ;  Catherine 

*Tliis  was  the  old  road  to  New  Hartford,  and  which  was  quite  circuitous 
in  its  course;— starting  nearly  on  the  line  of  Broadway,  it  crossed  to  the 
east  side  of  the  present  turnpike,  and  afterwards  recrossed  it  before  reach- 
ing- New  Hartford.  The  bridge  must  have  been  over  one  of  the  sources  of 
Nail  creek. 


280  THE  PIONEERS  OF  UTICA. 

street  from  Third  street  to  the  Seneca  turnpike  (Genesee  street) ; 
Eirst  street  extended  to  Bridge.  Bridge  sti-eet,  \Adiich  had  been 
surveyed  for  the  commissioners  by  Mr.  Brodhead  in  1801,  and 
which,  as  we  have  seen,  was  laid  out  iu  1809,  was  also  now 
adopted.  A  map  made  by  Mr.  Brodhead,  in  1810,  for  the  heirs 
of  John  R  Bleecker,  exhibited  all  the  streets  parallel  to  Broad 
as  far  upwards  as  South,  laid  down  tliereon  as  they  now  exist. 
But  we  have  no  evidence  of  the  acceptance  by  authority  of  any 
other  than  Catherine  street,  and  it  is  certain  that  most  of  them 
were  not  in  use  until  some  years  later.  By  a  newspaper  adver- 
tisement of  September  in  this  year,  we  are  informed  that  the 
house  situated  on  the  corner  of  Catherine  and  Genesee  was 
for  sale  and  must  be  removed  within  ten  days  of  date.  It  is 
reasonable  to  infer  that  Catherine  street  was  now  demanded 
by  the  growing  necessities  of  the  village,  or  at  least  its  western 
end;  further  on,  it  remained  a  quagmire  until  after  the  opening 
of  the  canal.  In  this  connection,  and  as  bearing  on  the  increased 
value  of  real  estate  in  Utica,  we  quote  a  few  self-gratulatory 
words  contained  in  a  village  paper  of  this  era,  and  constituting 
one  of  those  rare  occurrences  for  the  era,  an  item  of  purely 
local  interest.  "We  are  informed,"  says  the  Patriot  of  October 
9,  1810,  ''that  a  small  triangular  lot  on  the  corner  of  Genesee 
and  Whitesboro  streets  in  this  village  has  been  sold  after  the 
rate  of  $300,000  an  acre,  which  same  land,  twenty-five  yeoxs 
ago,  might  have  been  purchased  for  one  dollar  an  acre."  Utica 
contained  at  this  time  one  thousand  six  hundred  and  fifry  inhabi- 
tants and  three  hundred  houses.  A  journalist  records  that  he 
^'counted  fortj'-five  liouses  on  the  street  leading  to  Judge  Miller's." 

A  beginning  was  made  this  3'ear  in  the  construction  of  two  im- 
portant roads  leading  north  and  south  from  tlie  place,  viz.  :  the 
Utica  &  Black  Eiver  turnpike,  andtlie  Minden  turnpike,  known 
of  late  3^ears  as  the  Burlington  plank  road. 

In  July  1810,  the  Erie  canal  commissioners  visited  Utica  in 
prosecution  of  their  fii-st  survey  of  its  route.  Further  continu- 
ance of  tlie  undertaking  was  soon  suspended  by  the  war  with 
England  which  ensued  in  1812,  and  it  was  not  till  after  its  close 
that  this  great  work  was  carried  on  to  its  successful  completion. 


THE  SECOND  CHARTER.  281 

Encouraged  bj  the  success  of  the  Oneida  Glass  Factory, 
started  the  previous  j^ear,  Mr.  Peter  Bours  uow  took  the  lead 
in  getting  up  a  company  to  manufacture  crown  glass,  which, 
it  was  proposed,  should  be  superior  to  any  made  in  the  country. 
With  him  were  associated  Benjamin  Walker,  John  Steward,  Jr., 
Hugh  Cunningham,  John  Hooker,  Seth  Dwight  and  others. 
A  special  charter  was  obtained  fi-om  the  Legislature  of  1809-10, 
and  a  capital  stock  was  raised  of  $250,000.  A  tract  of  land 
was  bought  some  three  miles  north  of  Utica,  in  the  part  of 
Deerfield  now  known  as  Marc}^  In  the  course  of  the  ensaing 
season  suitable  buildings  were  put  up,  workmen  were  obtained 
from  Boston,  the  only  place  where  crown  glass  was  then  made, 
and  the  manufacture  was  begun.  Within  a  year  the  stock  had 
all  been  called  in.  Bours  seemed  to  carry  all  he  undertook. 
B}^  continuous  boasting  the  new  stock  became  a  kind  of  south 
sea  bubble,  and  sales  were  reported  at  a  hundred  per  cent- 
though  such  sales  were  probably  fictitious.  A  gentleman  who 
visited  the  works  in  April  1813,  was  informed  that  the  expenses 
were  $30,000  annually,  the  value  of  glass  made  $50,000,  amount 
of  stock  $100,000.  That  the  works  of  the  company  were  not 
in  realit}"  ver}"  productive,  and  were,  in  fact,  for  a  time  sus- 
pended, we  infer  from  the  announcement  of  Mr.  Bours,  the 
superintendent,  made  in  Fel:)ruary  181-1,  a  few  months  after  the 
purchase  of  seven  hundred  and  ninety  additional  acres  of  land, 
to  the  effect  that  the  factory  is  again  in  operation,  and  that 
orders  are  received  on  the  premises  or  at  the  store  of  Luke  Dev- 
ereux.  The  company  struggled  on  a  fQw  years  longer.  In 
March,  1819,  they  were  in  want  of  glass  blowers,  and  made 
known  their  necessities  by  advertisement.  But  the  renewed 
efforts  proved  futile ;  it  was  found  impossible  to  manufacture 
crown  glass  which  could  compete  with  that  of  English  work- 
manship. Finally,  on  the  22d  of  March,  1822,  the  company 
leased  their  factory  for  four  years  to  their  predecessors,  the 
Oneida  Company  of  Vernon,  and  this  is  the  last  item  of  infor- 
mation the  writer  has  been  able  to  obtain  about  them.  A  good 
deal  of  money  was  sunk  in  the  enterprise,  and  the  losers  were 
numerous. 

Another  branch  of  business  which  dates  its  beginning  from 
this  era,  is  that  of  cotton  and  woolen  manufacture.     The  ear- 


'282  THE  PIONEERS  OF  UTICA. 

liest  attempt  in  this  direction  is  exhibited  in  the  following 
advertisement  which  emanated  from  Whitesboro,  and  which 
bears  date  November  13,  1809 : 

''The  subscribers,  acting  under  the  firm  of  Walcott  &  Co., 
have  erected  a  manufactory  for  the  spinning  of  cotton  yarn  in 
the  village  of  Whitesboro,  which  is  now  in  operation.  Benja- 
min S.  Walcott  agent.  The  public  are  invited  to  aid  and 
cherish  an  institution  calculated  to  support  the  independence 
of  the  country. 

(Signed  :)     B.  Walcott.  Newton  Mann,  William  M.  Cheever, 

Theodore  Sill,  Asher  Wetmore,  Benjamin  S.  Walcott,  Jr.  " 

Thomas  R.  Gold,  Seth  Capron, 

Within  a  year,  as  we  learn  fi'om  a  visitor  to  the  factory,  it  w^  as 
consuming  one  hundred  weight  of  cotton  per  diem.  This 
modest  beginning,  was  the  forerunner  of  all  the  similar  under- 
takings of  the  vicinity,  the  first  effort  of  those  sagacious,  pains- 
taking, persevering  and  skillful  men,  which  has  resulted  in  lining 
the  course  of  the  Sauquoit  with  pr(jductive  and  valuable  fac- 
tories, in  securing  for  the  projectors  and  those  who  succeeded 
them  the  fortunes  of  princes,  and  for  their  goods  a  repute  that 
extends  the  world  around. 

The  earliest  intimation  of  a  kindred  project  wherein  were 
enlisted  the  sympathies  and  the  capital  of  the  people  of  Utica, 
I  find  in  a  subscription  paper  dated  July  14,  1810,  and  enti- 
tled a  subscription  for  tlie  purpose  of  erecting  a  cotton,  woolen 
and  iron  factory,  on  the  Oriskany  creek  near  the  house  of  Col- 
onel Lansing.  Annexed  thereto  was  a  plan  for  its  construc- 
tion. The  capital  stock  was  to  be  $200,000,  divided  into  shares 
of  one  hundred  dollars  each.  Subscriptions  were  to  be  paid 
to  Gerrit  Gr.  Lansing,  Seth  Capron  and  Samuel  S.  Breese,  who 
were  to  be  trustees  until  an  incorporation  had  taken  place,  and 
were  then  to  convey  to  the  trustees  who  should  be  appointed. 
On  this  paper  there  are  in  all  fifty-nine  subscribers,  of  whom 
a  little  over  one  third  were  residents  of  Utica,  representing 
$38,500  of  the  stock,  the  remainder  being  inhabitants  of  Whites- 
boro and  capitalists  from  the  cast  Theodore  Sill  subscribes  in 
behalf  of  the  Oneida  Manufacturing  Society,  from  which  we 
are  to  infer  that  the  association  known  by  this  title  was  either 
already  in  existence  or  about  to  be  inaugurated.  The  mill 
belonging  to  this  society  which  stood  between  Yorkville  and 
New  York  Mills  was  burned  down  many  years  since,  and  was 


THE  SECOND  CHARTER.  28S 

replaced  with  one  of  stone  and  brick.  This  subscription  paper 
doubtless  records  the  incipient  movements  in  behalf  of  the 
Oriskanj  factory,  a  three  story  brick  building,  one  hundred  and 
twenty  feet  in  length  which  was  commenced  in  1810,  incorpor- 
ated in  1811,  and  soon  went  into  operation  as  a  woolen  mill  on 
the  site  at  first  proposed.  According  to  Judge  Jones,  (Annals 
of  Oneida  County)  it  is  believed  to  have  been  the  oldest  woolen 
manufacturing  company  in  l)eing  in  the  United  States.  "  At 
the  time  of  the  incorporation  of  this  company"  saj's  he  "  our 
difficulties  with  Great  Britain  had  assumed  a  threatening  aspect, 
and  a  number  of  the  prominent  public  men  of  that  day  were 
induced  from  truly  patriotic  motives  to  embark  in  the  business 
of  manufacturing  woolen  goods  in  the  hope*)f  doing  something 
to  render  their  country'  independent  of  England  for  a  supply 
of  clothing."  Without  intending  to  underrate  the  cogency  of 
this  motive,  which  doubtless  was  a  prevailing  one,  I  venture 
to  add  other  causes  which  are  alleged  by  an  English  traveller 
of  the  period  to  have  had  their  influence.  This  traveller, 
J.  Mellish  by  name,  visited  the  northern  States  in  the  years 
1810-11,  and  in  tlie  published  record  of  his  journey  has  given  us 
some  notices  of  Oneida  county,  and  of  its  "capital,"  as  he  des- 
ignates Utica.  After  alluding  to  the  state  of  things  that  pre- 
vailed previous  to  about  the  year  1807-8,  when  Utica  and  the 
neighboring  settlements  of  Whitesboro  and  New  Hartford  were 
almost  the  last  outposts  of  trade,  and  when  the  newly  settling 
country  beyond  was  immediately  dependent  upon  them  for 
supplies,  he  intimates  that  the  commerce  of  Utica,  was  at  the 
time  of  his  visit  (1811)  in  a  drooping  condition,  the  spirit  for 
building  on  the  decline,  and  confidence  in  its  future  greatness 
seriously  impaired.  This  decline  he  imputes  to  a  threefold 
cause  ;  to  the  increased  mercantile  facilities  of  the  western  set- 
tlements and  their  consequent  growing  independence  of  eastern 
inland  villages  like  Utica,  to  the  change  in  the  current  of  the 
market  which  had  begun  to  traverse  the  lakes  and  the  St.  Law- 
rence, and  to  forsake  the  more  tedious  channel  of  the  Mohawk, 
and  lastly  to  excessive  overtrading  throughout  the  State,  due 
to  the  indulgence  of  too  free  a  credit  both  in  New  York  City 
and  in  England.  He  then  goes  on  to  remark  of  the  citizens  of 
Utica  that  '"they  have  already  begun  to  avail  themselves  of 
the  advantages  to  be  derived   from  the  new  order  of    things^ 


284  THE  PIONEERS  OF  UTICA. 

and  a  good  deal  of  the  surplus  capital  of  All)ain'  and  New 
York  has  also  been  invested  in  manufactures  in  and  about  this 
place,  for  which  they  are  already  getting  in  some  success  a  hand- 
some return.''  Not  to  anticipate  his  account  of  the  actual 
number  of  manufactures  as  he  found  them  in  1811,  I  subjoin 
a  single  paragraph,  expressive  of  his  opinions  of  the  future  : 
"There  are  three  branches  that  are  likely  to  flourish  in  an  emi- 
nent degree:  glass,  woolen  and  cotton:  and  they  will  all  be  of 
great  importance  to  Utica.  The  cotton  trade  will,  I  think, 
flourish  here  beyond  every  other." 

The  year  1810  is  memorable  for  the  birth  of  a  local  society, 
purely  benevolent  iji  its  purposes,  which  has  received  the  appro- 
bation and  enlisted  the  sympathies  of  all  evangelical  Christians 
throughout  the  county,  and  which,  from  its  origin  to  the  present 
time,  has  continued  to  diffuse  light  and  blessings  upon  the  sur- 
rounding region.  This  is  the  Oneida  Bible  Society.  It  was  formed 
at  Utica  at  a  meeting  convened  for  the  purpose,  at  the  Presby- 
terian Church,  on  the  15th  day  of  November,  1810 ;  and  thus 
precedes  by  six  j^ears  the  formation  of  the  Ameiican  Bible  Society. 
At  this  meeting  Rev.  Amos  G.  Baldwin  was  called  to  preside. 
Bev.  James  Carnahan,  George  Huntington  of  Rome,  and  Erastus 
Clark  were  appointed  a  committee  to  prepare  a  constitution,  and 
they  forthwith  reported  the  draft  of  one  which  was  unanimously 
adopted,  and  which,  with  some  few  amendments  since  incorpo- 
rated, constitutes  the  organic  law  of  its  present  existence.  Its 
first  article  expresses  the  object  of  the  society,  and  is  made  a 
fundamental  law  that  cannot  be  repealed :  this  object  is  "  the 
distribution  of  the  Holy  Scriptures  in  the  common  version, 
without  note  or  comment."  Of  those  who  took  part  in  its  or- 
ganization, many  served  their  generation  with  credit  in  stations 
of  public  trust ;  but  in  few  relations,  perhaps,  are  they  entitled 
to  more  honoi-able  mention  than  in  connection  with  the  society 
thus  launched  forth  upon  its  high  and  useful  career.  Those 
who  held  the  four  leading  offices  were,  Jonas  Piatt  of  Whites- 
boro,  president;  Rev.  Asahel  S.  Norton  of  Clinton,  vice  presi- 
dent ;  Rev.  James  Carnahan,  secretary :  and  Rev.  Amos  G. 
Baldwin,  treasurer.  To  these  were  added  sixteen  directors,  rep- 
resenting equally  the  clerical  and  the  lay  element,  viz. :  George 
Huntincrton  and  Rev.  Moses  Gillet  of  Rome ;    Rev.  Abraham 


THE  SECOND  CHAETER.  285 

Williams,  Arthur  Breese,  Morris  S.  Miller,  Erastus  Clark,  Jere- 
miah Yan  Rensselaer  of  Utiea ;  Rev.  Oliver  Wetmore  of  Hol- 
land Patent  (and  afterwards  of  Utiea),  Dv.  Elnathan  Jndd  and 
Henry  McNiel  of  Paris ;  Rev.  James  Eells  of  Westmoreland ; 
John  Linklaen  of  Cazenovia;  Rev.  Israel  Brainard  of  Verona  ; 
Rev.  Samuel  F.  Snowden  of  New  Hartford;  Rev.  Caleb  Doug- 
lass of  Whitesboro ;  and  Rev.  James  Southworth  of  Bridge- 
water.  At  the  commencement  the  society  had  no  special  or  de- 
fined territorial  limits  within  which  its  operations  were  to  be 
conducted.  It  solicited  subscriptions  by  the  agents  it  appointed, 
who  resided  not  merely  in  the  county  of  Oneida,  but  in  all  the 
adjacent  ones.  Its  allotments  of  Bibles  extended  also  from 
Montgomery  on  the  east  to  Steuben  on  the  west,  and  from 
Chenango  and  Madison  to  Jefferson  and  St.  Lawrence.  It  was 
not  until  the  year  1849,  that  upon  a  revision  of  the  constitution, 
its  name  w^as  changed  to  that  of  the  "Oneida  County  Bible 
Society,"  since  which  period,  and  indeed  practically  before  tliat 
date,  the  field  of  its  operations,  both  in  respect  to  the  solic- 
iting of  funds  and  the  supplying  of  the  destitute  with  the  Scrip- 
tures, has  been  Oneida  county.  The  exploration  and  survey 
of  the  county  has  been  four  times  undertaken,  and,  as  far  as 
possible,  every  reader  w^ithin  its  bounds  has  been  furnished  with 
a  copy  of  the  Bible.  The  report  of  the  fourth  one  made  in 
1861,  shows  that  during  the  preceding  year  eighteen  thousand 
five  hundred  and  ninety-seven  families  were  visited,  that  \vp- 
wards  of  twenty-one  hundred  Bibles  or  Testaments  had  been 
given  away,  and  nearly  sixteen  hundred  sold. 

The  first  meeting  of  the  society  was  followed  by  an  annual 
meeting  in  January  1811,  since  which  time  annual  meetings 
have  been  held  without  interruption,  to  the  present  year,  except 
during  the  years  1833-6,  when  there  appeared  to  have  been  a 
suspension  of  them.  The  proceedings  of  the  society  and  a  state- 
ment of  its  future  intentions  were  annually  published  in  the 
form  of  a  report.  Many  of  the  reports  in  the  earlier  years  of 
its  operations  were  drawn  up  by  Erastus  Clark,  and  are  docu- 
ments of  peculiar  interest.  The  semi-centennial  anniversary 
was  observed  in  January  1861.  On  this  occasion  a  commemor- 
ative address  was  delivered  by  William  J.  Bacon  of  the  execu- 
tive committee,  which  elicited  the  cordial  thanks  of  tlie  society. 
To  it  the  writer  is  mainly  indebted  for  the  facts  herewith  pre- 


286  THE  PIONEERS  OF  UTICA. 

sented.  From  tliis  address  we  learn  further  that  Judge  Piatt 
continued  to  act  as  })resident  of  the  society,  by  repeated  reelec- 
tions,  until  1816,  when  he  was  succeeded  by  George  Hunting- 
ton, whose  term  of  service  continued  until  the  year  182-1,  when 
Judge  Piatt  again  resumed  the  office,  and  remained  four  3'ears 
more  in  the  discharge  of  its  duties.  To  him  succeeded  Abraham 
Yarick,  in  1828,  continuing  until  1832,  when  Asahel  Seward 
was  elected.  He  was  followed  in  1836,  by  John  J.  Knox  of 
Augusta,  who  presided  in  the  office  until  his  death  in  1876,  and 
has  been  succeeded  by  Dr.  J.  C.  Gallup  of  Clinton.  The  society 
has  had  but  four  treasurers,  viz. :  Amos  G.  Baldwin  from  its 
origin  to  the  year  1811 ;  William  G.  Tracy,  from  1811  to  1830  ; 
Jesse  W.  Doolittle,  from  1830  to  1842 ;  and  Jared  E.  Warner, 
from  1842  to  the  present  time.  During  the  first  fifty  years  of 
its  existence,  the  entire  amount  of  its  receipts  and  disbursements 
was  over  $40,000,  "  a  sum  small  indeed,  when  compared  witli 
those  of  our  great  national  societies,  but  which  faithfully  and 
judiciously  applied,  as  it  has  been,  has  produced  an  incalculable 
amount  of  good." 

Let  us  turn  now  from  more  general  matters  to  take  up  the 
list  of  new  arrivals  and  new  business  adventurers  of  the  j^ear. 
It  has  already  been  mentioned  that  when  Jeremiah  Van  Eens- 
selaer  estaljlished  himself  in  Utica,  in  1800,  there  came  with 
him,  as  his  clerk,  his  brother  James,  then  a  youth  of  seventeen. 
This  brother  remained  with  him  until  1810,  when  he  set  up  on 
his  own  account  in  the  multifarious  trade  of  the  period.  In  this 
he  continued  longer  than  his  elder.  In  1811  he  married  a  niece 
of  the  wife  of  Jeremiah,  Miss  Susan  DeLancey  Cullen,  who 
had  been  early  left  an  orphan  and  had  been  brought  up  by  her 
uncle,  James  Kane  of  Albany.  He  built  and  began  house 
keeping  in  the  brick  house  on  Broad  street,  which  is  the  fourth 
east  from  the  Grouse  block.  After  some  years  residence  therein, 
he  built  and  occupied  the  wooden  house  that  covers  the  triangu- 
lar lot  bounded  b}^  John,  Elizabeth  and  Park  avenue.  His 
place  of  business  was  for  the  most  ])art  on  the  southerly  corner 
of  Broad  and  Genesee,  and  hither  his  frequent  advertisements 
summon  customers  who  arc  in  need  of  dry  goods,  groceries  or 
hollow  ware,  of  powder  from  Do  Chaumont's  factory,  or  flour 
of  Ely  &  Bissell's  grinding.     He  encountered  some  reverses, 


THE  SECOND  CHARTER.  287 

and  entered  on  some  undertakings  which  did  not  prove  alto- 
gether profitable.  Of  the  latter  nature  was  the  building  of  the 
row  of  brick  stores,  on  the  southerly  side  of  Liberty,  between 
Hotel  and  Seneca,  for  besides  being  imperfect  in  construction, 
these  stores  were  not  perhaps  wisely  conceived,  being  in  advance 
of  the  requirements  of  the  time.  Though  Mr.  Van  Rensselaer 
did  not  attain  the  exalted  position  in  public  affairs  that  was 
held  by  his  brother,  he  was  busy  in  his  own ;  he  filled  also 
posts  of  responsibility  and  usefulness,  among  others  that  of 
director  of  the  Manhattan  Bank ;  and  he  and  his  family  were 
respected  and  conspicuous. 

In  1837  he  removed  to  Jasper  county  in  Indiana,  where  he  de- 
voted his  energies  to  the  laying  out  and  improvement  of  a  town 
which  bore  his  name.  He  erected  mills,  a  court  house,  &c.,  and 
succeeded  in  firmly  securing  what  is  now  one  of  the  most  thriv- 
ing villages  in  northern  Indiana.  Here  he  died  in  the  spring 
of  181:7,  and  was  buried  in  the  corner  of  the  lot  donated  by  the 
family  to  the  Presbyterian  Church  of  the  village.  After  his 
death  the  family  removed  to  New  Brunswick,  N..  J.,  where  Mrs. 
y.  R.  died  in  1863,  and  the  second  daughter,  Susan  (Mrs.  Henry 
Weston),  in  1870,  and  where  the  remaining  daughters,  Cornelia 
and  Angelica,  as  well  as  the  only  son,  John  Cullen,  now  live. 

A  new  firm  of  the  year  was  that  of  Nicoll  &  Dering,  who 
began  on  Genesee  street  opposite  Broad.  It  was  composed  of 
Richard  F.  Nicoll,  who  lived  a  short  time  in  the  A.  B.  Johnson 
house,  and  lived  freely,  but  had  money  for  public  schemes  as 
well  as  for  his  private  use,  and  Charles  T.  Dering,  his  brother-in 
law,  and  brother  of  the  late  Dr.  Nicoll  H.  Dering.  The  latter 
was,  it  is  said,  an  exemplar}^  man,  but  neither  of  them  remained 
long  enough  to  leave  a  permanent  reputation.  Mr.  Dering  be- 
came an  early  settler  of  Hamilton  in  Madison  county,  and  was 
collector  of  revenue  in  1812,  but  afterwards  returned  to  Sag 
Harbor  whence  he  came.     Mr.  Nicoll  stayed  until  1815. 

Walter  Flemmg,  an  Irishman,  who  sold  boxes  of  tin  in  June 
of  this  year,  lived  on  until  the  26th  of  November,  1830.  Fond 
of  gayety  and  sport,  he  was  a  favorite  with  his  companions,  but 
his  business  dragged,  and  his  social  habits  overcame  him  at  the 
last 


288  THE  PIONEERS  OF  UTICA. 

Evan  Davies  lived  in  Utica  in  1805,  though  he  then  did  not 
get  into  business,  but  was  trying  to  sell  his  farm  in  Deerfield. 
In  1810  he  took  the  store  vacated  by  the  Messrs.  Bloodgood,  on 
the  corner  of  Genesee  and  Whitesboro  streets,  and  there  he  kept 
a  wholesale  and  retail  establishment,  which  was  known  as  the 
Cheap  Welsh  Store.  It  displayed  in  front  the  image  of  a  man 
leaning  on  a  roll  of  linen  cloth.  This  sign,  after  having  done 
duty  for  one  or  two  succeeding  merchants,  is  still  preserved  by 
Mr.  Eay  at  the  original  store.  Mr.  Davies  failed  in  the  course 
of  a  year,  and  became  a  farmer,  but  resumed  business  afterwards 
and  in  1818  was  again  sold  out  He  acted  at  times  as  a  preacher 
among  the  Welsh  Independents. 

Daniel  Stafford  has  already  been  mentioned  as  the  son  of 
Joab  Stafford,  and  succeeding  to  his  interest  in  company  with 
Bnos  Brown.  Stafford  &  Brown,  coppersmiths,  removed  in 
1815  to  the  east  side  of  Genesee  street  above  the  square,  and 
next  to  E.  B.  Shearman,  where  they  dealt  in  all  kinds  of  hard- 
ware. Al)out  1820  they  failed  and  the  business  was  assumed 
by  Spencer,  Stafford  &  Co.  of  Albany.  Daniel  became  next  a 
captain  of  a  packet  boat,  being  in  command  of  one  of  the  first 
packets  upon  the  canal.  His  residence  in  his  later  years  was 
the  house  now  occupied  by  E.  S.  Barnum.  His  wife,  wdio  was 
Altheina  Makepeace  of  Norton,  Mass.,  is  still  alive.  He  had 
five  children. 

Joshua  Ostrom,  eldest  son  of  Judge  David  Ostrom  before 
mentioned,  entered  upon  the  running  of  stages,  and  in  1810-11, 
he  and  his  partners  are  in  close  competition  with  Jason  Parker 
and  his  partners.  A  glance  at  their  respective  advertisements 
will  be  of  interest,  as  illustrating  not  only  the  gradual  advance 
in  the  business  of  staging,  but  showing  also  the  rivalry  and  strife 
which  then  prevailed  between  opposing  com2)anies.  Thus,  on 
the  20th  of  September,  1810,  Joshua  Ostrom,  Baker  &  Swan, 
,and  J.  Wetmore  &  Co.  announce  a  new  steamboat  line  of  stages 
which  will  leave  Albany  Monday  and  Friday  ;  Utica,  Monday 
and  Thursday.  Six  days  later  the  competing  com23anies,  Powell 
&  Parker,  Campbell  &  Co.  "  in  order  to  prevent  the  delay  at 
Utica  "  in  their  Western  line,  have  determined  to  run  their  stages 
every  day.     Next  Ostrom  &  Co.  run  theirs  three  times  a  week, 


THE  SECOND  CHARTER.  289 

but  "  without  the  inounibnince  of  post  office  regulations."    Then 
on  the  21st  of  January,  1811,  we  have  the  following  announce- 
ment from  Parker  &  Powell :    "Eight  changes  of  horses.     The 
mail  stage  now  leaves  Bagg's,   Utica,  every  morning  at  four 
o'clock.      Passengers  will    breakfast  at  Maynard's,  Herkimer, 
dine  at  Josiah  Shepard's,  Palatine,  and  sup  (on  oysters)  at  Thomas 
Powell's  Tontine  Coffee  House,  Schenectady.     Those  ladies  and 
gentlemen  who  will  favor  this  line  with  their  patronage  may  be 
assured  of  having  good  horses,  attentive  drivers,  warm  carriages, 
and  that  there  shall  not  be  any  running  or  racing  horses  on  the 
hue."     Tlie  rival  proprietors,  still  unencumbered  by  post  office 
regulations,  are  ready  a  week  later,  to  "  go  through  in  one  day, 
unless  the  extreme  badness  of  the  travelling  render  it  utterly 
impossible."     Passengers  are  to  "  have  the  liberty  of  breakfast- 
ing, dining  and  supping  where^  when  and  on  what  they  please." 
No  more  than  eight  passengers,  unless  by  unanimous  consent. 
Only  one  further  advertisement  of  Mr.  Ostrom  and  his  associates 
appears,  and  this  is  dated  April  1811,  for  he  failed  and  wound 
up  his  affairs.     He  was  afterwards  constable,  deputy  sheriff,  &c. 
Of  Mr.  Parker  and  his  fellows  we  continue  to  read.     His  next, 
under  date  of  May  1811,  is  as  follows :     "  Powell,  Parker,  Baker 
&  Co.,  Parker  &  Powell,  Hosmer  &  Co.,  and  Landon  &  Co.  run 
a  line  of  stages  from  Albany  to  Niagara  Falls.     N.  B.     The 
public  will  observe  that  this  is  the  only  line  which  reaches  the 
Falls,  and  that  the  stages  of  the  speculative  oppositionists,  who 
impose  on  travellers  by  assuring  them  that  their  stages  extend 
to  Canandaigua  or  the  Niagara  Falls,  go  no  farther  than  Utica ; 
but  that  the  present  line  of  stages  will  afford  them  a  safe  and 
direct  passage  either  to  Utica,   Canandaigua,  Buffaloe,  or  the 
Falls,  without  subjecting  the  passenger  to  the  trouble  of  apply- 
ing to  another  stage  for  conveyance.     Fare  from   Albany  to 
Utica,  five  dollars  and  fifty  cents  ;  from  Utica  to  Greneva,  five 
dollars ;  Utica  to  Canandaigua,  five  dollars  and  seventy -live 
cents;  from  Canandaigua  to  Buffaloe,  six  cents  per  mile."     In 
September  1816,  Jason  Parker  &  Co.,  with  half  a  dozen  con- 
federates, in  addition  to  their  stages  which  left  Utica  and  Can- 
andaigua six  tmies  a  week,  and  ran  through  in  a  day  and  a  half, 
were  running  a  line  three  times  a  week  between  Albany  and 

Canandaigua,  going  by  the  way  of  Auburn,  Skaneateles,  On- 
T 


290  THE   PIONEERS  OF  UTICA. 

ondaga,  Manlius,  Cazenovia,  Madison  and  Cherry  Valley,  and 
these  stages  went  through  in  two  days. 

Next  after  an  owner  and  runner  of  stage  coaches,  it  may  be 
permitted  to  introduce  one  who  painted  them.  This  is  John 
C.  Bull,  from  Hartford,  Connecticut.  He  succeeded  to  the 
shop  of  Thomas  &  Brewster,  opposite  the  Utica  brewery,  but 
was  during  most  of  his  residence  near  the  corner  of  Seneca 
and  Liberty.  His  sign  represented  the  name  of  the  artist  and 
that  of  his  art  so  closely  approximated  as  to  need  not  a  li^qDhen 
to  read  Bull-Painter.  This  led  Thomas  Skinner,  who  was  a 
bit  of  a  wag,  to  call  on  him  one  day  to  engage  him  to  paint  a 
bull;  it  was  not  to  be  a  cow,  or  anything  else  of  the  bovine 
family,  but  a  veritable  bull.  But  though  Mr.  Bull's  calling 
was  that  of  coach,  sign  and  ornamental  painting,  he  was  in 
truth  quite  as  notorious  as  an  amateur  violinist,  and  fiddled  as 
faithfully  as  he  painted.  He  was  a  pupil  of  one  Henry  J.  Curphew, 
who  gave  lessons  in  instrumental  music,  terminating  his  course 
with  a  public  concert  that  was  a  grand  event  for  the  times.  At 
this  concert  Curphew  and  Bull  took  parts  in  a  play  entitled  the 
"Scolding  Wife,"  and  chased  one  another  around  the  room, 
causing  a  merriment  that  surviving  spectators  remember  with 
delight.  Mr.  Bull  died  July  10,  1827.  Mrs.  Bull  was  a  Miss 
Cross, 

To  William  Whitely  music  was  by  no  means  the  amusement 
of  an  amateur ;  on  the  contrary  its  making  was  the  life  work 
of  fort}^  years  and  upward.  In  July  1810,  he  set  up  "a  mu- 
sical factorj^"  An  industrious  mechanic,  an  honest,  quiet  and 
exceedingly  modest  man,  he  prosecuted  the  manufacture  of 
musical  instruments  until  1858,  and  then  retired  to  spend  the 
remainder  of  his  days  with  a  married  daughter  at  Knox  Cor- 
ners. He  is  to  be  remembered  as  the  first  organist  of  Trinity 
Church  at  a  time  when  church  organs  were  rarer  than  at 
present,  and  when  Erben  had  not  yet  earned  his  fame  as  a 
builder  of  them.  For  we  read  that  on  the  20th  of  July,  1811, 
Mr.  Whiteley  leased  to  Trinity  for  two  years,  at  sixty-eight 
dollars  a  year,  an  organ  with  three  cylinders  of  fifteen  tunes 
each,  engaging  to  perform  on  the  same  at  all  the  regular  ser- 
vices. His  wife  was  Miss  Parmelee,  sister  of  the  wives  of  B. 
W.  Thomas  and  A.  G.  Dauby.     He  had  a  son  William,  now 


THE  SECOND  CHARTER.  291 

deceased,  a  daughter  Mary  (Mrs.  Knox,  of  Augusta),  and  two 
named  respectively  Sarah  and  Emily. 

Thaddeus  B.  Wakeman  was  a  capitalist,  from  Bridgeport, 
Connecticut,  who  subscribes  for  the  building  of  the  Oriskany 
factor}^  in  1810,  speculates  in  Merino  sheep  in  1811,  and  has  so 
much  money  to  lend  that  he  is  called  the  walking  bank,  but  is 
not  known  in  Utica  after  1815.  He  went  to  New  York,  made 
a  venture  in  tea,  and  had  a  cargo  freshly  arrived,  when  news 
came  of  the  declaration  of  peace.  The  price  of  tea  fell  and  he 
was  ruined.  Another  private  banker  we  get  merely  a  hint  of 
in  a  letter  from  New  York,  written  by  Abraham  M.  Walton, 
after  he  had  removed  from  the  place,  to  a  friend  in  Utica.  It 
is  dated  October  1810,  and  contains  in  its  postscript  the  provok- 
ing inipiiry :  •'  Who  is  ahead  now,  Bridge  or  the  Manhattan?" 
And  who,  we  ask,  was  Bridge,  this  daring  competitor  of  the 
established  bank?  A  teller  of  the  Manhattan,  named  Alanson 
Jermaine,  who  was  at  first  a  clerk  of  E.  B.  Shearman,  and  a 
man  of  excellent  repute,  lived  here  from  1810  to  1815,  then 
removed  to  Ontario  county,  and  thence  to  Albany.  His  pres- 
ent home  is  in  East  Hampstead,  L.  I. 

Jarhes  C.  Winter, — believed  to  have  been  a  lawyer, — was 
associated  with  Seymour  Tracy  in  the  publication  of  a  paper 
called  The  Club.  This  was  a  weekly  paper  of  a  small  size, 
which  was  issued  under  a  fictitious  name,  and  was  rather  lite- 
rary than  political,  being  chiefly  filled  with  stories.  It  was  be- 
gun in  1812,  but  was  not  continued  over  a  year,  though  it  was 
resumed  something  later  by  another  editor,  and  took  a  differ- 
ent stand.  Winter  is  said  to  have  failed  and  gone  to  South 
America.  It  is  a  little  singular  however,  that  a  James  C.  Winter 
should  have  turned  up  about  this  time  as  a  merchant  in  George- 
town, Madison  county,  as  appears  from  the  History  of  that 
county. 

Thomas  Devereux,  who  arrived  this  year  from  Ireland,  sold, 
the  next,  at  the  Utica  Distillery, — now  the  Gulf  Brewery  of 
McQuade — "  excellent  whiskey  in  exchange  for  cash,  wheat, 
rye  or  store  hogs."  In  March  1815,  his  brother  Nicholas  ad- 
vertises the  distillery  as  for  sale.  Thomas  returned  to  his  na- 
tive soil ;  there  he  married  Miss  Mary  A.  Redmond  of  New 


292  THE   PIONEERS  OF  UTICA. 

Ross,  and  bad  a  isoii  who  was  afterwards  adopted  by  John  C. 
Devereux,  and  bore  his  name.  This  son  became  a  highly  re- 
spectable lawyer  of  New  York,  and  d3nng,  left  a  widow  and 
two  sons,  who  are  now  domiciled  in  Utica, 

Robert  Todd,  Jr.,  tobacconist,  sold  also  fish,  and  "  kept  a 
team  running  between  Albany  and  Utica  to  furnish  his  cus- 
tomers with  tobacco,  snuff  and  segars,  and  also  with  t\vo  sup- 
plies of  salt  fish  a  season."  But  it  was  for  no  long  time  that 
he  kept  it,  and  not  beyond  1815  did  he  keep  a  residence  in  the 
place.  J.  Passenbronder,  another  tobacconist,  was  shorth^  set- 
tled in  Eaton,  Madison  county. 

A  tanner  named  William  Pennimau  was  at  this  time  and  for 
several  years  longer  foreman  for  David  P.  Hoyt.  He  was  a 
native  of  Quincey,  Mass.,  had  lived  in  Philadelphia,  and  in 
various  })laces  in  Massachusetts,  but  had  been  unsuccessful  and 
lost  his  property.  After  some  years  connection  with  Mr.  Hoj^t, 
he  was  next  in  the  employ  of  Hubbell  &  Curran.  On  the 
death  of  his  wife,  in  1837,  he  removed  to  live  with  one  of  his 
sons.  This  wife  was  a  superior  person,  and  had  been  bred  to  a 
higher  position  than  her  husband's  straitened  circumstances  ena- 
bled her  to  fill.  The  sons  were  eight  in  number,  and  two  of 
them  carriage  makers.  Of  these  two,  Edward,  after  floating 
about,  settled  in  Philadelphia,  where  he  was  editor  of  a  Demo- 
cratic paper,  a  member  of  both  branches  of  the  Legislature, 
register  of  wills,  &c.  He  died  in  1887.  Francis  B.  Penniman 
learned  the  trade  of  printer  with  Merrell  &  Hastings,  was  set- 
tled at  Pittsburg,  and  is  now  an  editor  at  Honesdale.  He  also 
was  a  member  of  the  Pennsylvania  Legislature,  and  likewise  a 
member  of  Congress. 

Mellen  Battle,  living  near  the  starch  factory,  advertised  in 
December  1810,  what  he  termed  the  American  Wheelwright's 
Labor  Saving  Machine ;  it  being  a  machine  for  making  all  kinds 
of  carriage  wheels,  and  also  spokes,  axe  helves,  &c.  He  obtained 
a  patent  in  1809.  This  Battle  deserves  to  be  remembered  as 
the  man  who  built  the  only  steamboat  that  has  ever  traversed 
the  Mohawk  above  the  falls  at  Cohoes. 

Other  mechanics  of  longer  stay  than  Battle,  were  Luther  and 
Nathan    Christian,    blacksmiths ;    John    Bailey,    coppersmith ; 


THE  SECOND  CHARTER.  293 

Thomas  Brodway,  butcher;  Baker  McCo}^,  carpenter.  The 
Christians  worked  for  years  in  the  shop  of '  Isaac  Clough,  and 
afterwards  in  their  own.  Thomas  Christian,  their  brother,  hav- 
ing seen  six  months  service  in  the  war  of  1812,  taught  school 
afterwards  on  Hotel  street,  and  was  in  1821,  teacher  of  the 
Lancaster  school.  Next  he  became  a  merchant  and  was  located 
at  No.  77  Genesee.  January  15,  1830,  he  died  in  Florida 
whither  he  had  gone  to  recruit  his  health.  His  widow  and  one 
son,  William  H.,  are  yet  in  Utica.  Mr.  Bailey,  a  relative  of 
the  Delvins,  and  employed  with  them,  had  a  numerous  family, 
of  whom  Moses,  James  and  William  still  make  their  home  in 
the  place.  Their  mother  was  living  but  two  years  since.  Thomas 
Brodwa}-,  lived  but  little  above  Oneida  square,  in  the  house  of 
late  occupied  by  Charles  P.  Davis,  the  maker  of  stained  glass, 
and  yet  he  was  in  New  Hartford,  the  dividing  line  being  then 
so  near. 

Others  of  ISIO,  whose  residence  was  of  short  duration,  were 
Haley  Brown,  butcher,  brother  of  Enos  and  Nehemiah ;  Joel 
Marble  and  Samuel  Danforth,  stone  and  marble  cutters ;  Wil- 
liam Staples,  turner ;  Russell  A.  Dickinson,  tailor  ;  John  Lewis, 
carman ;  John  D.  Harrington,  teamster ;  Augustus  W.  Bing- 
ham, who  superintended  the  laying  out  of  Bridge  street ;  George 
Thomas,  clerk  for  his  brother  Daniel ;  and  George  Derbyshire 
for  Watts  Shearman ;  Martin  Langdon,  also  clerk ;  J.  W. 
Blackett,  teacher ;  Alexis  Felix  de  St.  Hilaire,  French  and 
dancing  master ;  William  Moore,  instructor  in  the  broad  sword 
exercise ;  William  Thomas  and  William  James,  village  watch- 
men; Mrs.  C.  Hooker,  mantua  maker. 


181L 

On  the  7th  of  May,  1811,  the  citizens  convened  as  usual  at 
Mr.  Dixon's  school  house.  They  elected  as  trustees,  Jeremiah 
Van  Rensselaer,  Talcott  Camp,  Frederick  White,  John  C.  Dev- 
ereux  and  E.  B.  Shearman,  and  as  treasurer,  John  C.  Hoyt,  in 
place  of  Mr.  Shearman  thus  exalted  to  a  trusteeship.  Nich- 
olas Smith  was  elected  collector.  The  amount  of  tax  ordered 
to  be  raised  was  five  hundred  dollars.  Very  little  was  done  by 
these  trustees,  in  the  course  of  the  year,   that  is  deserving  of 


294  THE  PIONEERS  OF  UTICA. 

remembrance.  Thej  held  their  meetings  regularly,  sometimes" 
at  the  Hotel,  sometimes  at  tlie  office  of  their  president,  Mr. 
Camp ;  delinquent  firemen  were  removed  and  their  successors 
appointed,  watchmen  were  procured,  the  ringing  of  the  bell 
provided  for,  bills  were  paid  and  the  assize  of  bread  determined. 
The  only  noteworthy  event  was  the  arrival  in  the  fall  of  the 
new  engine  for  which  payment  to  the  manufacturers  had  been 
forwarded  in  the  spring.  On  its  arrival  the  duty  was  imposed 
on  the  captain  of  the  fire  company  to  take  it  out  once  a  week, 
and  to  be  careful  also  to  keep  the  old  one  in  repair.  At  th& 
same  time  a  committee  was  appointed  to  make  inquiry  for  a 
site  for  an  engine  house  near  the  store  of  Hugh  Cunningham, 
that  is  to  say  near  the  heart  of  the  village. 

An  intimation  of  the  prevalence  of  a  martial  spirit  at  this 
time,  and  of  a  readiness  on  the  part  of  young  men  to  engage 
in  military  duty  would  appear  from  an  announcement  made 
early  in  April.  Nathan  Williams,  captain  of  the  Independent 
Infantry  Company,  in  a  newspaper  call  invites  the  band  of  the 
company  to  meet  with  "  the  members  of  the  band  of  music" 
at  the  Hotel,  and  invites  also  young  men  who  are  inclined  to 
become  soldiers  in  the  above  company  to  attend  and  enroll  their 
names.  In  the  beauty  of  its  uniform,  in  its  discipline  and  drill, 
this  company,  which  had  probably  been  organized  a  year  or  two 
before,  became  the  distinguished  one  of  the  county.  It  was  at 
first  commanded  by  Nathan  Williams,  and  afterwards  by  Wil 
liam  AYilliams,  the  bookseller  and  publisher.  With  their  tight 
pants  and  tasselled  boots  these  crack  soldiers  were  wont  to  parade 
to  the  satisfaction  of  the  villagers  in  front  of  the  Hotel ;  and 
there  they  had  a  public  dinner  on  the  Fourth  of  July,  1812,  the 
tables  being  arranged  under  booths  which  ran  along  the  street 
The  company  w^ent  into  the  public  service  in  the  war  of  18  i  2, 
and  as  an  organization  was  disbanded. 

As  a  true  chronicler  of  the  gradual  advancement  of  the 
place  in  all  modern  social  characteristics,  it  becomes  me  to  men- 
tion circumstances  that  partake  of  the  simply  trivial  and  amus 
ing  as  well  as  those  which  are  serious  and  engrossing.  Be  it 
said  then  that  in  the  fall  of  1811,  Utica  witnessed  its  first  circus 
performance.  Mr.  Stewart,  formerly  of  the  New  York  Com- 
pany, was,  he  says,  at  considerable  expense  in  erecting  a  circus 


THE  SECOND  CHAKTER.  295 

at  the  lower  end  of  Bi'oad  street.  Here  he  and  his  wife  and 
Mr.  Franklin,  who  constituted  the  whole  troupe^  enacted  some 
few  of  what  are  now  reckoned  as  the  more  stale  of  the  "  aston- 
ishing feats"  of  such  performers.  What  ecstasy  they  inspired 
a  venerable  octogenarian  delighted  to  recall ;  another  has  not 
forgotten  the  curious  gaze  which  followed  the  lady  as  she  went 
riding  by. 

Reference  has  already  been  made  to  the  published  notes  of 
J.  Mellish,  an  English  tourist  who  visited  Utica  in  1811.  His 
information  about  the  place,  derived,  we  may  assume,  from 
some  one  or  more  of  its  inhabitants,  is  probably  in  the  main 
correct.  Some  of  his  statements  savor,  however,  of  the  exag- 
geration not  unnatural  to  a  citizen  proud  of  the  rising  impor- 
tance of  his  village,  and  should  be  received  with  caution.  Such, 
for  example,  is  the  estimate  he  gives  of  the  amount  of  popula- 
tion and  of  the  educational  facilities  of  the  place,  especially  his 
statement  of  the  existence  of  an  academy,  unless,  forsooth,  the 
appellation  was  intended  for  tlie  school  of  Mr.  Dixon,  or  the 
Juvenile  Academy,  so  called,  of  Mr.  Henry  White.  While 
noting,  therefore,  this  source  of  error,  we  give  the  account  of 
Mr.  Mellish  nearly  in  full  : 

"  Utica  is  the  capital  of  Oneida  county,  and  consists  at  present  of 
about  four  hundred  houses,  containing  two  thousand  inhabitants. 
It  began  to  settle  about  twenty-three  years  ago,  but  it  has  been 
princi]\ally  built  since  1796,  and  two-thi  rds  of  it  since  1 800.  The 
buildings  are  mostly  of  wood,  painted  white,  but  a  good  many 
have  lately  been  built  of  brick,  and  some  few  of  stone.  The  pub- 
lic buildings  are  four  places  for  public  worship,  two  of  them  ele- 
gant, an  academy,  clerk's  office,  &c.,  and  there. are  six  taverns,  fif- 
teen stores  and  two  breweries.  There  are  three  printing  offices, 
viz.  :  one  for  books  and  two  for  newspapers,  one  bindery,  two 
morocco  factories  and  one  manufactory  of  musical  instruments, 
three  masons  and  a  number  of  brickmakers  and  carpenters,  four 
cabinet  and  chairmakers,  two  coopers,  seven  smiths  and  nailors, 
two  tinsmiths,  one  coppersmith,  four  silversmiths  and  watch- 
makers, three  tanners  and  curriers,  one  furrier,  six  butchers,  two 
bakers,  three  hatters,  four  tailors,  four  painters  and  four  druggists. 

"  The  village  lots  are  from  fifty  to  sixty  feet  front  and  one  hun- 
dred to  one  hundred  and  thirty  deep,  and  sell  for  from  two 
hundred  to  one  thousand  dollars.  The  out-lots  contain  twelve 
acres  and  five  hundred  dollars  is  asked  for  them.  House  rent 
for  mechanics  is  about  sixty  to  one  hundred  dollars,  wood  one 


296  THE  PIONEERS  OF  UTICA. 

dollar  and  twenty-five  cents  per  cord,  flonr  eight  dollars  per 
barrel,  potatoes  two  shillings  per  bushel,  turnips  thirty -one 
cents,  cabbages  four  cents  each,  beans  sixty-two  cents  per  bushel, 
onions  seventy-five  cents,  beef,  mutton  and  veal  five  cents  per 
pound,  venison  four  cents,  fowls  nine  cents  each,  ducks  two 
shillings,  geese  four  shillings,  turkeys  five  shillings,  butter  one 
shilling,  cheese  seven  cents,  hog's  lard  six  cents,  beer  five  dol- 
lars per  barrel,  whiskey  forty-five  cents  per  gallon,  boarding 
two  dollars  and  fift}'  cents  per  week. 

"  The  government  of  the  village  is  vested  in  a  board  of  five 
trustees  chosen  annually  by  the  inhabitants.  There  are  five 
schools  in  which  are  taught  all  the  various  branches  of  educa- 
tion, which  is  pretty  well  attended  to ;  and  there  is  a  very 
good  seminary  for  young  ladies.  The  expense  of  tuition  is 
about  from  two  to  four  dollars  per  quarter.  The  commerce  of 
Utica  consists  of  dry  goods,  groceries,  crockery,  hardware  and 
cotton,  imported;  and  of  grain,  flour,  provisions,  aslies,  &c.,  ex- 
ported. The  chief  part  of  the  commerce  is  with  New  York, 
but  it  is  said  a  considerable  smuggling  trade  has  of  late  been 
carried  on  with  Canada.  Wheat  is  one  dollar  and  twelve  cents 
per  bushel,  corn  forty  four  cents,  barley  seventy-five  cents,  ashes 
nominal,  cotton  twenty-one  cents,  horses  fifty  to  one  hundred 
dollars,  cows  fifteen  to  twenty- two  dollars,  sheep  two  dollars  to 
two  dollars  and  fifty  cents.  Lands  on  the  turnpikes  in  the 
neighborhood  sell  for  from  fifty  to  one  hundred  dollars  ;  further 
off,  forty  to  fifty  dollars;  but  the  lands  in  both  village  and 
country  have  greatly  depreciated  in  money  value." 

Reverting  from  the  general  Uv  the  special,  from  the  present 
totality  to  the  individual  accretions  of  the  period,  let  me  speak 
first  of  two  lawyers  who  entered  on  practice  in  the  year  1811. 
These  were  Thomas  E.  Clark  and  Charles  M.  Lee. 

Thomas  Emmons  Clark  was  born  February  11,  1788,  at 
Colchester,  Connecticut.  He  was  graduated  at  Union  College, 
where  he  acquired  a  thorough  classical  education,  which  was 
strengthened  by  a  tutorship  in  the  same  institution.  The  study 
of  law  he  commenced  with  Judge  Jonas  Piatt,  of  Whitesboro, 
and  on  its  completion  was  admitted  to  the  bar  in  the  fall  of 
1811.  He  began  practice  with  Charles  M.  Lee,  admitted  at  the 
same  time  with  himself,  and  with  him  and  afterwards  with  oth- 
ers he  practiced  continuously  for  over  forty  years.  As  a  law- 
yer his  merits  surpassed  his  reputation.  If  he  was  less  con- 
spicuous as  a  speaker  than  some  of  his  illustrious  peers  of  the 
Oneida  Bar,  he  made  up  in  solid  acquirements  and  strong  native 
sense  what  he  lacked  of  more  showy  qualities.     He  was  rather 


THE  SECOND  CHARTER.  297 

learned  than  brilliant — rather  given  to  convincing  the  nnder- 
standing  than  exciting  the  imagination.  He  was  a  large  reader, 
a  laborious  and  profound  scholar ;  a  man  with  whom  it  was  im- 
possible to  come  into  contact  without  feeling  the  impress  of  his 
learning  and  his  worth.  His  knowledge  of  the  classics,  as  of 
law,  was  thorough,  while  be  was  largely  versed  in  metaphysics, 
theology  and  the  Bible.  He  was  singularly  unambitious  and 
unaffected.  Earnest  for  his  client,  he  never  thought  of  himself, 
or  uttered  anything  merely  for  effect.  Without  the  least  as- 
sumption of  dignity,  there  was  in  him  a  dash  and  a  directness 
of  purpose  that  were  equally  evident  in  his  brusque,  nois}^  talk 
and  wholesome  laugh,  his  headlong  gait  and  his  swift  and  all 
but  unreadable  writing.  Temperate  and  simple  in  his  habits, 
he  rose  with  the  day,  and  often  prepared  with  his  own  hands 
the  Johnny  cake  and  sage  tea  that  formed  his  frugal  breakfast. 
Integrity  was  in  him  a  master  principle, — so  remarkable,  indeed, 
as  to  rise  at  times  into  sternness.  And  so  uniformly  good  na- 
tured  was  he  that  he  could  not  be  provoked  into  anger ;  kind 
and  genial,  with  a  smile  for  all,  and  a  frankness  of  manner  that 
none  could  resist.  Steadfast  in  doing  what  he  thought  he  owed 
to  his  own  party  and  his  own  church,  he  yet  enjoyed  the  confi- 
dence of  his  fellow  citizens  of  all  parties  and  all  creeds.  And 
when  elevated  by  them  to  positions  of  responsibility,  he  filled 
them  faithfully  and  without  ostentation.  He  was  a  member  of 
Assembly  in  1828,  and  of  the  Senate  in  1848-9.  Of  the  Pres- 
byterian and  afterwards  of  the  Dutch  Eeformed  Church  he  was 
long  an  elder  and  a  Bible  class  teacher.  For^  to  a  reputable 
and  respected  life  he  added  the  crowning  grace  of  a  consistent 
Christian  discipleship.  For  many  years  Mr.  Clark  lived  in  the 
house  now  occupied  by  Sylvester  Dering,  and  afterwards  in 
East  Utica,  where  a  farm  that  adjoined  his  residence  engaged 
much  of  the  attention  of  his  later  years.  He  died  at  the  house 
of  his  son-in-law,  Mr.  Wood,  April  14,  1857. 

His  wife,  who  was  a  daughter  of  Samuel  Wells  of  Paris, 
New  York,  and  a  sister  of  Mrs.  William  Williams,  had  preceded 
him  several  years,  having  died  March  10,  1844.  Mrs.  Clark 
was  foremost  in  labors  of  Christian  endeavor.  Few  ladies  of 
the  place  have  equalled  her  in  active,  and  efficient  charity. 
For  the  calls  of  society^  so  called,  she  felt  little  interest,  and 
bore  but  lightly  the  burdens  of  household  care ;  in  the  church, 


298  THE  PIONEERS  OF  UTICA. 

in  the  Sunday  scliool,  in  various  forms  of  religious  enterprise, 
she  found  enough  and  more  than  enough  to  command  all  her 
faculties.  They  had  a  son  and  two  daughters,  of  whom  the 
only  survivor  is  Mrs.  George  W.  Wood,  of  late  a  resident  here 
and  in  CHnton,  but  now  of  New  Jersey. 

Charles  M.  Lee,  the  partner  for  a  time  of  Mr.  Clark,  studied 
with  Thomas  R  Gold,  of  Whitesboro,  married,  in  February 
1812,  Miss  Elizabeth  S.  Gold  of  Pittsfield,  Massachusetts,  niece 
of  the  former,  and  began  Ins  professional  life  in  Utica.  On  the 
death  of  his  only  daughtei-,  in  May  1820,  he  parted  with  his 
interests  here*  and  went  to  Eochester.  There  he  attained  a 
lucrative  practice  and  a  prominent  place  in  the  legal  annals  of 
the  State.  He  was  a  man  of  showy  address  and  considerable 
talent.  He  died  in  1857,  a  few  days  before  Mr.  Clark.  One 
who  was  a  student  of  his  while  here  remarks  as  follows:  "He 
was  a  good  lawyer  and  understood  his  profession  well.  He  was 
an  active,  shrewd  man,  disposed  to  make  the  most  of  what  passed 
through  his  hands.  His  enemies  charged  him  with  being  selfish, 
grasping  and  unscrujDulous  in  taking  advantage  of  any  position 
the  law  gave  him.  But  I  believe  him  to  have  been  honest,  and 
that  his  sharpness  and  shrewdness  induced  some  to  bestow  upon 
him  a  character  worse  than  he  deserved.  Withal,  he  had  many 
good  qualities.  When  Mr.  Lee  left  Utica  he  was  as  far  as 
any  man  from  being  a  practical  Christian.  Wlien  I  met  him, 
fifteen,  and  again  twenty  years  later,  he  surprised  me  by  mani- 
festing sincere  and  disinterested  evidence  of  his  being  a  pious 
and  devoted  mS.n."  Mrs.  Lee  was  also  brilliant  in  person  and 
dress,  fond  of  society,  and  not  unmindful  of  the  claims  her 
beauty  gave  her.  She  left  one  son,  Eev.  Charles  G.  Lee.  Her 
husband  subsequently  married  a  lady  from  Philadelphia. 

One  of  the  earliest  and  best  remembered  surgeons  of  the 
county  was  Dr.  Amos  G.  Hull.  In  1798  he  was  practicing  in 
New  Hartford,  having  been  a  student,  as  it  is  said,  of  a  Dr.  Hall 
who  preceded  him  there.  In  the  year  above  mentioned,  with 
a  zeal  in  behalf  of  science  that  was  characteristic  of  a  young  and 
ambitious  practitioner,  lie  was  alert  in  obtaining  for  purposes  of 
dissection  the  body  of  the  first  criminal  of  the  county  convicted 
for  murder.     And  though  on  the  morning  of  the  day  appointed 


THE  SECOND  CHARTER.  299 

for  the  execution,  the  criminal  was  found  dead  in  her  cell  at- 
Herkimer  jail,  having  hanged  herself  with  the  expectation  that 
she  could  thus  evade  the  whole  of  her  sentence,  yet,  says  Judge 
Jones,  in  this  she  was  mistaken,  for  science  had  its  svbject.  The 
annalist  does  not  tell  us,  however,  that  when,  many  years  after, 
the  doctor  was  weighed  down  by  severe  domestic  calamity,  he 
recalled  with  bitterness  the  curse  of  this  wretched  creature,  who? 
when  it  had  been  reported  to  her  that  "  he  would  have  the 
picking  of  her  bones,"  threatened,  that  if  he  did  so,  she  would 
visit  him  with  the  direst  vengeance  upon  himself  and  his 
posterity. 

On  the  organization  of  the  Oneida  County  Medical  Society,  in 
1806,  Dr.  Hull  took  part  therein,  and  was  elected  its  first  presi- 
dent. Four  years  later  we  find  him  announcing  that  he  has 
fitted  up  an  establishment  next  door  to  the  Coffee  House  in 
Utica,  for  the  sale  of  mineral  waters.  As  his  dissolution  of 
partnership  with  Dr.  Babcock  of  New  Hartford,  soon  follows,  it 
is  probable  that  the  latter  event,  in  September  1811,  was  nearly 
simultaneous  with  his  removal  to  Utica.  The  sale  of  Ballston 
and  Saratoga  salts  in  solution,  which  he  would  seem  to  have 
been  the  first  to  introduce  into  Utica,  he  continued  some  years 
longer  in  his  office  on  Main  street,  adding  thereto  the  practice 
of  electricity  and  galvanism.  A  specialty  that  absorbed  much 
more  of  his  attention  was  the  manufacture  and  sale  of  hernial 
trusses.  These  he  first  advertised  in  March  1817,  but  continued 
to  modify  and  improve  so  long  as  he  remained  in  the  village. 
They  were  commended  by  his  medical  brethren  as  well  as  by 
several  individuals  of  intelligence  and  standing,  and  were  in 
general  use  among  those  requiring  such  appliances,  being,  in  fact) 
almost  the  sole  truss  employed  in  this  vicinity. 

Dr.  Hull  was  esteemed  by  many  as  a  wise  physician,  though 
he  never  failed  to  drench  them  with  physic,  and  a  daring  and 
quick,  if  not  very  expert,  surgical  operator.  He  was  a  bustling 
man  in  his  calling ;  kept  three  horses,  and  drove  them  without 
mercy  ;  was  officious,  pragmatical  and  intermeddling.  He  had 
a  pretty  numerous  clientage  and  an  extensive  professional  cir- 
cuit.    In  sooth, 

"A  besier  man  there  n'as, 
And  yet  he  seemed  besier  than  he  was." 


300  THE   PIONEERS  OF  UTICA. 

His  ride  brought  liim  at  times  into  consultation,  or  perchance 
into  colhsion,  with  that  celebrated  surgeon  and  overbearing 
man,  Dr.  White  of  Cherry  Valley,  who  delighted  to  browbeat 
and  to  ridicule  him.  Still  it  is  a  question  whether  the  stories 
that  have  been  current  of  the  professional  councils  between  these 
surgeons  do  not  reflect  more  upon  the  discourtesy  of  Dr.  White 
than  upon  the  deficiencies  of  his  rival.  Dr.  Hull's  meddlesome 
spirit  once  got  him  into  difficulty  with  a  Dr.  Buckner,  a  United 
States  surgeon  in  charge  of  troops  quartered  here  during  the 
war.  The  latter  was  incensed  that  a  plain  country  doctor,  un- 
commissioned and  inexperienced  in  affairs  of  war,  should  assume 
to  prescribe  for  men  entrusted  to  his  especial  care ;  and  deem- 
ing himself  dishonoi'cd  by  such  interference,  soldier-like,  he  sent 
a  challenge  to  Dr.  Hull,  which  the  latter  was  obliged  to  decline. 
But  with  his  brother  doctors  nearer  home  his  standing  was 
■creditable,  and  in  1820  they  called  him  a  second  time  to  be  the 
president  of  their  society.  He  was  also  a  permanent  member 
of  the  Medical  Society  of  the  State. 

Personally  Dr.  Hull  was  amiable  and  upright,  a  Methodist 
in  religious  belief  and  an  influential  member  of  that  body ;  be" 
loved  by  his  patients  and  a  friend  of  every  child  who  knew 
him.  Eather  short  of  stature,  quick  and  impulsive  in  manner, 
neat  in  attire,  he  was  withal  a  little  vain  of  his  appearance,  and 
looked  to  it  that  the  knee  buckles  which  confined  his  silk  stock- 
ings were  each  day  carefully  polished.  His  earliest  partner  in 
Utica  was  Dr.  Ezra  Williams,  with  whom  he  remained  until  Sep- 
tember 1816.  In  September  1821  he  was  bought  out  by  Dr.  The- 
odore Pomeroy,  and  after  a  brief  association  with  him,  removed 
to  New  York.  He  died  about  1833-5  while  on  a  visit  in  Con- 
necticut. His  wife,  Eunice,  died  in  August  1812.  His  second 
wife  was  a  sister  of  his  partner.  Dr.  Williams ;  his  third,  whose 
name  was  Cook,  is  said  to  have  been  a  lady  from  Catskill.  His 
sons,  Amos  G.,  Jr.  and  Cook  became  physicians  of  New  York 
and  Brooklyn  respectively,  and  are  both  deceased.  His  daugliter 
Elizabeth,  became  the  wife  of  Dr.  John  F.  Gray,  a  prominent 
homoepathic  physician  of  the  metropolis,  and  is  also  dead. 

Kichard  Montgomery  Malcom,  brother  of  Samuel  B.  Malcom 
already  mentioned,  had  been  a  merchant  in  the  city  of  New 
York,  and  was  living  there  just  before  the  outbreak  of  the  war 


THE  SECOND  CHAETER.  301 

of  1812.  On  the  8th  of  April,  1812,  he  received  a  commission 
as  captain  in  the  13th  Regiment  of  United  States  Infantry.  On 
the  13th  of  October  following,  he  took  part  in  the  battle  of 
Queenston,  and  was  wounded  in  the  thigh  by  a  musket  ball. 
In  March  1813,  he  was  promoted  to  major,  and  in  June  of  the 
next  year  to  lieutenant-colonel  of  the  same  regiment.  In  June 
1815  he  was  disbanded.  His  family  meanwhile  were  living  in 
Utica  from  an  early  period  of  the  war.  A  few  months  after  leav- 
ing the  army  we  find  Colonel  M.  announcing  in  a  Utica  paper 
that  he  will  procure  soldiers'  bounties,  and  a  year  later  that  he 
is  acting  as  commission  broker  and  ready  to  serve  any  one  living 
out  of  the  village  who  will  make  him  his  agent  to  execute  busi- 
ness at  the  banks  or  elsewhere.  During  much  of  his  residence  in 
Utica,  which  continued  until  about  1823,  Colonel  Malcom  had  but 
little  business  to  occupy  him,  and  lived  upon  his  pension  and  the 
property  of  his  w^ife.  His  home  was  at  first  on  Whitesboro  street 
above  Washington,  and  afterwards  on  Catherine  street,  in  the 
house  recentl}^  occupied  by  Michael  McQuade.  His  wife  and  her 
sister,  Miss  Henry,  were  thorough  ladies  and  much  beloved.  The 
former,  who  was  delicate  in  health,  and  a  good  deal  confined  at 
home,  died  June  14,  1819.  Miss  Henry  was  active  in  good 
works,  as  was  also  Sarah,  the  eldest  daughter  of  Colonel  M.,  w^ho 
became  afterwards  Mrs.  Ball  of  Brooklyn.  This  daughter  was 
one  of  the  six  young  ladies  who  founded  the  Utica  Sunday 
School.  The  other  daughters  were  Rosetta  and  Catherine. 
The  sons  were  Richard,  who  died  young,  and  William.  Colonel 
Malcom  himself  died  in  the  island  of  Cuba. 

The  enterprising  successor  of  the  Messrs.  Wolcott,  who  in 
the  end  was  more  fortunate  than  either,  was  John  Williams. 
He  was  the  son  of  a  Welsh  farmer  in  easy  circumstances,  who 
came  hither  from  Pembrokeshire  in  tlie  year  1800,  settled  upon 
Frankfort  hill,  and  died  three  weeks  afterward.  John,  who  was 
then  ten  years  of  age,  was  placed  when  quite  a  lad  in  the  store 
of  Dr.  Solomon  Wolcott  and  lived  in  the  Doctor's  family  while 
acquiring  a  knowledge  of  his  future  business.  Received  into 
partnership  by  Dr.  W.  H.  Wolcott  when  the  latter  separated 
himself  from  his  brother,  he  soon  became  the  real  manager  of 
the  firm  of  Wolcott  &  Williams,  and  remained  therein  until  its 
dissolution  in  1817.  He  now  opened  a  store  of  his  own  at  ISTo. 
34  Genesee  street,  where,  and  at  liis  later  store,  he  carried  on 


302  THE  PIONEEES  OF  UTICA, 

for  many  years  a  large  trade  in  drugs  and  groceries.  The  later 
store  was  the  checkered  one  now  filled  by  Warnick  &  Brown. 
The  later  partners  were  successively  his  brother  William,  who 
was  located  in  Buffalo,  and  Frederick  Hollister,  at  first  the 
clerk  of  Mr.  W.,  and  eventually  his  successor.  His  comraer. 
cial  transactions,  if  not  conducted  on  so  large  a  scale  as  those 
of  two  or  three  of  our  present  merchants  dealing  in  like  arti- 
cles, or  even  so  ambitious  in  their  aim  as  those  of  Mr.  Hollister, 
certainly  exceeded  the  transactions  of  any  similar  dealer  among 
his  cotemporaries.  Partly  through  the  steady  accumulations 
of  trade,  partly  by  means  of  the  privilege  he  held  of  furnish- 
ing supplies  for  the  packet  boats,  and  partly  by  his  leading 
interest  in  the  very  productive  stock  of  the  packet  boat  com- 
pany, he  gained  a  large  fortune,  and  came  to  be  one  of  the  fore- 
most men  of  the  place. 

His  mental  characteristics  were  sagacious  judgment,  an  ener- 
getic and  liberal  spirit,  elevated  integrity,  close  economy  and 
incessant  devotion  to  business.  It  was  by  the  exercise  of  these 
qualities,  and  without  the  aid  of  powerful  friends  or  inherited 
wealth,  that  he  attained  fortune  and  influence.  Aside  from  a 
service  as  alderman  in  the  first  common  council  of  the  city,  he 
held  no  political  or  civic  office,  but  in  banking  and  com- 
mercial undertakings  his  opinion  and  his  name  were  much 
accounted.  His  later  residence  was  the  house  No.  34  Broad 
street,  now  occupied  ])y  J.  T.  Sj^riggs,  which  was  built  by  him. 
And  here  he  died  on  the  13th  of  June,  1843,  in  the  fifty-fourth 
year  of  his  age.  His  wife  was  Eliza,  daughter  of  Thomas 
Sickles.  Their  children  were  Mary,  who  died  in  her  eighteenth 
year,  and  Cornelia,  who  married  E.  T.  Throop  Martin,  then 
(1837)  a  lawyer  of  New  York,  but  now  residing  at  Willow- 
brook  on  Owasco  lake. 

Another  quondam  druggist's  clerk  who  began  dealing  this 
year  was  Alfred  Hitchcock,  brother  and  assistant  of  Dr.  Marcus. 
Having  bought  the  interest  of  Bryan  Johnson,  he  set  up  in 
general  trade  in  the  former  store  of  Mr.  Johnson.  After  fail- 
incr  in  this  he  was  for  a  time  cleric   for  Marcus.     When  he 

o 

resumed,  his  trade  was  narrowed  down  to  drugs  and  groceries ; 
and  with  many  removals  and  a  varying  though  never  very 
prosperous  tide  of    success,    he  continued    until   a  few  years 


THE  SECONTD  CHARTER.  303 

since.  Mr.  Hitclicock,  his  wife  and  two  sons,  all  died  recently, 
and  within  a  short  intei'val  of  one  another,  his  own  death  occur- 
ring: August  3,  1872.  This  wife  was  a  Miss  Foster  of  Whites- 
boro. 

Joseph  S.  Porter,  who  had  been  an  apprentice  of  Josepb 
Barton  and  then  attempted  watchmaking  in  Canandaigua, 
returned  at  this  time  and  joined  his  former  employer.  He 
married  his  daughter,  and  remained  in  business  with  him  about 
five  years.  After  1816  he  was  alone  on  the  west  side  of  Gren- 
esee  a  little  below  Broad,  where  Mr.  Barton  had  been  before 
him,  and  wdiere  Mr.  Murdock  succeeded  him.  His  home  was 
on  Catherine  street,  where  Colonel  Malcom  had  lived,  until  his 
increasing  gains  enabled  him  to  erect  the  brick  house  on  the 
corner  of  Broad  and  First,  now  owned  and  occupied  by  Theo- 
dore P.  BalloiL  Mr.  Porter  was  a  quiet,  agreeable  person  of 
gentlemanly  bearing,  who  kept  a  showy  and  attractive  shop. 
At  the  time  of  his  death  he  had  relinquished  business  and 
broken  up  his  residence  in  Utica.  This  occurred  May  6,  1862, 
when  he  was  seventy-nine  years  of  age,  in  Monroe  county. 
His  wife  and  the  mother  of  his  two  sons  and  two  daughters 
died  in  her  twenty-fiftli  year,  November  25,  1823.  His  second 
wife  was  Susan,  daughter  of  Hugh  White.  Mrs.  Porter  and 
Miss  Cornelia  reside  at  Cohoes,  Fitch,  in  Washington.  Eliza- 
beth and  George,  are  deceased. 

Among  the  newh^  elected  officers  of  the  year  occurs  the 
name  of  Nicbolas  Smith,  collector.  This  Nicholas  Smith  had 
been  a  resident  of  the  place  since  1788,  having  come  into  it  in 
company  with  that  pioneer  settler  Major  Bellinger.  But  at 
that  time  he  was  a  boy  of  only  nine  or  ten  years  of  age,  and 
had  been  taken  charge  of  by  Major  Bellinger,  his  uncle,  after 
the  death  of  his  parents  at  the  hands  of  the  Indians.  He  him- 
self was  born  in  the  fort  at  Herkimer.  He  attended  school 
one  or  two  winters,  and  these  were  all  the  educational  advan 
tages  he  ever  enjoj'ed.  He  next  served  his  uncle,  and  two  or 
three  of  the  earlier  merchants  as  a  clerk,  and  now  he  is  made 
village  collector.  The  next  year,  catching  the  enthusiasm  en- 
kindled by  the  war,  and  which  prevailed  along  the  border  set- 
tlements, he  volunteered  his  services,  and  was  six  months  on 
duty  as  a  soldier.     In  1814  he  enlisted  again  and  was  made 


304  THE  PIONEERS  OF  UTICA. 

adjutant  of  the  134tli  Regiment,  ^called  for  the  defence  of 
Sacketts  Harbor.  "  Notwithstanding  some  pecuharities,"  says 
a  comrade  of  the  regiment,  "  his  habits  were  temperate  and  his 
heart  in  the  riglit  place."  This  military  service  was  followed, 
after  the  contest,  by  the  command  of  a  company  of  tltica  militia, 
whence  he  was  called  by  General  Weaver  to  his  staff,  and,  still 
retaining  his  raidc  in  the  line,  rose  to  the  position  of  Colonel 

Returned  from  the  war.  Colonel  Smith  was  a  short  time  in 
trade,  and  next  filled  many  local  offices,  being  successively 
deputy  sherifi',  superintendent  of  the  poor,  and  alderman,  which 
latter  post  he  held  eleven  years.  He  was  conspicuous  for  his 
assiduity  in  the  relief  of  the  sick  and  the  burial  of  the  dead 
during  the  fearful  visitation  of  the  cholera  in  1832.  Soon  after 
this  time  he  removed  to  his  farm  in  east  Utica.  When  he  died, 
February  26,  1865,  he  had  been  for  many  years  the  longest 
resident  of  the  place.  He  was  then  eighty-six.  Although 
Colonel  Smith  had  but  an  imperfect  education,  his  natural 
instincts  were  elevated.  These  made  him  somewhat  aspiring, 
both  as  a  politician  and  a  military  man ;  as  a  consequence  he 
was  often  put  in  contrast  with  men  whose  advantages  were 
superior  to  his  own — contrasts  which  to  more  sensitive  natures, 
might  have  been  at  times  embarrassing.  Rarely  balked  in  such 
encounters,  his  simple-minded  good  nature  carried  him  through 
successfully,  despite  the  laugh  that  was  had  at  his  mistakes 
and  his  strong  Dutch  brogue.  Many  anecdotes  are  current  in 
illustration  of  these  traits,  and  some  which  are  told,  are  doubt- 
less greatly  exaggerated.  The  following  must  be  familiar  to 
many.  His  uncle  had  as  the  device  on  his  tavern  sign,  an  eagle, 
with  the  motto:  "jS/  pluribus  U7mm."  Being  asked  on  one 
occasion  what  was  the  meaning  of  this  inscription,  his  response 
was:  "Dat  means  my  uncle  keebs  de  best  davern  in  Utica." 
And  here  is  a  specimen  of  his  defining  a  word  of  the  people's 
English:  A  detachment  of  militia  on  their  way  to  the  frontier 
were  stopping  at  Bellinger's.  This  was  after  the  Colonel  had 
completed  his  first  term  of  military  service,  and  he  felt  capable, 
from  his  experience,  of  giving  the  officers  of  the  detachment 
some  advice.  Among  other  things  he  told  them  "  to  lay  in  well 
of  stationary."  One  of  the  officers  replied  that  he  supposed 
the  government  furnished  the  necessary  paper,  ink  and  quills, 
when  the   Colonel   very   earnestly    replied:  "No,   no,  I  don't 


THE  SECOND  CHAETER.  305 

mean  dese  tings.  I  mean  de  rum  and  de  brandy  and  de  gin." 
Colonel  Smith's  wife,  who  was  daughter  of  Silas  Clark,  died 
about  three  years  before  him.  One  son  is  still  living  in  Utica, 
and  two  married  daughters  are  residents  within  the  State. 

But  it  is  time  that  I  should  speak  of  another  who  had 
grown  up  in  the  place,  who  was  now  an  officeholder,  and  who 
soon  engages  in  his  country's  service.  This  is  John  Edward 
Hinman,  son  of  Major  Benjamin  Hinman  before  noticed.  He 
was  born  near  Little  Falls,  June  2,  1789,  and  came  to  Utica  with 
his  father  in  1797.  He  had  the  advantages  of  the  common 
schools  of  the  period,  but  was  not  brought  up  to  any  trade  or 
profession,  and  in  his  younger  days  did  "  a  little  of  everything." 
On  the  breaking  out  of  the  war  he  volunteered,  served  as  quar- 
termaster of  the  13-lth  Eegimentof  New  York  Militia,  and  was 
a  popular  and  useful  officer.  By  service  then  and  after  the 
war,  he  rose  to  the  rank  of  colonel.  He  was  deputy  sheriff  under 
James  S.  Kip,  who  held  office  for  the  third  time  from  1811  to 
1815;  and  in  February  1821  he  was  appointed  sheriff.  This 
post  Colonel  Hinman  occupied  until  the  new  constitution  took 
effect,  which  changed  the  office  from  an  appointive  to  an  elective 
one,  when  he  was  elected  as  his  own  successor,  in  November 
1822.  The  constitution  prohibiting  a  reelection,  he  retired  at 
the  end  of  his  term,  but  in  November  1828  was  again  made 
sheriff'  and  served  another  three  yeai's.  As  sheriff  he  was  dig- 
nified, orderly  and  efficient,  and  enjoyed  a  popularity  in  the 
county  never  held  by  any  other  in  that  office.  After  his  retire- 
ment he  engaged  in  business  as  a  miller,  carrying  on  a  mill  at 
Whitesboro.  In  the  mean  time  he  had  married,  in  November 
1827,  Mary,  daughter  of  G.  C.  Schroeppel,  of  New  York,  who 
brought  him  a  handsome  fortune.  He  now  occupied  the  house 
on  the  corner  of  Hotel  and  Whitesboro  streets,  and  there  he 
and  his  wife  exercised  a  generous  hospitality. 

Colonel  Hinman  always  took  a  deep  interest  in  political  mat- 
ters, and  was  tolerably  ambitious  ;  the  leading  traits  of  his  char- 
actei', — kindness  of  heart  and  a  determined  resolution  that  was 
overshadowed  by  much  complaisance  and  plausibility  of  man- 
ner,— made  him  popular  with  the  masses.  After  failing  of  an 
election  as  State  Senator,  for  which  he  was  nominated  in  1849, 
he  was  in  1850   elected  Mayor  of  the  city,  and  by  successive 


306  THE  PIONEERS  OF  UTICA. 

reelections  held  the  office  three  years.  His  energy  and  execa- 
tive  abihty  were  tested  at  this  time  by  the  destructive  opera- 
tions of  an  organized  band  of  incendiaries.  The  Mayor's  pro- 
clamations were  frequent  and  lengthy.  When  the  alarm  of  fire 
was  sounded  he  hastened  to  the  spot.  If  in  the  night  time,  he 
drew  a  white  handkerchief  about  his  hat  to  designate  his  offi- 
cial rank  and  distinguish  him  from  the  crowd,  and  while  on  the 
ground  was  no  idle  spectator,  but  prompt  in  directing  and  vocif- 
erous in  his  orders.  .Retiring  from  the  mayoralty  he  held  no 
more  offices.  His  strength  of  mind  and  body,  which  were  both 
considerable  in  his  best  estate,  gradually  failed  him,  and  many 
disappointments  fell  to  his  lot  in  the  latter  days  of  his  life. 
His  tall,  manly  form,  his  decided  yet  affable  manners,  will 
never  be  forgotten  by  those  who  knew  him.  About  a  year  be- 
fore his  death  he  took  up  his  residence  with  his  relatives  at 
Rushville,  Illinois,  and  there  he  died  August  12,  1873.  His 
wife  survived  him  about  a  year.     They  left  no  children. 

A  teacher  who  kept  his  school  in  the  Welsh  church  on  the 
corner  of  Whitesboro  and  Washington,  a  gentleman  in  manner 
and  look,  and  who  stood  well  with  his  fellows,  lost  his  good  name 
a  little  while  later  by  a  contemptible  forgery.  This  was  a  crime 
that  could  not  be  borne  in  a  community  unused  to  such  crafty 
ways ;  and  viewed,  too,  as  the  act  of  a  teacher  of  youth  and 
one  so  likely  in  person,  it  sufficed  to  set  the  whole  village  in 
commotion.  This  Mr.  I.  I.  had  been  accustomed  to  draw  up 
the  receipts  for  the  rent  of  his  school  room  to  be  signed,  when 
tlie  money  was  paid,  by  Thomas  James  the  blacksmith,  a  trus- 
tee of  the  church.  The  latter  was  but  a  moderate  scholar  and 
quite  unfamiliar  with  the  proper  mode  of  putting  his  name  to  a 
paper,  and  so  signed  the  receipt  three  or  four  lingers  width  below 
the  writing  above.  Making  use  of  the  space  thus  afforded, 
Mr.  I.  I.  tore  off  the  receipts  and  wrote  out  some  notes  for  vari- 
ous sums.  These  he  sold  for  one  hundred  dollars  and  departed 
for  Fairfield  to  finish  his  studies.  A  note  for  five  hundred 
dollars  was  shortly  presented  for  payment.  Mr.  James  admitted 
the  signatui-e,  but  denied  making  the  note.  Witnesses  were 
found  who  recognized  the  hand  of  the  teacher,  and  by  feint  of 
inviting  him  to  a  grand  ball  at  Bellinger's,  he  came  in  tasselled 
boots  and  ruffles,  was  seized  and  conducted  to  the  court  of  Judge 


THE  SECOND  CPIARTER.  307 

Ostrom.  Mr.  Gibson,  who  was  shortly  to  swear  to  the  hand- 
writing, kindly  went  his  bail  for  the  night,  and  he  was  led 
back  to  Bellinger's.  As  the  party  entered  the  bar-room,  he 
darted  past  the  rest,  through  the  hall  and  the  yard,  and  made 
for  the  low  grounds  beyond.  But  escape  was  not  easy  with 
constable  Pierce  and  two  or  three  more  in  pursuit,  and  with  the 
Van  Rensselaers,  the  Breeses  and  some  twenty  eager  citizens  on 
hoi'se  at  the  door.  He  was  retaken  and  tried  at  Whitesboro. 
The  efforts  of  Thomas  R  Gold  were  insufficient  to  save  him, 
and  he  was  sent  for  seven  j^ears  to  prison  in  New  York.  At 
the  expiration  of  three  of  them  he  was  pardoned,  with  the  con- 
dition that  he  disappear  altogether  from  the  State.  He  went  to 
Texas,  and  in  the  course  of  time  was  elected  to  its  Legislature, 
and  became  speaker  of  the  house. 

As  early  as  May  1811,  a  new  tavern  keeper,  named  Jonathan 
Hedges,  was  installed  in  a  wooden  building  that  stood  on  the 
west  side  of  Genesee  street,  not  far  below  Libert}^,  and  which, 
with  its  yard  and  stables  to  the  north  and  the  rear  of  it,  covered  the 
ground  on  which  now  stand  four  or  five  stores.  Hedges,  him- 
self a  respectable  man  and  a  warden  of  Trinity,  did  not  stay 
long ;  but  the  tavern  was  continued  by  other  landlords  some 
fifteen  years  later. 

Thomas  Harden,  an  Englishman,  who  was  at  fii'st  in  the  em- 
ploy of  William  Inman,  succeeded  to  his  brewery  on  Broad- 
way. He  was  burned  out  in  1819,  but  recommenced  within  the 
year.  Some  years  later  he  was  still  a  resident  of  the  place,  but 
no  longer  a  brewer.  John,  his  son,  lived  in  Clinton,  and  there 
most  of  the  family  lie  intei'red. 

Erastus  Cross,  at  this  time  selling  headstones  for  another, 
began  the  following  year  to  cut  marble  near  the  corner  of  Lib- 
erty and  Genesee  street.  Thence  he  was  driven  successively  to 
Bleecker  street,  to  the  neighborhood  of  the  packet  basin,  and 
elsewhere,  as  his  v\^orking  ground  was  needed  for  permanent 
structures.  Many  is  the  headstone  put  up  in  memory  of  earlier 
citizens  that  bears  the  impress  of  his  chisel.  He  came  from 
Vermont,  married  Nancy  Evans  of  Marcy,  and  had  a  numerous 
family. 

Riley  Rogers,  an  apprentice  of  Shubael  Storrs  to  the  silver- 
smith art,  presently  commenced  the  making  and  repairing  of 


308  THE   PIONEERS  OF  UTICA. 

guns  on  Main  street.  And  this  he  kept  up  for  twenty  years  at 
least,  but  moved  in  the  end  to  Jefferson  county,  where  he  died 
in  1876.  He  had  several  sons.  Of  two  firms  of  morocco 
dressers  who  began  to  dress  skins  in  1811,  viz.  :  Henry  W.  & 
William  Clark,  and  Amos  Camp  &  J.  Downing,  one  of  the 
Clarks  is  the  only  one  wlio  is  left  in  1816,  and  h6  but  a  little 
longer.  Benjamin  Wiltsie,  upholsterer,  we  can  trace  until  the 
year  1828,  and  his  widow  and  sons  a  good  while  longer.  Titus 
Evans,  tailor,  who  was  also  a  preacher,  until  1820.  A  son  of 
his,  a  dentist  and  a  man  of  substance,  is  living  in  Brooklyn. 
Others  whom  we  can  barely  mention  were  Elijah  Brown,  hatter  ; 
Nathaniel  Eells,  hatter;  J.  C.  Neunhoeffer,  furrier;  H.  H.  Sher- 
man, bookseller;  Albert  Backus,  Garrison  Marshall,  John  Beggs, 
William  A.  Lynde,  Joseph  Winter,  clerks  and  apprentices ; 
H.  Jefl'ers  &  Co.,  merchants;  Levi  Smith,  carman  and  pavior, 
and  saloon  keeper  in  winter  ;  Ozias  Gibbs,  laborer;  C.  Brittin, 
mason,  who  went  into  the  war. 


1812. 

At  the  charter  election  held  on  the  otli  of  May,  1812,  there  w^ere 
but  four  trustees  elected  on  the  first  ballot,  viz. :  Talcott  Camp, 
Jeremiah  Van  Rensselaer,  E.  B.  Shearman  and  Morris  S.  Miller. 
Mr.  Frederick  White,  of  the  former  board,  had  left  the  village, 
and  Mr.  Devereux  was  dropped  for  a  reason  which  we  may 
soon  surmise.  Mr.  Miller  was,  however,  excused  from  serving, 
and  on  a  fresh  ballot  for  two,  Bryan  Johnson  and  Thomas  Skin- 
ner were  elected.  Mr.  Johnson  also  asked  to  be  excused,  wlien 
Arthur  Breese  was  elected  to  the  vacant  place.  Mr.  Hoyt  was 
again  made  treasurer  and  Nicholas  Smith  collector.  The  sum 
of  four  hundred  and  fifty  dollars  was  voted  to  be  raised  for  the 
su})port  of  the  watch,  the  ringing  of  the  bell  and  for  contingent 
expenses.  But  in  addition  it  was  voted  t»  build  a  market  house 
on  the  public  squai'e,  between  Bagg's  tavern  and  the  store  of 
John  C.  Devereux,  at  a  cost  of  three  hundred  dollars,  which 
sum  was  to  be  assessed  on  the  inhabitants.  However  conven- 
ient this  market  house  might  be  to  the  citizens  at  large,  it  is 
natural  to  presume  that  it  would  not  be  deemed  very  desirable 
by  those  living  or  doing  business  in  its  immediate  neighborhood, 
and  the  reason  is  obvious  why  Mr,  Devereux  was  not  placed  on 


THE  SECOND  CHARTER.  309 

the  board.  We  are  prepai'ed,  also,  to  learn  that  within  a  few 
weeks,  the  president,  Mr.  Camp,  is  dii-ected  to  confer  with  Moses 
Bagg  and  Hugh  Cunningham,  and  ascertain  what  sum  thej  will 
procure  to  be  paid  for  the  purchase  of  a  lot  on  which  to  place 
the  market,  if  it  can  be  removed  fi'om  the  place  designed  for  it. 
No  report  appears  from  the  president;  but,  instead,  we  learn  of 
another  public  meeting  of  the  inliabitants  being  held  in  July,  to 
reconsider  the  action  of  the  annual  meeting  with  reference  to  the 
market  house.  A  vote  to  repeal  this  action  was  lost.  Next 
follows  the  payment  of  Mr.  Culver's  account  for  building  the 
market,  and  in  November  the  ordinance  regulating  the  same, 
and  the  authority  granted  to  the  pi'esident,  who  was  made  clerk 
of  the  market,  to  lease  seven  of  its  stalls.  By  the  provisions  of 
this  ordinance,  butchers  and  victual ers,  licensed  by  the  payment 
of  six  shillings,  were  the  only  persons  allowed  to  sell  meat  in 
quantities  smaller  than  the  quarter  of  the  animal,  and  this  only 
in  the  stalls  of  the  market,  at  least  during  market  hours ;  butch- 
ers refusing  for  six  days  to  supply  their  stalls  with  good  meat 
were  subject  to  penalties,  and  they  were  required  to  pay  the 
clerk  a  tax  of  ten  cents  for  every  cow  or  ox,  and  two  cents  for 
every  sheep  or  lamb  they  sold ;  other  provisions  excluded  stand 
ing  carts,  live  animals,  undressed  carcases,  hides,  &c.,  and  un- 
wholesome meat,  and  insisted  on  rigid  attention  to  cleanliness. 
Aside  from  the  usual  routine,  the  foregoing  were  all  the  pro- 
ceedings of  the  board  during  the  year. 

The  Utica  turn})ike,  leading  northward,  was  now  in  progress, 
and  five  miles  of  it  already  complete.  The  Minden  turnpike 
running  south  easterly  from  the  village,  was  opened  the  year  pre- 
vious. 

Of  the  course  of  the  war  with  England,  which  began  in  1812, 
the  inhabitants  of  Utica  had  abundant  witness,  though  at  a  dis- 
tance from  any  place  of  action  and  undisturbed  by  hostile  dem- 
onstrations. Companies  of  soldiers  were  frequently  passing 
through  on  their  way  to  or  from  some  military  post,  and  were 
quartered  for  a  time  in  or  near  the  village.  Thus  its  residents 
had  an  opportunity  of  becoming  cognizant  of  many  of  the  reg- 
iments enlisted,  while  between  these  and  the  villagers  who  some- 
times suffered   from   their  depredations,  disturbances  now  and 


810  THE  PIONEERS  OF  UTICA. 

then  took  place.  The  local  papers  were  prompt  to  relate  the 
battles  and  the  military  movements  on  both  sides,  and  every- 
body was  interested  to  learn  the  particulars  of  each  important 
event.  Some  few  people  were  busy  in  procuring  and  forwarding 
supplies  to  the  nearer  scenes  of  hostilities,  and  many  others  re- 
sponded to  the  call  of  their  countr}^,  and  left  business  and  fami- 
lies to  serve  in  the  ranks.  But  the  greater  portion  pursued  their 
usual  duties  as  in  times  of  peace, 
y  As  a  picture,  however,  of  the  times,  and  a  sample  of  some  of 
the  experiences  of  those  who  lived  in  Utica  during  this  troublous 
period,  we  present  from  the  diary  of  a  resident*  some  notes  of 
what  then  occurred.  On  the  22d  of  June,  1812,  he  records 
that  two  expresses  passed  through  the  place,  one  for  Canada 
and  one  for  the  frontiers,  bearing  news  of  the  declaration  of  war 
against  England.  Nothing  more  on  the  subject  is  to  be  found 
until  August  13,  when  he  sees  about  one  hundred  and  thirty 
men  and  horses  of  the  flying  artillery,  from  Lancaster,  on  their 
way  to  action.  They  are  described  as  very  dirty  and  as  brown 
as  Indians,  some  in  one  dress  and  some  in  another,  for  the  most 
part  young,  and  made  up  largely  of  foreigners.  A  month  later 
eight  hundred  drafted  men  from  Albany  are  at  Utica  for  a  week. 
They  robbed  orchards,  potato  fields,  and  hen  roosts.  In  the  course 
of  three  days  these  eight  hundred  men  increased  to  sixteen 
hundred,  drafted  and  volunteers.  They  were  from  seven  of  the 
eastern  and  southern  counties  of  this  State,  were  young  and 
able-bodied,  but  without  discipline,  and  were  under  the  com- 
mand of  Major-General  Dodge,  a  good  looking  and  well-mounted 
officer.  Their  tents  made  a  fine  appearance^  and  when  they 
marched  away  on  the  afternoon  of  September  15,  they  were 
eight  deep  and  filled  the  road  for  nearly  a  mile.  They  were 
followed  by  about  one  hundred  wagons  with  tents  and  provisions. 
Five  days  later  came  the  5th  Regiment,  recruited  in  Maryland, 
and  under  the  conmiand  of  Col  Milton.  They  were  dirty  and 
in  dishabille.  Clamorous  for  ihcii*  pay,  which  they  had  not  re- 
ceived in  five  or  seven  months,  and  having  been  allowed  half 
a  pint  of  spirits  each,  they  were  saucy  to  their  officers,  and 
threatened  to  stacjk  their  arms;  while  the  Colonel  declared  that 
the  inhabitants  had  stirred  up  his  men  to  mutiny,  insisted  that 
they  were  well  disciplined,  and  while  on  the  march  had  done 
*  Dr.  Alexander  Coventry. 


THE  SECOND  CHARTER.  311 

710  damage  to  any  one,  and  moreover,  talked  fiercely  of  tories 
and  British  spies.  He  obtained  some  money  from  the  bank  and 
dealt  them  an  allowance,  when  the  regiment  marched  off  in  fine 
style.  On  the  22d,  two  companies  of  flying  artillery,  from  Balti- 
more and  Philadelphia,  left  Utica  for  the  west.  On  the  30tb^ 
passed  ninety  sailors  for  Sacketts  Harbor,  one-third  of  whom 
were  negi'oes,  and  the  rest  mostly  foreigners.  One  hundred 
and  fifty  more,  including  the  crew  of  the  John  Adams,  Lieuten- 
ant Pettigrew  in  command,  and  fifty  wagons,  rested  on  the  5th 
of  October  and  moved  on  to  Buffalo  on  the  6th.  There  were 
among  them  some  blacks,  some  foreigners,  but  "more  long- 
spliced  Yankees  than  in  any  other  parcel."  Yet,  says  the  writer, 
they  were  worse  than  any  other  set : — they  broke  into  barns, 
stole  geese,  and  even  stole  from  one  another.  Two  of  the  men 
were  whipped  with  the  cat.  On  the  day  of  their  departure  one 
hundred  and  thirty  more  with  twenty  wagons  were  on  their 
way.  As  many  marines,  in  uniform,  and  presenting  a  soldierly 
appearance,  marched  through  on  the  10th  ;  another  company  of 
them  on  the  13th,  and  these  were  succeeded,  the  next  day,,  by 
one  hundred  and  ninety  Republican  Greens,  destined  for  the 
west.  On  the  24th,  arrived  the  23d  Regiment,  three  hundred 
strong,  when  they  set  out  from  Albany,  though  they  had  already 
suffered  from  desertion.  These  were  well  uniformed  in  drab 
with  red  facings,  and  warmly  clothed  with  good  great  coats. 
Here  they  stacked  arms,  having  received  no  pay.  The  officers 
raised  two  dollars  per  man,  gave  them  a  double  allowance  of 
grog,  and  they  marched  on  the  27th,  for  Niagara.  In  the  mean- 
time one  hundred  and  thirty  more  flying  artillery  had  come  and 
gone.  But  approaching  winter  put  a  stop  to  further  move- 
ments, and  forced  the  military  to  seek  for  quarters.  Many 
remained  in  this  vicinity  during  this  and  the  following  winter, 
being  quartered  at  the  Coffee  House,  in  Potter's  barn,  on  the 
Hopper  farm,  at  New  Hartford,  and  in  other  places.  On  the 
16th  of  February,  1813,  a  Captain  Moore,  with  one  hundred 
and  ninety  of  the  Baltimore  volunteers,  broke  the  door  and 
took  forcible  entrance  of  the  Hotel,  which  had  been  closed 
since  the  departure  of  its  last  tenant,  Mr  Sickles.  A  few 
horsemen  were  passing  in  February,  but,  with  the  opening  of 
the  season,  soldiers  are  here  again  in  numbers.  By  the  6th  of 
April,  one  hundred  and  fifty  light  horse  came  into  Utica  from 


812  THE  PIONEERS  OF  UTICA. 

Sacketts  Plarbor,   whence  they  bad  to  move  for  want  of  pro- 
visions.    On  the  13th,  one  hundred  and  fifty  more  had  arrived. 
On  the  15th,   two  or  three   hundred  artillerists   with  wagons 
marched  westward.    On  the  24th  and  25th,  five  hundred  soldiers 
were  in  Utica,  and  one  hundred  sailors  at  Deerfield  Corners,  who 
had  been  drafted  from  the  frigate  Constitution.      They  came 
from  Boston  by  carriage,  and  set  out  on  foot  for  Sacketts  Har- 
bor.    The  next  day  five  hundred  horse  and  foot  went  through 
westward,  clean  and  well  looking.      And  through  the  rest  of 
April  and   May,  soldiers  were  crowding  in  the  same  direction. 
Colonel  Burn,  of   the  2d  Regiment,  a  southern   gentleman  of 
•  property  and  accomplishments,  paraded  two  hundred  men  in 
Utica  on  the  12th,   and  on  the  14th,   the  heights  above  the 
village  were  covered  with  tents.     By  the  15th,  three  hundred 
artillery  came  in  from  Massachusetts,  under  Major  ]Srye,Mnd 
the  next  day  six  hundi-ed  more  of  the  9th  and  21st,  from  Massa- 
chusetts.    They  were  dissatisfied  with  their  rations,  complain- 
ing that  they  did  not  get  their  twenty-two  ounces  of  salt  meat 
and  one  and  a  half  ounces  of  biscuit,  and  had  left  almost  one 
hundred  sick  and  disabled  along  the  road,  nor  did  they  approve 
of  the  invading  of  Canada.     They  marched  four  days  later,  as 
did  also  a  troop  of  dismounted  cavalry.     Five  or  six  hundred 
more,  mostly  of  the  21st,  slept  in  the  barns  of  Deerfield  on  the 
23d  of  May,  and  like  their  predecessors,  grumbled  at  their  two 
daily  meals  of  salt  beef  and  biscuit.     On  the  26th,  passed  sev- 
enty files  from  four  to  six  deep,   estimated  to  be  five  hundred 
in  number,  though  claimed  by  their  commander  to  be  one  thou- 
sand.    On  the  same  day  an  aid  of  General  Pike  was  in  town 
with  the  colors  taken  at  York.      A  blackguard   corps  of  one 
hundred  spent  two  days,  4th  to  6th  of  June,  at  Deerfield  Cor- 
ners, and  ])i-oke  into  a  house  and  destro^'ed  the  fui-niture,  pro- 
testing that  its  owner  was  a  torj^     Ten  days  later  came  three 
hundred  of  the  14th  with  a  rifle  company.     On  the  16th,  British 
pri-soners  of  the  49th  (English)  passed  through.     On  the  27th 
and  again  on  the  7th  of  July,  there  were  sailors  here  bound 
for  the  Harbor,  and  on  the  10th,  two  hiaidred  and  seventy  of 
the  8d  and  25th  paraded  the  streets  of  Utica.     Cannon  were 
fired  on  the  22d,  to  welcome  General  Dearborn,  who  was  present 
without  his  side  arms  and  thought  to  be  in  disgrace,  and  on  the  9th 
of  the  following  month  the  village  harbored  ninety  or  one  hun- 


THE  SECOND  CHARTER.  313 

dred  prisoners,  mostly  militia,  bat  some  British  regulars.  Some 
twelve  of  these  prisoners,  most  respectable  inhabitants  of  New- 
ark, dined  with  Judge  Miller.  Tliroughout  the  months  of 
August,  September  and  October,  militia  and  sailors  were  passing 
and  repassing  almost  daily  ;  the  Light  Dragoons  returning,  artil- 
lery men  from  Montgomery  and  Madison  counties  and  troops 
from  Otsego  going  north.  The  two  flank  companies  of  Walle- 
ville's  regiment  (taken  in  two  schooners,)  went  through  as  pris- 
oners on  the  15th  of  October.  There  were  among  them  many 
grenadiers,  above  six  feet  in  height.  They  all  spoke  German 
and  several  French  and  broken  English,  having  been,  as  it  is 
said,  captured  while  in  the  French  service  and  thence  enlisting 
into  the  English.  On  the  31st  of  October,  when  the  roads  were 
excessively  bad,  and  the  streets  of  Utica  almost  impassable, 
passed  by  seven  or  eight  hundred  soldiers,  they  being  the  last  of 
the  regular  troops  from  Fort  George.  They  had  been  twelve  days 
on  the  march ;  were  dirty,  be-draggled  and  sickly,  and  had  left 
two  hundi-ed  of  their  conpanions  on  the  road.  The  shoemakers' 
shops  of  the  village  were  ransacked  to  supply  them  with  shoes. 
Commodore  Perry  visited  the  place  on  the  3d  of  the  next 
month,  and  was  honored  by  the  citizens  with  a  public  dinner. 

The  writer  has  had  access  to  no  muster-roll  or  other  military 
list  of  the  tinaes,  and  is  therefore  unable  to  present  a  record  of 
the  recruits  who  went  out  from  Utica  to  do  battle  for  the  coun- 
try.    The  few  facts  herewith  submitted  are  mainly  gathered 
from  the  perishing  memories  of  two  or  three  survivors  of  the  war. 
In  the  latter  part  of  February,  1813,  about  sixt}^  volunteers  were  I 
enrolled  at  Utica,  among  whom  were  included  some  members  of 
its  Independent  Infantry  Compau}-.     They  formed  a  new  com- 
pany attached  to  the  13-lth  Regiment,  and  were  commanded  by  -^ 
Captain  William  Williams.     Of  its  men  the  only  names  that  '^ 
can  be  recalled  were  John  Grove,  orderly  sergeant,  John  George  ' 
and  Theodore  S.  Faxton.     The  compan}-  remained  one  month 
at  Smith's  Mills,  when  they  were  paid  off  and  afterwards  dismis- 
sed.   Another  company  of  the  1 3I:th  Regiment,  termed  the  Silver 
Greys,  was  commanded  by  Nathan  Seward  of  New  Hartford, 
and  among  its  men  was  Thurlow  Weed  from  Utica.     It  was 
probabl}^  at  this  time  also  that  Nathan  Williams  went  out  as 
major  of  the  regiment,  Nicholas  Smith  as  lieutenant  becoming 


314  THE   PIONEERS  OF  UTICA. 

adjutant,  and  John  E.  Hinman  as  quartermaster.  Early  in  the 
war  a  drafting  took  place  at  the  Hotel  when  a  number  of  men 
were  made  soldiers.  In  September  1814,  the  regiment  were 
called  out  en  masse,  but  continued  only  a  month  in  arms  and 
without  active  service.  At  this  time  Benjamin  Ballou  was  cap- 
tain of  a  company  and  Nicholas  N.  Weaver  orderly  sergeant, 
but  subsequently  promoted  to  the  captaincy,  Ballou  having 
been  tajvcn  sick.  To  Thomas  Skinner  of  Utica,  was  given  the 
captaincy  of  a  company  in  a  regiment  of  artillery,  under  Colonel 
Ehjah  Metcalf,  but  as  he  did  not  serve,  the  company  was  com- 
manded by  its  first  lieutenant.  Five  or  six  from  Utica,  had  })i'e- 
viously  volunteered  at  Buffalo,  and  served  in  its  defence. 

Six  young  men  of  the  neighborhood  were  enlisted  as  mid- 
shipmen during  the  course  of  the  war,  viz :  Samuel  Breese  and 
William  In  man  of  Utica,  John  G.  Young  of  Whitesboro, 
Antill  Lansing  of  Oriskany,  and  Edward  and  Benjamin  Car- 
pender  of  Whitesboro.  There  was  a  recruiting  station  here 
under  the  charge  of  Captain  P.  Mills  of  the  23d  regiment.  The 
hospital,  which  was  cared  for  by  Dr.  Solomon  Wolcott,  was  on 
the  Kimball  farm. 

The  foregoing  will  suffice  to  shew  that  the  people  of  Utica, 
if  not  participants  in  the  contest,  could  not  have  been  unmind- 
ful of  the  various  stages  of  its  progress,  and  that  their  quiet 
settlement,  while  far  removed  from  danger  or  alarm,  was  not 
wholly  unused  to  the  discomforts  and  the  evils  as  well  as  to  "  the 
pomp  and  circumstance  of  war. 

Let  us  return  to  consider  the  avocations  of  these  citizens, 
and  with  them  to  follow  the  ways  of  peace. 

One  peaceful  institution  that  was  started  at  this  time  was 
foreshadowed  by  a  newspaper  call,  made  in  February  1811,  on 
all  who  were  interested  in  the  establishment  of  a  bank  to  meet 
at  the  Hotel.  Through  the  efforts  of  its  friends  this  first  purely 
local  bank,  known  under  the  title  of  the  Bank  of  Utica, 
received  its  charter  of  incorporation  on  the  first  of  June  1812, 
and  commenced  business  on  the  8tli  of  December  following. 
The  charter  was  a  liberal  one,  allowing  all  the  usual  privileges 
of  a  bank  of  deposit  and  of  discount.  Though  it  placed  the 
capital  stock  at  one  million  of  dollars,  this  capital  did  not  in 
reality  exceed   six   hundred   thousand,  and  on  the  renewal  of 


THE  SECOND  CHARTER.  315 

the  cliarter,  after  its  expiration  in  1832,  it  was  fixed  at  the 
latter  sum.  This  second  charter  extended  to  1850,  since  which 
time  business  has  been  done  by  an  association  under  the  gen- 
eral banking  law  of  the  State.  In  1865  the  institution  was 
converted  into  a  National  Bank,  with  the  title  of  the  First 
National  Bank  of  Utica.  For  a  short  time  after  its  establish- 
ment banking  was  carried  on  upon  the  west  side  of  Genesee 
street  not  far  from  Bleecker,  but  in  1813  the  bank  was  set  up 
in  the  brick  building  on  the  north  side  of  Whitesboro  street, 
next  east  of  the  Hotel,  the  same  which  is  now  converted  into 
a  double  residence  and  occupied  by  J.  E.  Warner  and  others. 
It  was  the  eastern  part  of  it  which  then  served  both  the  bank 
and  the  family  of  the  cashier ;  and  surmounting  its  front  were 
two  immense  glittering, golden  dollars.  This  building  it  con- 
tinued to  occupy  until  February  1854,  when  it  was  removed  to 
its  present  position  on  Genesee  street,  two  doors  below  Catherine. 
The  directors  named  in  the  charter  were  James  S.  Kip,  Solomon 
Wolcott,  Thomas  Skinner,  Thomas  Walker,  Henry  Huntington, 
Nathan  Smith,  Francis  A.  Bloodgood,  Ephraim  Hart.  Apollos 
Cooper,  David  W.  Childs,  Marcus  Hitchcock,  Samuel  Stocking 
and  John  Bellinger, — nearly  the  same,  be  it  observed  as  those  who 
constituted  the  first  board  of  the  Manhattan  Branch  Bank.  By  its 
terms  the  privilege  of  subscribing  to  the  amount  of  two  thousand 
shares  of  the  stock  was  retained  by  the  State,  and,  with  the  intent, 
doubtless,  of  guarding  this  public  interest,  two  additional  direc- 
tors were  named  by  the  council  of  appointment.  These  State 
directors  were  Jedediah  Sanger  and  John  Steward,  Jr.  At  a 
meeting  of  the  board  held  July  27,  1812,  James  S.  Kip  was 
appointed  president,  and  Montgomery  Hunt  cashier,  Henry  B. 
Gibson  teller,  and  Thomas  Colling  bookkeeper.  Mr.  Kip  kept 
his  position  but  a  short  time,  and  retired  from  the  board  at  the 
first  annual  election,  his  removal  having  been  effected  through 
the  agency  of  Mr,  Hunt,  as  was  also  that  of  Mr.  Bellinger,  which 
ensued  shortly  afterwards.  Mr.  Kip  was  succeeded  as  a  director 
by  Abraham  Van  Santvoord,  and  as  president  by  Henry  Hunt- 
ington of  Rome,  who  continued  to  hold  the  office  by  annual  re- 
elections  until  1845.  During  the  cashiership  of  Mr.  Hunt,  a 
period  nearly  cotemporaneous  with  the  duration  of  the  first 
charter,  and  which  is  as  far  as  we  now  propose  to  note  the  history 
of  the  bank,  the  successive  directors  who  filled  the  vacancies  in 


816  THE    PIONEEKS  OF  UTICA. 

the  board  occasioned  bv  death  or  other  causes,  were  as  follows : 
Peiuy  G.  Ciiilds  of  Cazenovia,  and  Richard  Sanger  of  New  Hart- 
ford, succeeded  Messrs.  Bloodgood  and  Bellinger  in  1814;  E.  B. 
Sliearman  took  the  place  of  Thonias_Skinner  in  1815;  Thomas 
H.  Hubbai'd  of  Hamilton,  and  Joseph  Stebbins  of  Clinton,  those 
of  Messrs.  Wolcott  and  P.  G.  Childs  in  1818  ;  David  P.  Hoyt, 
William  G.  Tracy  of  Wliitesboro,  and  Moses  Bagg,  those  of 
Messrs.  Van  Santvoord,  Smith  and  D.  W.  Childs  in  1819;  John 
C.  Devereux  that  of  Richard  Sanger  in  1822;  Charles  Morris, 
Kellogg  Hurlburt  and  William  Walcott  of  Whitesboro,  those 
of  Messrs.  HovJt,JBiigg.-iuid.IiH^c]icock  in  1827  ;  Josiah  Bacon  of 

Waterville  that  of  Mr.   Tracy  in  ;  Milton  Brayton  and 

Holmes  Hutchinson  those  of  Messrs.  Devereux  and  Morris_  in 
1830;  John  Williams  that  of  Milton^ Brayton  in  1833,  and  S. 
Newton  Dexter  of  Whitesboro  that  of  Mr.  Stebbms  in  1834:- 
When  John  Steward,  Jr.,  one  of  the  State  directors,  left  the  vil- 
lage, his  place  was  filled  by  George  Brayton  of  Western.  He 
was  followed  b}-  A.  B.  Johnson,  and  some  years  later  Mr.  J. 
and  his  colleague  were  superseded  by  William  Clarke  of  Utica, 
and  Jacob  Sherrill  of  New  Hartford.  The  above  named  direc- 
tors were,  for  the  most  part,  practical  and  safe  business  men; 
they  were  punctual  in  their  attendance  at  the  meetings;,  of  the 
board,  cooperated  zealously  with  the  cashier,  and  were  watchful 
of  every  means  to  pi'omote  tlie  good  of  the  bank  ^nd  protect  it 
from  loss.  In  times  of  embarrassment  and  when  contraction 
was  called  for,  they  first  cut  down  the  measure  of  their  own  per- 
sonal discounts  before  reducing  those  of  the  other  stockholders. 
By  their  laws  it  was  provided  that  four  of  their  number  should 
be  present  at  every  meeting  for  discounting,  who  balloted  upon 
every  application ;  one  negative,  even  without  a  reason,  being 
deemed  sufficient  to  exclude  an  applicant.  As  a  sample  of  the 
dignity  and  decorum  with  which,  at  the  outset  of  their  career, 
their  meetings  were  conducted,  it  may  be  mentioned  that  the 
by-laws  made.it  obligatory  to  address  the  president  standing, 
and  forbade  that  any  member  should  speak  more  than  twice  to 
one  question  without  leave  from  the  president  Such,  at  least, 
were  the  jirovisions  of  the  code  of  laws  at  first  in  force,  though 
from  their  impracticability,  as  is  probable,  they  were  soon  amend- 
ed. A  custom  not  so  conducive  to  decorum,  but  which  in  those 
times  was  looked  on  as  both  proper  and  desirable,  was  the  uni- 


THE  SECOND  CHARTER.  317 

form  introduction  of  brandy  and  cigars  at  every  meeting  of  the 
board.  This  earher  board  was  largely  democratic  in  sentiment, 
and  of  course  friendly  to  the  war  of  1812.  Hence  they  did  not 
hesitate  to  give  encouragement  to  the  government,  by  advancing 
large  sums  to  the  assistant  paymasters,  to  enable  them  to  pay  of? 
the  troops  engaged  in  this  war. 

Not  a  year  had  elapsed  after  the  begirming  of  banking  opera- 
tions before  application  was  made  to  the  directors  by  responsi- 
ble citizens  of  Canandaigua  for  the  establishment  of  a  branch  of 
the  bank  at  that  place.  These  applications  having  been  after- 
wards renewed,  the  directors  decided  to  concur  with  these  par- 
ties in  petitioning  the  Legislature  for  leave  to  erect  a  branch. 
A  charter  for  the  purpose  was  obtained  in  1815,  and  in  January 
of  the  following  year  the  branch  at  Canandaigua  was  opened. 
It  continued  in  existence  until  1850,  the  directors  and  officers 
being  chosen  by  the  parent  bank,  from  which  it  received  also 
its  working  capital,  and  to  which  it  made  returns.  Similar  ap- 
plications from  Geneva  and  from  Buffalo  were  declined. 

During  the  incumbency  of  Mr.  Hunt  matters  went  on  harmo- 
niously in  the  board  at  Utica,  and  the  institution  was  exceed- 
ingly prosperous.  Its  offspring  at  Canandaigua  was  the  chief 
source  of  anxiety,  and  that  because  of  the  impossibility  of  giv- 
ing the  concerns  of  the  latter  so  direct  a  superintendence  as  was 
desirable.  The  calls  made  on  the  original  subscribers  to  the 
stock  for  installments  on  their  subscriptions  w^ere  rare  and  in 
small  amounts,*  and  not  more  than  twelve  and  a  half  per  cent, 
was  called  in  before  a  semi-annual  dividend  was  declared.  Until 
the  year  1825  only  twenty-five  per  cent,  of  this  subscription  had 
been  asked  for,  though  the  privilege  was  early  accorded  the  sub- 
scribers of  paying  in  to  the  amount,  at  their  option,  of  twenty- 
five  or  of  fifty  per  cent.  How  many  responded  and  what  was 
the  actual  amount  of  working  capital  prior  to  1832,  we  are  una- 
ble to  say.  It  was  then  certified  to  as  $600,000.  There  was 
never  a  failure  of  a  semi-annual  dividend  of  four  and  a  half  per 
cent.,  besides  the  issue  of  numerous  surplus  dividends,  amount- 
ing in  the  aggregate  to  sixty-one  and  a  half  per  cent,  during 

*Tlie  amount  subsribed  by  Bryan  and  A.  B.  Johnson  was  $25,000,  on 
which  they  paid  $10,000  in  silver.  Because  it  was  in  silver  instead  of  bank 
notes,  Mr.  Hunt  was  annoyed  and  said  that  had  he  linown  it  would  have  been 
so  paid,  they  would  not  have  been  allowed  to  take  so  much. 


318  THE    PIONEERS  OF  UTICA. 

the  lirst  sixteen  and  a  half  years.  The  salaries  of  all  the 
officers,  including  the  few  clerks  employed,  were,  at  first,  small, 
and  only  graduall}^  increased  as  the  success  of  the  bank  admit- 
ted. That  of  the  president  was  originally  five  hundred  dollars, 
though  he  came  from  Rome  twice  a  week  to  attend  the  meetings 
for  discount.  The  cashier's  allowance  at  the  outset  was  fifteen 
hundred  dollars,  the  teller's  eight  hundred  dollars,  and  the 
bookkeepers  six  hundred  dollars. 

Mr.  Gibson,  the  first  teller,  was  followed  for  a  brief  period  by 
Eliasaph  Dorchester,  who  was  succeeded  in  October  1813,  by 
Orson  Seymour,  and  he  in  1815  by  William  B.  Welles,  assisted 
in  1816  by  Henry  T.  Barto.  In  October  1824,  when  Mr. 
Welles  was  made  cashier  of  the  branch  in  place  of  Mr.  Sey- 
mour, deceased,  Mr.  Bai-to  became  teller,  and  Henry  K.  Sanger 
asssistant  teller  Mr.  Sanger  was  in  1830  succedeed  by  William 
S.  Philpot.  Tliomns  Colling,  the  first  book-keeper,  continued 
at  his  post  over  forty-five  years,  outliving  the  incumbency  of 
two  cashiers.  -As  managing  head  of  the  bank,  Montg.)merj 
Hunt  filled  the  office  of  cashier- until  December  30,  1834,  when 
ill-health  compelled  him  to  resign. 

Montgomery  Hunt  was  son  of  Ward  Hunt  of  Westchester 
county.  New  York,  and  was  born  at  Mt.  Pleasant  in  that  county. 
He  was  graduated  at  Columbia  College  in  1792,  and  was  then 
placed  as  clerk  in  the  Bank  of  America.  After  due  appren- 
ticeship, and  a  short  service  in  a  bank  in  New  Jersey,  he  came 
to  Utica  in  the  year  1809,  in  the  employ  of  the  Manhattan 
Bank,  as  the  cashier  of  its  branch.  Now  transferred  to  the 
Utica  Bank,  he  was  known  throughout  the  period  of  his  service 
as  one  of  the  ablest  and  most  skillful  financiers  in  the  State. 
His  early  professional  training  and  the  liberal  views  gained  by 
long  experience  in  the  great  commercial  centre  of  the  country 
gave  him  much  advantage  at  the  start.  A  generous  disposition 
and  courteous  and  winning  manners  made  him  popular,  and 
conduced,  with  his  unquestioned  integrity  and  honor,  and  his 
intelligent  estimate  of  the  wants  of  the  community,  to  draw 
customers  to  the  bank.  While  his  zeal  for  its  prosperity  made 
him  studious  of  its  interests,  and  watchful  of  the  pecuniary 
standing  of  individual  borrowers.  His  assiduity  never  flagged, 
and  his  skill  was  equal  to  every  emergency.  During  all  the 
fluctuations  of  trade  and  the  shocks  and  reverses  to  which 


THE  SECOND  CHARTER.  319 

every  country  is  exposed,  he  displayed  judgment  and  sagacity 
tliat  are  rarely  surpassed.  At  the  period  of  the  war  of  1812, 
and  the  few  years  that  followed,  when  so  many  of  the  banks 
succumbed,  he  maintained  the  credit  of  his,  and  pushed  its 
notes  into  circulation  as  far  distant  as  New  Orleans.  It  was  on 
the  width  and  greatness  of  circulation  that  the  banks  in  early 
times  depended  chiefly  for  their  profits.  The  deposits  of  the 
Bank  of  Utica  rarely  exceeded  two  hundred  thousand  dollars, 
while  the  circulation  was  three  times  as  large.  To  effect  such 
distribution  of  its  notes,  a  mode  in  frequent  use  was  to  entrust 
sums  varying  from  ten  to  lift}^  tlKmsand  dollars  to  individual 
directors  to  be  by  them  exchanged  for  the  notes  of  other  banks ; 
or  parties  were  hired  to  travel  at  a  distance  with  the  same  ob- 
ject. The  chief  rival  of  Mr.  Hunt  was  A.  B.  Johnson,  than 
whom,  if  he  had  less  caution,  he  had  more  courage  and  breadth 
of  view  and  a  not  inferior  degree  of  success. 

Mr.  Hunt  was  of  medium  height  and  rather  stout ;  quite 
handsome  in  feature  and  complexion  ;  liberal  and  kind  in  sen- 
timent ;  outspoken,  courteous  and  polished  in  manners,  and  in 
his  intercourse  elaborately  polite ;  fond  of  talking  and  gifted 
with  power  as  a  talker,  wherein  he  overflowed  with  anecdote 
and  humor ;  well-informed,  though  perhaps  a  little  enamored 
of  his  acquirements  ;  social  in  his  tastes  and  elegant  in  his  en- 
tertainments ;  interested  and  influential  in  politics ;  useful  as  a 
citizen,  and  affectionate  as  a  husband  and  a  father ;  giving  freely 
to  the  support  of  his  church,  yet  wedded  rather  to  the  form 
than  the  substance  of  church  worship,  and  himself  averring 
that  while  he  gave  more  for  religion  than  did  others,  he  failed, 
as  it  seemed,  to  get  as  much  good  by  it  as  did  they.  He  was 
conspicuous  among  the  Masons  and  held  the  rank  of  Master  of 
the  Utica  Lodge.  In  1816  he  was  one  of  the  presidential  elec- 
tors, and  cast  his  vote  for  Mr.  Munroe.  After  his  resignation 
he  lived  about  two  years  in  New  York,  but  died  in  St.  Cruz, 
whither  he  had  gone  in  quest  of  health,  February  24,  1837. 
His  remains  were  brought  home  for  interment.  His  wife  was 
Eliza,  daughter  of  Captain  Joseph  Stringham  of  New  York, 
sister  of  James  Stringham  of  that  city,  and  of  the  wife  of  Dan- 
iel Thomas,  previously  noticed.  She  was  in  every  respect  a 
superior  person,  a  lady  who,  to  the  charm  of  a  beautiful  face, 
high  culture  and  elegant  manners,  adde4  the  superior  endow- 


820  thf:  pioneers  of  utica. 

nient  of  an  amiable  and  pious  heart.  She  died  April  14, 1824. 
She  left  him  eight  children,  as  follows :  Frances  H.  (Mrs.  George 
Throop  of  Detroit,  Michigan),  died  August  1872  ;  James  S., 

resided  in  New  York,  died 1862  ;  Ward,  Justice  Supreme 

Court  United  States,  residing  in  Washington  ;  Lydia  E.  (Mrs. 
Stephen  Sicard),  is  now  a  widow  residing  with  her  son  in  Buf- 
falo ;  Montgomery,  was  captain  in  the  United  States  navy  and 

lost  in  the  Albany, 1854;  John,  resided  in  New  York 

until  his  death;  Cornelia  (Mrs.  Egbert  Bagg,  of  Utica) ;  Eliza^ 
died  in  childhood, 

Thomas  Colling,  so  long  in  the  service  of  the  Bank  of  Utica, 
was  from  Norton,  Dnrham,  England.  He  came  to  this  country 
while  still  under  age,  and  engaged  in  teaching.  In  1810-11  he 
taught  a  night  school  in  Utica  and  was  at  the  same  time  a  writer- 
in  the  office  of  the  county  clerk.  There  he  was  when,  on 
the  bank's  organization,  he  received  the  appointment  of  book- 
keeper. Two  or  three  of  the  veteran  citizens  of  Utica,  as 
T.  S.  Faxton,  John  Butterfield  and  A.  G.  Dauby,  were  among  his 
pupils.  He  had  a  good  mathematical  education,  was  an  expert 
accountant  and  a  good  penman.  And  being,  besides,  a  person 
of  steady  industry  and  regular  and  punctual  habits,  his  services 
in  the  bank  were  invaluable,  and  he  was  retained  until  his 
death,  February  25,  1859,  when  he  reached  the  age  of  seventy. 
He  was  also  the  first  clerk  of  Utica  after  it  became  a  city,  bore 
for  some  years  the  office  of  treasurer  as  well  as  vestryman  of 
Trinity  Church,  and  was  treasurer  of  the  Steam  Woolen  Mills. 

As  an  offset  to  his  so  persistent  absorption  in  books  and  fig- 
ures, Mr.  Colling  was  very  social  in  his  tastes,  and  dearly  loved 
the  habits  and  the  converse  of  the  ''marines."  His  facility  in 
story  telling  was  remarkable  ;  when  among  his  frioids  he  never 
tired  of  recounting  wondrous  incidents  of  hair-breadth  escapes 
that  had  happened  to  himself  or  of  which  he  was  cognizant, 
wearing  meanwhile  a  graveness  of  countenancak  and  demeanor 
that  made  them  seem  like  reality  itself,  and  of  whose  truth 
there  could  be  no  dispute.  But  these  excursions  were  only  the 
relaxation  of  his  leisure  hours  ;  on  duty,  he  was  as  unaspiring  and 
subdued,  his  course  of  life  as  small  a  dei)arture  from  the  usual 
channel,  as  that  of  any  of  his  neighbors.  His  wife  was  Eve- 
line, daughter  of  Chauncey  Gridley  oE  Clinton.     He  had  five 


THE  SECOND  CHARTER.  321 

sons  and  one  daughter  who  reached  maturity,  of  whom  all  but 
two  are  now  in  Utica. 

If  the  career  of  Mr.  Hunt,  in  his  connection  with  the  Bank 
of  Utica,  has  carried  us  beyond  the  term  of  the  village  life  of 
Utica,  that  of  Alexander  B.  Johnson,  of  whom  I  am  next  to 
speak,  is  yet  wider  in  its  embrace.  Beginning  almost  with  the 
corporate  existence  of  the  place,  it  reaches  down  nearly  to  the 
present  time  ;  for  Mr.  Johnson  was  a  resident  of  Utica  from  the 
year  1801,  and  has  but  lately  ceased  to  be  numbered  among  its 
inhabitants.  During  sixty-six  years  he  was  identified  with  its 
business  interests  ;  a  director  of  one  of  its  banks,  a  founder  of 
another,  and  for  thirty-six  years  the  head  of  a  third,  in  which 
posts  of  responsibility  he  gained  an  extended  celebrity  as  a  wise 
and  skillful  banker.  A  citizenship  so  protracted  and  inter- 
woven so  largely  with  two  principal  institutions  of  the  place, 
may  well  detain  us  to  consider  at  length. 

^  His  life  began  in  Gosport,  England,  May  27, 1786,  and  its  ear- 
liest years  were  passed  in  this  and  the  other  seaport  towns  of 
Sheerness  and  Deal,— where  his  father's  business  was  conduc- 
ted,—as  well  as  at  Milton  in  Kent,  and  in  London.     His  early 
memories  carry  us  back  to  the  reign  of  George  III,  whom  with 
Queen  Caroline,  he  saw  in  Drury  Lane  Theatre,  to  the  behead- 
ing of  the  French  king  Louis  XVI  in  1793,  which  he  distinctly 
remembered,  and  to  the  mutiny  of  the  channel  fleet,  terminated 
by  the  hanging  of  its  leader  in  June  1797,  which  he  witnessed 
from  a  small  boat  lying  along  side  the  vessel  of  the  admiral. 
Bryan  Johnson,  his  father,  preceded  the  family  by  a  few  years 
in  his  migration  to  America,  leaving  the  son  at  school  in  Lon- 
don, and  when  he  had  settled  himself  here  and  prepared  a  home 
for  their  reception,  they  also  took  ship,  and  after  a  passage  of 
thirty  days  arrived  in  New  York  in  April  1801.     Alexander 
was  at  that  time  two  months  short  of  fifteen  and  small  of  his 
age,  but  intellectually  premature.     His  education,  which  had 
been  prosecuted  in  the  various  towns  where  he  had  lived,  lacked 
system  and  thoroughness,  though  it  had  given  him  a  fondness 
for  reading  which  never  forsook  him.     Soon  after  his  arrival  he 
began  to  keep  books  and  at,tend  store  for  his  father,  yet  was  not 
so  engrossed  with  these  duties  as  to  be  in  want  of  time  for  read- 
ing and  writing.     He  made  diligent  use  of  the  old  Fort  Schuv- 
w 


322  THE  PIONEERS  OF  UTICA. 

ler  libraiy,  and  read  solid  and  instructive  works  as  well  as  ro- 
mances and  poetry.  By  dint  of  earnest  and  sustained  endeav- 
ors he  made  amends  for  youthful  deficiencies,  acquired  a  large 
stock  of  information,  and  became  a  vigorous  and  original 
thinker,  and  a  terse  and  forcible  wi'iter.  Soon  after  he  had  at- 
tained his  majority,  his  father  disposed  of  his  goods  and  his 
business  interest  and  retired  with  a  handsome  competency. 
This  fortune,  during  the  life  of  the  father,  was  held  in  common 
with  the  son,  on  whom  devolved  its  general  management.  It 
was  in  the  year  1810  that  occurred  his  assumption  in  full  of 
the  cares  and  responsibilities  of  man's  estate,  two  years  previ- 
ous to  the  date  at  which  I  have  preferred  to  enter  upon  the 
sketch  of  his  life.  His  earliest  personal  enterprise  w^as  the  es- 
tablishment, in  1810,  of  a  large  glass  factory  near  the  village  of 
Geneva.  A  short  time  before  he  had  been  a  director  in  the 
glass  factory  at  Vernon.  As  a  second  one  had  lately  been  set 
up  in  Marcy,  he  feared  the  Legislature  would  be  unwilling  to 
grant  the  charter  for  a  third  in  Oneida  county,  and  so  proposed 
to  get  permission  to  start  one  in  Ontario  county.  This  under- 
taking he  engaged  in  with  the  activity,  energy  and  quiet  sa- 
gacity which  distinguished  him  through  life.  And  at  length, 
after  numerous  journeyings  to  and  fro,  after  much  vexatious  delay 
and  many  difficulties,  the  factory  was  put  in  operation  and  glass 
was  made.  But  though  he  succeeded  in  his  project,  he  was  still 
subjected  to  annoyances  and  discouragements,  so  that  he  sold 
his  stock  to  his  associates  at  a  price  wdiich  saved  him  from  loss, 
and  retired  altogether  from  the  concern.  In  1811,  Mr.  Johnson 
went  to  New  York,  where  he  remained  the  greater  part  of  two 
years,  visiting  Washington  before  his  return,  and  being  present 
at  the  second  inauguration  of  President  Madison.  In  New 
York  he  invested  in  bank  stocks  and  interested  himself  in  finan- 
cial matters  generally.  Early  in  1812  he  wrote  and  published 
a  small  volume  entitled  "An  Inquiry  into  the  Nature  of  Value 
and  of  Capital,  and  into  the  Operations  of  Government  Loans, 
Banking  Institutions  and  Private  Credit,  with  an  Appendix  con- 
taining an  Inquir}'  into  the  Laws  which  Regulate  the  Rate  of  In- 
terest and  the  Price  of  Stocks  "  Tlie  l)ook  found  a  few  ap- 
proving readers,  and  brought  hini  into  notice  as  a  thoughtful 
speculator  on  the  subject  of  finance.  Innncdiately  that  news 
came  of  the  existence  of  war  with  England,  filling  the  city 


THE  SECOND  CHAKTER.  323 

with  consternation,  Mr.  Johnson  sold  his  bank  stock  at  a  sacri- 
fice, and  returned  to  Utica.     Here  he  invested  his  funds  in  the 
Bank  of  Utica,  which  was  then  organizing,  and  was  ere  long 
compensated  many  fold  for  the  loss  sustained  by  the  panic  sale 
of  his  New  York  stock.     In  April  1814,  he  married  Miss  Abi- 
gail Louisa,  daughter  of  Charles  Adams,  who  was  the  second 
son  of  President  John  Adams.     Tlie  lady's  father  had  been  a 
lawyer  in  New  York  City,  but  was  now  deceased,  and  she  was 
living  with  her  mother  in  Utica.     Soon  after,  he  was  aj^pointed 
one  of  the  State  directors  of  the  Bank  of  Utica,  entering  there- 
in  in  antagonism   with   Montgomery   Hunt,  its  cashier.     The 
latter  had  procured  the  removal  from  the  directorship  of  Messrs. 
Kip  and  Bloodgood,  for  wliich  they,  in  retaliation,  obtained  for 
Mr.  Johnson  tlie  place  of  director  for  the  State.     And  here  it 
was  that  began  his  first  practical  acquaintance  with  banking,  a 
subject  which,  as  we  have  seen,  had  already  occupied  his  thoughts. 
It  was  not  long  before  his  energies  were  enlisted  in  a  scheme 
for  a  bank  of  his  own,  and  these  resulted  in  the  creation  of  an 
institution  now  almost  forgotten,  yet  whose  history  is  of  inter- 
est for  the  method  by  which  it  was  achieved  and  the  temporary 
success  that  attended  it.     About  the  year  1798,  Aaron  Burr  had 
secured  banking  privileges  for  the  Manhattan  Company,  of  New 
York,  under  the  plea  of  furnishing  "  pure  and  wholesome  water,'' 
and  for  his  management  in  getting  such  a  charter  through  the 
Legislature   he   was   greeted   with   boundless  applause.      His 
adroitness  was  not  without  its  influence  upon   Mr.  Johnson. 
Ambitious  of  securing  a  charter  for  another  bank  in  Utica,  he 
yet  feared  opposition  from  the  law  makers  of  Albany  as  well  as 
hostility  from  the  banks  already  in  existence,  both  of  which 
influences  would  be  exerted  to  prevent  his  obtaining  his  end 
by  direct  and  open  application.     Deluded  by  the  successful  ex- 
ploit of  Mr.  Burr,  he  resorted  to  means  similar  to  those  of  the 
latter  in  order  to  compass  his  purpose.     He  drew  up  a  charter 
for  the   Utica  Insurance  Company,   which   was  so  cunningly 
worded  that  while  it  seemed  to  convey  only  permission  to  insure 
property,  it  granted,  as  was  manifest  to  a  reader  aware  of  its 
intent,  the  privilege  of  banking  also.     This  charter,  during  the 
winter  of  1815-16,  he  manoeuvred  skillfully  through  the  Legis- 
lature, eluding  even  the  vigilance  of  that  astute  lawyer  and 
politician,  Martin  Van  Buren,  who  was  chairman  of  the  com- 


324  THE  PIONEERS  OF  UTICA. 

mittee  in  the  Senate  that  reported  the  bill.  On  coming  home 
he  called  together  Messrs.  Kip,  Bloodgood  and  others,  who  all 
agreed  that  the  charter  by  its  terms  conferred  the  right  of  bank- 
ing, and  in  this  opinion  concurred  also  Thomas  Addis  Emmet 
and  Kichard  Harison  of  New  York.  A  company  was  soon 
formed,  and  the  $500,000  of  capital  was  taken  up.  The  direc- 
tors were  James  S.  Kip,  president,  Francis  A.  Bloodgood,  Na- 
than Williams  (who  soon,  however,  gave  place  to  Nicholas 
Devereux),  Bryan  and  Alexander  B.  Johnson,  Charles  C.  Broad- 
head,  Killian  Winne,  Hugh  Cunningham  and  Eichard  R  Lan-- 
sing.  Mr.  Johnson  was  made  secretary  and  treasurer  as  well 
as  cashier,  and  A.  D.  Smith  served  as  teller.  Operations  were 
begun  in  July,  about  where  is  now  the  Second  National  Bank, 
though  the  company  afterwards  bought  of  the  Johnsons  a  part 
of  the  property  on  the  corner  of  Division  and  Whitesboro 
streets,  where  their  store  had  previously  been,  and  erected  thereon 
a  suitable  building.  They  made  banking  their  principal  busi- 
ness, and  soon  had  in  circulation  $190,000  of  their  notes  of  one 
dollar  and  upwards,  with  about  $3,500  of  small  fractional 
change.  The  loans  ran  up  to  nearly  $300,000.  They  met  with 
much  opposition  from  the  Utica  and  Ontario  banks,  which  en- 
deavored in  every  possible  way  to  embarrass  them.  These 
banks  collected  with  avidity  the  notes  of  the  Insurance  Com- 
pany and  returned  them  speedily.  Mr.  Johnson  conducted  the 
war  with  vigor  and  skill,  sending  out  agents  with  the  notes  of 
the  company  who  exchanged  them  for  other  bank  notes. 
He  insured  also  to  the  extent  of  a  million  of  dollars,  and  for- 
tunately met  with  no  losses  by  fire.  Martin  Van  Buren  had  in 
the  mean  time  become  Attorney  General  of  the  State.  Heap- 
plied  to  the  Chancellor  for  an  injunction  against  the  company. 
The  Legislature  of  1818  amended  tlie  restraining  law,  as  it  was 
termed,  which  prevented  individuals  from  banking,  and  made 
it  apply  to  corporations  also,  affixing  severe  penalties  for  its 
infraction.  «0n  this  account  the  company  determined  to  sus- 
pend business  on  the  3d  of  August,  1818,  the  day  before  the 
act  was  to  take  effect.  Both  deposits  and  notes  were  paid  in 
full,  and  the  outstanding  policies  of  insurance  were  transferred 
to  a  New  York  Insurance  company.  The  court  gave  judgment 
against  the  Utica  company,  when  a  majority  of  the  stockhold- 
ers, through  their  proxies  obtained  by  Mr.  Johnson,  dissolved 


THE  SECOND  CHARTER.  325 

tlie  compaii}'  on  the  6th  of  July,  1819.  By  his  sole  unaided 
efforts  he  wound  up  its  affairs  with  a  trifling  loss  to  the  stock- 
holders. Some,  who  were  dissatisfied,  as  James  L}aich,  John 
B.  Yates  and  others,  demanded  the  books  and  assets  of  the  com- 
pany and  again  began  business  in  New  York  City,  calling  in 
also  fresh  installments  from  the  stockholders.  Innumerable 
suits  arose,  and  the  new  company  was  stopped  by  the  courts. 
Though  Mr.  Johnson  was  b}^  many  commended  for  the  acute 
ness  of  the  means  he  employed  to  secure  a  charter  for  the  above 
described  institution,  they  proved  afterwards  a  source  of  deep 
regret  to  their  author,  and  he  has  left  behind  him  the  declara- 
tion that  no  other  act  of  his  life  gave  him  so  much  pain  in  the 
recollection. 

Near  this  time,  April  1819,  when  thirty-three  years  of  age, 
married  and  the  father  of  two  children,  the  possessor,  moreover, 
of  about  fiftj^-five  thousand  dollars,  he  began  the  study  of  law, 
in  the  office  of  his  friend,  Nathan  Williams,  He  continued  it 
persistently  until  he  was  admitted  to  the  bar — in  three  years  as 
an  attorney  and  in  six  as  a  counsellor.  Though  the  study  was 
entered  upon  to  fit  him  with  a  calling,  it  was  pursued  as  a  pleas- 
sure  and  a  solace  from  other  cares,  since,  when  the  profession 
was  achieved,  he  never  practiced  it,  while  its  prosecution  was 
almost  from  the  commencement  carried  along  simultaneously  with 
other  and  responsible  duties,  duties  which  were  henceforth  the 
great  business  of  his  life.  For  in  June  of  this  year  he  was  made 
a  director  of  the  Ontario  Branch  Bank,  an  appointment  which 
was  followed  in  September  by  his  elevation  to  its  presidency. 
This  Ontario  Branch  Bank  emanated  from  Canandaigua,  where 
its  parent  had  been  established  about  a  year  after  the  Bank  of 
Utica.  By  an  act  of  the  Legislature,  passed  April  15, 1815,  the 
privilege  was  accorded  to  both  the  Utica  and  the  Ontario  to  set 
up  branches  of  their  respective  institutions  in  the  place  of  busi- 
ness of  the  other.  Both  exercised  this  privilege,  the  Ontario 
having  commenced  its  branch  at  Utica  the  26th  of  December 
following.  During  a  number  of  years  the  capital  was  divided 
equally  between  the  parent  and  its  offspring,  but  subsequently 
to  1843,  three  hundred  thousand  dollars  were  located  in  the 
branch,  and  the  remaining  two  hundred  thousand  in  the  mother 
bank.  The  existence  of  the  corporation  was  limited  to  June 
1843,  but  in  1829  it  was  extended  by  legislative  act  to  Jan- 


326  THE   PIONEERS  OF  UTICA. 

"uary  1,  1856.  A  general  supervisory  and  directing  power  re- 
mained of  course  with  the  board  at  Canandaigua,  who  appointed 
the  principal  officers  of  the  branch,  advised  as  to  the  selection 
of  its  directors,  as  well  as  with  respect  to  the  administration  of 
its  affairs,  and  to  this  board  weekly  returns  were  made  of  its 
condition  and  its  doings.  The  first  directors  at  Utica  were  as 
follows :  Benjamin  Walker,  Jeremiah  Van  Rensselaer,  Arthur 
Breese,  Joseph  Kirkland,  William  G.  Tracy,  Charles  C.  Brod- 
head,  James  Piatt,  Kellogg  Hurlburt,  Jesse  W.  Doolittle,  Abra- 
ham Varick,  Moses  Bagg,  Jason  Parker  and  James  Lynch. 
Colonel  Walker  was  the  first  president,  and  was  succeeded 
after  his  decease  by  Arthur  Breese.  The  appointment  of  Mr. 
Johnson  as  president,  in  1819,  was  due  to  the  confidence  reposed 
in  him  by  his  friend,  Mr.  Greig,  president  of  the  corporation  at 
Canandaigua.  It  had  been  at  first  intended  to  make  him  cash- 
ier ;  but  feelings  of  delicacy  and  personal  respect  on  the  part  of 
the  directors  towards  the  incumbent  of  this  office  would  not 
allow  of  his  displacement.  Accordingly  Mr.  Breese  resigned  m 
his  favor  and  Mr.  Johnson  succeeded  him,  though  under  the 
title  and  guise  of  president,  he  became  de  facto  cashier  also. 
With  him  rested  all  the  management  of  the  bank,  the  care  in 
selecting  directors,  attending  to  the  sufficiency  of  notes  and  the 
security  of  those  already  in  the  bank,  all  the  responsibility  in 
the  eyes  of  the  public  and  the  Canandaigua  board  for  its  gen- 
eral safety  and  prosperity,  all  the  care  of  preserving  harmony 
between  the  bank  and  its  dealers,  and  among  the  members  of 
its  own  board  of  directors.  And  he  was  daily  present  at  the 
bank  from  its  opening  till  its  close.  Its  affairs  when  he  assumed 
control  were  greatly  depressed ;  its  notes  were  not  taken  at  all 
in  Utica,  and  were  sold  in  New  York  at  twelve  and  a  half  per 
cent,  discount.  In  fact  the  bank  was  closed  from  the  middle  of 
July  to  the  fore  part  of  November.  Such,  however,  was  the 
pubhc  confidence  in  his  integrity  and  financial  ability  that  the 
notes  very  soon  rose  to  par  and  obtained  an  extensive  circula- 
tion. From  that  day  forward  the  Ontario  Branch  Bank  was 
one  of  the  most  }U'()S})erous  banks  in  this  or  any  other  State. 
It  was  conducted  on  sound  principles,  and  experienced  almost 
no  losses. 

In  1852,  by  reason  of  severe  domestic  affliction  and  conse- 
quent incapacity  for  business,  Mr.  Johnson  was  obliged  to  take 


THE  SECOND  CHAETEE.  327 

a  voyage  to  Europe.  Daring  his  absence,  he  could  not,  of  course, 
exercise  a  personal  supervision  of  the  affairs  of  the  bank,  nor 
did  he  ever  afterwards  assume  as  direct  a  management  of  its 
concerns  as  he  had  previously  done.  Upon  the  expiration  of  its 
charter,  in  December  1855,  its  connection  was  severed  with  the 
mother  bank  at  Canandaigua,  and  its  capital  and  interests  were 
merged  in  a  new  one  formed  under  the  general  banking  law, 
with  the  name  of  the  Ontario  Bank.  Mr.  Johnson  took  part  in 
organizing  it,  and  when,  as  he  supposed,  it  was  placed  on  a  sure 
foundation,  he  ceased  in  part  from  his  labors,  and  left  details  in 
the  hands  of  others.  But  it  was  not  in  undisturbed  repose 
that  he  was  suffered  to  pass  the  evening  of  his  days.  Sad  in- 
deed it  was  that  now,  when  he  had  gained  a  reputation  as  a 
banker  as  high  as  any  man's,  the  great  misfortune  of  his  life 
should  befall  him,  and  that  this  misfortune  should  consist  in  a 
blow  struck  at  his  very  reputation  itself.  Without  fault  of  his, 
the  bank  within  eighteen  months  of  its  organization  was  insol- 
vent. The  event  in  all  its  painful  aspects,  the  ruin  produced, 
the  brief  period  of  its  accomplishment,  constitute  a  case  almost 
without  a  parallel  in  banking,  and  which  is  exceeded  by  noth- 
ing but  the  elaborateness  of  means  by  which  the  progress  of 
the  ruin  was  concealed  from  the  president,  who  was  constantly 
in  the  bank,  and  from  the  scrutiny  of  directors  of  experience 
and  caution,  sensitive  to  the  interests  of  themselves  and  their 
friends  and  who  met  weekly  as  a  board.  Though  overwhelmed 
by  this  great  and  unexpected  calamity,  Mr.  Johnson  devoted 
himself  with  the  energy,  industry  and  sagacity  of  his  best  years, 
t(j  save  all  that  could  be  saved  from  the  wreck ;  and  it  was 
owing  in  a  great  degree  to  the  extraordinary  labor  which  he 
performed,  previous  to  the  appointment  of  a  receiver,  that  that 
officer  was  finally  able  to  pay  all  the  bill  holders  and  other 
creditors  of  the  bank  in  full  and  return  a  trifle  to  the  stock- 
holders. 

He  lived  full  ten  years  longer,  overpassing  by  several  months 
his  eighty  first  year,  and  died  on  the  9th  of  September,  1867. 
But  having  seen  the  affairs  of  the  Bank  completely  closed,  he 
gave  himself  up  to  the  indulgence  of  what  had  heretofore  been 
his  relaxation  from  official  care  and  his  most  valued  source  of 
personal  enjoyment.  For  prominent  and  distinguished  as  he 
was  as  a  banker,  Mr.  Johnson  regarded  his  reputation  and  sue- 


328  THE  PIONEERS  OF  UTICA. 

cess  in  that  character  as  a  matter  of  secondary  interest  to  him- 
self. He  adopted  that  profession  in  order,  as  he  himself  has 
said,  that  he  "  might  have  time  and  opportunity  to  write^ 
'■'  The  labors  of  the  counting  room  and  the  study  were  con- 
stantl_y  intermingled,  and  often  the  sheet  of  a  treatise  in  hand 
and  a  current  balance  sheet  might  be  seen  on  his  table  together ; 
but  the  busines.s  of  the  day  was  never  for  a  moment  sacrificed 
to  its  relaxations,  and  the  Ijalance  sheet  always  had  tlie  prefer- 
ence." He  wrote  treatises  upon  the  subject  of  banking  and 
finance  which  received  high  commendation  from  those  who 
were  best  c|ualified  to  judge  of  their  merits ;  for  few  men  in 
our  country  understood  better  than  he  the  principles  which 
should  govern  all  financial  affairs,  or  were  more  practical  in 
applying  them.  Yet  though  he  devoted  so  much  time  and 
study  to  such  subjects,  "  the  great  and  prominent  study  of  his 
life  was  language  with  reference  to  its  meaning  in  something 
other  tliun  words."  As  early  as  1818,  he  issued  proposals  for 
the  publication  of  a  "  Philosophy  of  the  Human  Mind,  or  a 
Treatise  on  Language."  It  was  not  published  until  1828,  though 
in  the  mean  time  he  had  presented  an  outline  of  his  views  in  a 
course  of  lectures  delivered  before  the  Utica  Lyceum.  "  The 
book  interested  a  few  minds  deeply,  and  the}^  could  hardly  find 
words  strong  enough  to  express  tlieir  a])])robation  ;  but  it  was 
too  abstruse  for  general  readers,  and  its  cii'culation  was  limited. 
Its  style  was  condensed  in  a  remarkable  degree,  and  the  con- 
secutiveness  of  the  reasoning  close  sometimes  to  obscurit}^  It 
was  assuredly  an  extraordinary  book  for  a  man  to  produce  who 
made  no  pretensions  to  exact  scholarship,  and  whose  life  seemed 
to  be  monopolized  by  a  devotion  to  Plutus."  In  expansion  and 
further  elucidation  of  his  topic,  he  ])ublished  in  1836,  his  ''  Trea- 
tise on  Language,  or  the  Eelation  which  Words  bear  to  Things." 
Its  object  was  to  teach  that  men  should  not  interpret  by  words 
the  knowledge  they  derive  from  their  senses ;  but  should  inter- 
pret words  by  the  sensible  revelations  to  which  the  words  refer  ; 
or  more  briefly,  and  in  the  language  of  a  reviewer,  to  teach  us 
"to  contemplate  created  things  apart  from  words."  In  1854 
he  put  forth  a  third  treatise  on  the  subject,  entitled  "  The  Mean- 
ing of  Words  Analyized  into  Words  and  Unverbal  Things  ; 
Classified  into 'Intellections,  Sensations  and  Emotions."  It  re- 
cei^'ed  commendations  from  the    Wcstntinster  Review  and  from 


THE  SECOND  CHARTER.  329 

numerous  correspondents  of  the  author.  Tliis  Look,  in  con- 
junction with  his  "  Physiology  of  the  Senses"  (1856),  and  liis 
"  Deep  Sea  Soundings"  (1861),  affords,  in  his  opinion,  an  ulti- 
mate analysis  of  liuman  knowledge,  and  constitutes  a  philoso- 
phy that  has  gone  deeper  than  language,  and  has  sought  to  dis- 
cover the  meaning  of  words  in  man's  internal  oi-ganism.  In 
striving  after  conciseness  in  his  writings,  Mr.  Johnson  made  a 
new  dictionary  upon  new  principles.  The  plan  of  it  he  an- 
nounced in  1830,  under  this  title  :  "  The  Collated  Dictionary,  or  a 
Complete  Index  to  the  English  Language  :  designed  to  exhibit 
together  all  words  which  relate  to  the  same  subject;  for  the 
benefit  of  persons  who  are  not  acquainted  with  the  whole  com- 
pass of  the  language,  and  to  assist  the  memor3'  of  persons  who 
are  acquainted."  The  author  was  engaged  several  years  on 
the  work  of  the  dictionary,  but  he  never  quite  completed  his 
design.  Several  books  issued  by  other  writers  supplied  some 
of  the  requirements  of  his  plan,  among  which  the  most  re- 
markable approximation  to  that  of  Mr.  Johnson  was  Roget's 
Thesaurus,  published  in  London  in  1852.  In  addition  to  the 
foregoing,  he  put  forth,  in  18-41,  "Religion  in  its  Relations  to 
the  Present  Life,"  in  a  series  of  lectures  before  the  Young- 
Men's  Association  of  Utica,  and  designed  to  j^resent  a  summary 
of  morality  in  a  small  compass ;  and,  in  1856,  he  issued  an, 
"  Encyclopedia  of  Instruction,  or  Apologues  and  Breviats  on  Men 
and  Manners,"  being  a  condensation  of  letters  he  had  addressed 
to  his  children.  Mr.  Johnson  wrote  much  upon  politics,  though 
he  was  never  a  partisan  or  politician.  A  collection  of  such  of  his 
articles  as  had  appeared  from  time  to  time  in  the  public  journals 
was  reprinted  in  1857,  in  the  form  of  a  book  bearing  the  title : 
"A  (jruide  to  the  Right  Understanding  of  our  American  Union." 
"That  a  man  thrown  early  into  the  active,  and  what  with 
most  men  would  necessarily  be  the  absorbing  business  of  life, 
should  accomplish  so  much  in  literature,  and  accomplish  it  so 
w^ell  is  indeed  extraordinary."  His  philosophical  writings  were 
welcomed,  as  I  have  said,  by  an  ardent  though  limited  circle  of 
admirers,  and  if  they  did  not  gain  a  more  extended  following 
the  reason  is  chiefly  to  be  found  in  the  abstruseness  of  the  sub- 
ject and  the  little  interest  it  has  for  the  general  mind,  as  well  as 
to  the  compact  form  in  which  he  delivered  his  teachings,  and 
their  lack  of  harmon}^  with  prevailing  opinions. 


830  THE    PIONEERS  OF  UTICA. 

Mr.  Jolmson  left  a  copious  and  entertaining  biograpli}'  of  him- 
self, which,  with  two  well  written  obituary  notices  of  him,  pre- 
pared the  one  by  E.  A.  Wetmore,  and  the  other  by  J.  Watson 
Williams,  has  not  a  little  assisted  the  present  writer.  "He  left 
also  a  voluminous  and  well  preserved  correspondence  with  per- 
sons of  various  degrees  of  distinction  and  influence,  extending 
through  at  least  half  a  century,  which  more  than  anything  else 
might  show  the  value  that  was  given  to  his  opinions,  and  what 
confidence  was  reposed  in  his  judgment  and  integrity  by  men  of 
high  reputation  in  various  departments  of  civil  and  literary  life." 

He  was  once  the  orator  of  a  Fourth  of  July  celebration,  once 
advocated  from  the  platform  the  temperance  that  in  his  own 
person  he  rigidly  practiced,  once  took  part  in  a  public  discus- 
sion between  the  adherents  of  colonization  and  those  of  aboli- 
tion, and  several  times  lectured  before  literary  societies  and 
young  men's  associations.  He  was  a  delegate  to  the  Baltimore 
Convention  in  1835,  which  nominated  Mr.  Van  Buren  as  Presi- 
dent, and  in  the  following  autumn  was  offered  the  nomination 
of  member  of  Congress ;  but  he  declined  its  acceptance. 

"  Mr.  Johnson  was  recluse  and  studious,  yet  not  of  an  unso- 
cial or  gloomy  temperament.  He  was  diffident  and  sensitive 
in  a  degree  painful  to  himself.  His  extreme  reticence  of  char- 
acter, and  his  invincible  repugnance  to  genei'al  social  intercourse 
he  regretted :  especially  also  he  regretted  his  fixed  habit  of 
relying  upon  his  own  opinions  without  consulting  the  opinions 
of  others,  which  prevented  him  from  working  harmoniously 
with  other  men.  At  the  same  time  he  possessed  that  passive 
courage  which  will  face  obloquy  and  misjudgment  of  motives 
with  quiet  endurance  and  a  firm  persistence  in  what  he  be- 
lieved to  be  right.  He  was  aware  that  he  had  the  reputation 
of  being  mainly  devoted  to  making  mone}^  He  wanted  money 
for  independence, — to  obtain  time  to  write,  and  for  the  comfort 
of  himself  and  family.  The  potency  of  wealth  he  thought 
wortliy  of  acquisition  by  all  honorable  means.  Yet  he  did 
not  aspire  to  its  possession  by  the  ignoble  ^'''^ths  of  cunning- 
fraud  or  usury.  He  took  care  of  his  money,  and  it  made 
itself.  He  left  a  large  fortune,  but  it  was  the  result  of  vigi- 
lant care,  gradual  accumulation  and  wise  investment.  He  was 
scrupulously  an<i  undeviatingly  honest  in  all  that  he  did  and 
said,  in  every  word  and  action  never  varying  a  line  from  the 


THE  SECOND  CHARTER.  331 

truth.  He  carefully  avoided  exaggeration,  and  was  pained  if 
he  supposed  that  any  word  of  his  misled  or  made  a  false  im- 
pression. He  was  strict  to  claim  his  own,  and  equally  strict 
not  to  claim  other  men's.  Rigid  punctuality  was  what  he 
invariably  exacted  and  as  invariably  accorded.  His  intense 
scrupulousness  with  regard  to  the  business  of  the  bank,  although 
sometimes  seemingly  harsh  and  austere,  was  nevertheless  service- 
able to  many  whom  indulgence  might  have  betrayed  to  their 
ruin."  In  his  business  he  was  eminently  diligent,  methodical, 
cautious  and  thorough.  His  manner  of  life  was  correct  and 
pure.  As  a  son,  husband  and  father  he  was  devotedly  kind 
and  affectionate,  and  in  the  former  relation  especially  his  ten- 
der and  assiduous  care  was  beautiful  and  affecting.  His  house- 
hold charities  were  liberal  and  profuse  ;  nor  was  he  stinted  in 
his  secret  gifts  to  objects  which  he  deemed  deserving.  With- 
out, and  toward  purposes  of  common  good,  his  known  expendi- 
tures were  not  so  free,  and  were  in  general  deemed  ill  accordant 
with  his  means.  But  he  was  little  influenced  by  the  judgment 
or  example  of  others,  and  never  gave  because  to  do  so  was  pop- 
ular :  obedient  to  the  dictates  of  his  individual  judgment,  he  was 
obdurate  to  that  of  every  other.  With  less  independence  and 
more  fear  of  public  opinion,  he  would  assuredly  have  been 
more  popular,  even  had  he  been  less  liberal  in  spirit.  "  He 
knew  himself  and  frankly  confessed  more  defects  than  he 
claimed  virtues;  and  yet  a  fair  judge  will  allow  that  few  men 
have  passed  so  long  a  life,  actively  employed  from  beginning  to 
end,  with  so  few  positive  stains  and  so  many  unassuming  merits.' 

The  family  of  Mr.  Johnson  was  a  numerous  one.  The  living 
children  who  were  the  issue  of  his  first  marriage  are  Alexander 
S.,  judge  of  the  United  States  Circuit  Court,  whose  home  is  in 
Utica;  William  C.  and  General  Charles  A.,  of  Newburyport, 
Mass. ;  Sarah  (Mrs.  James  S.  Lynch)  and  Arthur  B.,  of  Utica; 
Louisa  (Mrs.  George  B.  Alley)  of  New  York ;  Frances  (Mrs. 
Charles  P.  Williams);  Mr.  Johnson's  second  wife  was  Miss 
Eliza  Masters  of  Madison  county,  and  by  her  he  had  Mary  (Mrs. 
McDonell)  of  Rochester,  John  A.,  of  New  York ;  Bryan  now 
deceased  and  John  Greig.  The  third  wife  of  Mr.  Johnson,  and 
who  still  survives,  was  Miss  Mary  Livingston  of  Columbia 
county. 


o32  THE   PIONEERS  OF  UTICA. 

Fresh  from  Lis  legal  studies  at  Wliitcsboro,  there  came  in  18 1 2, 
the  first  of  two  brothers  Lansing,  who  long  were  prominent  in  the 
society  and  business  of  Utica  They  were  sons  of  Colonel  GeiTit  G. 
Lansing  of  Oriskany,  a  brother  of  Chancellor  Lansing  of  Albany, 
and  a  heroic  participant  in  the  scenes  of  the  Kevolution.  Born 
at  Albany,  December  11,  1760,  Colonel  Lansing  entered  the 
army  at  the  beginning  of  the  war,  and  served  until  its  close ; 
was  present  at  several  important  battles,  and  at  Yorktown,  un- 
der Colonel  Hamilton,  he  led  the  forlorn  hope  as  lieutenant. 
In  1802,  this  gallant  soldier  and  true  gentleman  of  the  old 
school  settled  at  Oriskanj^,  and  lived  there  on  his  pension  and 
his  patrimony  until  his  death,  on  the  27th  of  May,  183 L  Both 
in  the  army  and  after  his  removal  to  Oneida  count}''.  Colonel 
Lansing  was  distinguished  for  his  high  integrity  and  his  patri- 
otism, as  well  as  for  his  ability  and  his  enterprise.  His  wife 
was  a  daughter  of  Colonel  Edward  Antill,  an  Englishman  by 
birth,  but  an  officer  of  the  Revolutionary  army,  high  in  the  con- 
fidence of  General  Washington.  After  her  husband's  death,  she 
lived  in  Utica  until  her  own  death,  on  the  24th  of  August,  1834. 
She  possessed  in  an  eminent  degree  the  qualities  that  adorn 
trne  womanhood. 

Richard  Ray  Lansing,  the  eldest  of  their  sons,  who  was  born 
in  July  1789,  and  graduated  at  Union  College  in  1809,  pursued 
his  professional  studies  with  Judge  Jonas  Piatt,  and  then  estab- 
lished himself  in  Utica.  marrying  soon  afterward  Susan,  the 
daughter  of  his  preceptor.  Declining  to  take  up  with  the  offer 
of  George  Parish,  a  great  land  holder  of  the  northern  part  of 
the  State,  and  become  his  agent  in  the  sale  of  lauds,  as  this  in- 
volved the  requirement  that  he  should  live  at  Mexico,  in  Oswego 
-county,  he  entered,  in  1815,  into  i^artnership  with  Judge  Morris 
S.  Miller.  Ere  long  he  was  made  clerk  of  the  District  Court  of 
the  United  States,  and  held  the  office  during  his  residence. 
Being  industrious,  punctual,  accurate  and  rapid  in  all  his  trans- 
actions, he  acquitted  himself  excellently.  His  partners,  after 
Judge  Miller,  were  successively,  G.  John  Mills,  John  H.  Ostrom, 
and  Abraham  Varick.  He  lived  in  Utica  until  about  1829,  at 
first  on  Broad  street,  between  Genesee  and  John,  and  later  in 
the  house  on  Chancellor  square  that  is  now  the  home  of  Mrs. 
Nicholas  Devereux,  which  he  built  about  1825. 

Mr.  Lansing  was  cultured,  agreeable  and  companionable,  fond 
of  society  and  of  entertaining.     He  was  fond  also  of  his  fishing 


THE  SECOND  CHARTEE,  333 

rod  and  his  gun.  The  weight  reported  of  some  of  his  piscato- 
torial  captures  seems  akin  to  the  fabulous,  while  his  skill  as  a 
sportsman  made  him  a  popular  fellow  of  the  once  notorious 
Unadilla  Hunt.  With  rare  honhommie  he  was  no  less  a  bonvivant, 
for  he  loved  the  gains  of  his  sport,  and  was  an  amateur  of  good 
things.  But  his  economy  was  not  proportionate  with  his  in- 
dustry, nor  his  tastes  in  harmony  with  his  necessities,  and  so, 
though  his  gains  were  not  small,  he  lived  faster  than  he  could 
afford,  and  found  himself  embarrassed  in  the  end.  The  flood 
tide  of  his  fortune,  which  the  poet  intimates  as  coming  but  once 
in  a  life- time,  would  seem  to  have  been  opened  to  Mr.  Lansing 
by  the  offer  of  Mr.  Parish.  Neglecting  this,  he  was  left  upon 
the  shoals,  and  had  to  struggle  hard  to  support  a  numerous 
family  in  an  expensive  way  of  living.  Removing  to  New  York, 
he  entered  upon  the  importation  of  wines  and  liquors,  and  for 
some  years  Lansing,  Munroe  &  King  were  among  the  heaviest 
dealers  in  their  line.  But  on  returning  to  his  store  from  his 
residence  up  town  on  the  morning  after  the  great  fire  of  Decem- 
ber 1835,  he  discovered  that  he  had  been  burned  to  the  ground, 
and  that  his  insurers  as  well  as  liimself  were  ruined.  He  left 
the  city  and  went  to  Michigan.  He  became  identified  with  the 
growth  of  that  new  State,  was  interested  in  land  sales,  and 
among  the  first  to  engage  in  the  mining  of  copper  on  Lake 
Superior.  In  these  transactions  he  was  aided  by  the  fortvine 
he  acquired  through  his  second  marriage.  For  having  lost  his 
first  wife  while  in  New  York,  he  married  her  cousin,  Eliza, 
daughter  of  Henry  Livingston,  and  widow  of  Smith  Thompson, 
judge  of  the  Supreme  Court  of  New  York.  For  a  few  years 
he  resided  in  Lansing,  the  capital  of  Michigan,  to  which  place 
he  had  the  honor  of  giving  its  name.  And  it  happened 
something  on  this  wise :  while  on  one  of  his  fishing  excursions, 
he  stopped,  as  he  had  often  done  before,  at  a  "four  corners," 
where  the  half-store,  half-tavern  had  drawn  around  it  a  few  rude 
dwellings.  The  inhabitants  aspired  to  a  name,  and  were  then 
assembled  to  choose  one.  Some  were  advocates  for  antiquity 
and  more  for  home  recollections,  but  they  were  quite  unable  to 
agree,  when  some  one  called  out:  "Here's  Dick  Lansing,  the 
cleverest  fellow  that  ever  came  to  these  corners,  let's  call  it 
after  him."  At  once  they  assented  and  so  gave  appellation  to 
the  future  capital  of  their  State.     It  was  not  there,  but  at  De- 


334  THE  PIONEERS  OF  UTICA. 

troit  the  ]>lace  of  his  final  residence,   that  he  died  September 
29,  1855. 

He  was  the  father  of  thirteen  cliildren,  all  of  them  the  off- 
spring of  the  first  Mrs.  Lansing.  They  were  as  follows:  Ed- 
ward Antill  of  Detroit,  who  died  June  12,  1868,  at  the  age  of 
fifty-three  years  and  eleven  months,  leaving  five  children ; 
Jonas  Piatt,  lieutenant  in  Texan  navy,  died  at  Sisal,  Yucatan, 
1843  ;  Manette,  widow  of  Bayard  Boyd,  now  of  Owego ;  Gerrit, 
deceased ;  Helen  (Mrs.  Sylvester  Larned  of  Detroit),  deceased ; 
Charlotte  (Mrs.  Willard  Smith  of  Albany) ;  Richard,  deceased  ; 
Richard,  2d,  deceased  ;  Frances  Tappan,  deceased ;  Cornelia  P., 
deceased;  Melancthon  Woolsey ;  PhillipinaS.,  deceased;  Susan. 

John  Bradish,  for  some  time  deputy  in  the  office  of  the 
Supreme  Court  clerk,  was  the  son  of  Dr.  James  Bradish,  a  skillful 
physician  of  Western  Massachusetts,  who,  dui-ing  the  Revolu- 
tionary struggle,  rendered  efficient  service  as  a  surgeon.  The 
son  was  born  August  1,  1783,  in  Cummington,  Mass.  He  en- 
tered Williams  College  in  company  with  his  cousin,  Luther 
Bradish,  late  Lieutenant  Governor  of  New  York,  but  did  not  re- 
main to  graduate.  Then  a  clerk  for  a  while  in  the  mercantile 
house  of  Barent  &  John  R.  Bleecker  at  Albany,  he  removed  to 
this  county  when  his  father  came  hither  and  settled.  At 
Westmoreland  he  was  engaged  in  teaching  school,  but  in  1809 
began  the  reading  of  law  with  Jonas  Piatt,  and  at  its  close  re- 
moved to  Utica.  From  1812  until  1  SI 6  h e  served  as  deputy  clerk 
under  Mr.  Breese,  and,  with  the  aid  of  cop3nsts,  performed 
most  of  the  clerical  labor  pertaining  to  the  office.  At  that 
time  notices  of  all  suits  begun  in  the  Supreme  Court,  or  enter- 
ing on  new  stages  of  their  progress,  wei'e  sent  to  the  office  of 
the  clerk,  who  transmitted  them  to  the  attorney  of  the  opposing 
party,  and  in  return  transmitted  the  answers  of  the  lattei'.  All 
costs  of  suits  were  likewise  taxed  b}'  the  clerk.  Lawyers 
throughout  the  State  were  obliged,  therefore,  to  depend  upon 
agents  living  near  the  offices  of  the  clerks  of  this  court  to  exe- 
cute the  services  required  therein.  Having  secured  such 
agency  at  Utica,  Mr.  Bradish  continued  to  act  in  this  capacity 
down  to  the  time  of  the  adoption  of  the  new  Constitution  of 
1846,  and  the  abolition  of  the  old  Supreme  Court.  By  the  ex- 
ercise of  tliese  duties,  which  wei'e  liberally  paid  for  and  by  sue- 


THE  SECOND  CHARTER.  335 

cessful  undertakings  in  real  estate,  lie  acquired  a  competency. 
In  1811  he  married  Miss  Anna  Camp  of  Marcy,  daughter  of 
Phineas  Camp,  and  resided  in  a  house  that  stood  on  the  site 
of  the  present  Bradish  Block,  which  block-  he  put  up  not  long 
before  his  death. 

Mr.  Bradish  was  an  elder  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  from 
the  year  1822  during  the  remainder  of  his  residence,  and  was 
an  early  clerk  of  its  session.  In  the  religious  enterprises  of  the 
day  he  took  an  active  part.  Eespectable  in  capacity  and  in 
standing,  sincere  in  his  principles  and  honest  in  his  life,  kind 
and  indulgent  toward  his  family  and  wedded  to  his  church,  he 
was  content  to  manage  his  private  and  his  ecclesiastical  con- 
cerns, and  expended  little  symjDathy  on  public  matters  of 
merely  secular  interest.  His  death  occurred  April  16,  1862, 
in  his  seventy-ninth  jear.  His  wife  died  September  25,  1853. 
Their  children  were  Frances  I.  (Mrs.  W.  H.  Stoddard  of  North 
Hampton,  Mass.),  who  died  in  1850;  Cornelia,  died  January  20, 
1872  ;  James  P.  of  Whitesboro  ;  Mary  A.  (Mrs.  Eli  T.  Manches- 
ter), died  January  3,  1862  ;  Charlotte  I.  (Mrs.  James  C.  Wells), 
died  August  5,  1853  ;  John  C.  died  July  11,  1845;  Theodore 
H.  of  Whitesboro ;  and  Arthur  M.  of  Clarinda,  Page  county, 
Iowa. 

Next  door  to  the  office  of  the  Gazette  there  was  started,  in 
1812,  a  wholesale  and  retail  hat  store,  that  was  kept  by  Ezra 
S.  Cozier,  and  Frederick  Whiting.  This  Mr.  Cozier  had  had  a 
common  school  education  only,  but  was  endowed  with  strong- 
sense  and  a  fondness  for  reading ;  he  was  social  and  genial,  could 
tell  a  good  story,  give  good  advice  and  do  good  deeds  without 
blowing  a  trumpet  before  him ;  and  being,  moreover,  a  man  of 
ambition  and  of  spirit,  he  soon  won  a  large  share  of  popularit3\ 
His  earlier  residence  he  signalized  by  the  inauguration  of  a 
society  for  histrionic  performance,  led  thereto  by  his  passion 
for  the  plays  of  Shakespeare.  The  increasing  estimation  of  his 
fellows,  and  notably  those  of  the  brotherhood  of  masons, 
brought  him,  later,  into  places  of  responsibility  and  honor. 
During  one  term  of  service  his  kindness  of  heart  found  full 
play  as  overseer  of  the  poor.  Next,  for  seven  successive  years, 
he  was  a  trustee  of  the  village  board,  and  more  than  half  that 
time  (1819-23)  its  president.     And  when  the  village  was  ex- 


336  THE  PIONEERS  OF  UTICA. 

alted  to  a  city  he  was  pressed  by  many  for  the  mayoralty,  but^ 
failing  in  this,  he  was  made  the  treasurer.  Not  long  after  he 
was  among  the  first  of  the  victims  of  the  cholera  epidemic  of 
August  1832.  He  was  buried  by  the  masons  and  to  his  monu- 
ment they  affixed  the  epitaph:  "An  upright  magistrate,  a  kind 
hearted  friend,  an  honest  man."  His  widow,  a  sister  of  E.  S. 
Barnum,  survived  him  full  forty  years,  and  died  about  1873. 
Their  four  children  died,  all  of  them,  in  youth. 

Others  whose  coming  dates  from  about  the  year  1812,  and 
who  held  with  Utica  relations  comparatively  abiding,  were  as 
follows :  Two  coach  makers  in  the  emplojanent  of  Jason  Parker, 
named  William  Grainer  and  John  Grrove,  exercised  their  craft 
on  the  corner  of  Whitesboro  and  Seneca  streets.  The  former  was 
English.  He  built  and  occupied  the  brick  house  on  Washington 
street  where  Mrs.  Jacob  Snyder. now  lives,  and  there  he  died  of 
cholera  in  August  1832.  His  wife  was  Lucy  Haywood.  Mr. 
Grove  lived  until  April  26, 1839,  and  left  two  sons  and  a  daugh- 
ter, of  whom  one  son  is  still  resident,  DeWitt  C.  Grove,  editor  of 
the  Utica  Observer.  His  daughter,  Mrs.  Nichols,  lives  in  New 
York.  He  was  a  man  of  generous  temper  and  fine  native  endow- 
ments. His  first  wife  was  Miss  Elizabeth  Cross ;  his  second.  Miss 
Stevens,  who  was  the  mother  of  his  children,  died  in  1851.  A 
shoemaker  who  lived  as  long  in  Utica  was  John  Newland.  His 
son  Henry,  continued  the  business  after  the  father  had  re- 
tired. Another  son,  Thomas  J.,  is  now  of  Utica,  as  is  also  the 
widow  of  Dr.  Joseph  P.,  who  was  many  years  in  successful 
practice  within  the  city.  A  daughter  is  the  wife  of  Eev.  Dr. 
E.  H.  Chapin  of  New  York.  Thomas  Latimer,  tailor,  a  fervent 
mason  and  a  clever  man,  was  a  citizen  until  1837,  and  then  he 
moved  to  Jefferson  county.  Dr.  George  Morrison,  a  botanic 
physician,  practiced  on  Catherine  street  some  twenty -five  years, 
and  his  widow  after  his  decease.  Though  an  ignorant  man,  he 
had  a  large  following.  One  at  least  of  his  sons  became  a  physi- 
cian. George  Meartell,  whose  skill  in  testing  liquors  was  learned 
while  in  the  service  of  John  C.  Devereux,  dealt  in  them  until 
about  the  time  of  tlie  coming  of  the  cholera,  when  he  died.  It 
is  said  that  he  had  been  a  subordinate  officer  in  the  British 
army,  and  that  when  he  left  the  service  he  carried  off  the  wife 
of  the  colonel.     John  Pocock  was,  in  England,  a  Baptist  minis- 


I 


THE  SECOND  CHARTER.  337 

ter,  and  occasionally  preached  after  coming  here.  In  Utica  he 
was  a  tinsmith,  for  many  years  at  the  lower  end  of  Genesee 
street  on  the  west  side,  until  he  moved  up  to  the  Devereux 
building  above  the  canal.  John  McElwaine  kept  a  livery  sta- 
ble on  Main  street,  a  little  east  of  the  square.  Robert,  the  well 
known  police  officer,  is  the  only  member  of  his  family  yet  here. 
James  Fay,  carman,  had  likewise  seen  service  under  the  Eng- 
lish flag.  He  has  left  no  one  to  represent  him  but  that  very 
public  character,  William  Dunn,  who  lived  with  him  in  his 
youth.  David  Donaldson,  has,  on  the  contrary,  left  numerous 
descendants,  though  his  namesake  is  the  only  son  that  still  lives. 
Joseph  Costleman  has  left  a  son  in  Utica  and  another  on  Frank- 
fort hill.  The  one  son  of  Mrs.  Maria  Rees  is,  like  his  mother, 
deceased ;  the  son's  children  remain.  Tliomas  George,  wheel- 
wright, Robert  Martin,  cooper,  Rebecca  Dickens,  teacher,  Helena 
Roxbury,  Lemuel  Munrow,  blacksmith,  Jasper  Cronk,  laborer, 
had  a  more  or  less  lasting  residence. 

James  S.  Kissam  managed  the  concerns  of  the  Manhattan 
Branch  Bank  after  the  withdrawal  of  Montgomery  Hunt,  until 
he  was  called  to  be  cashier  of  the  Ontario  Branch  Bank,  where, 
however,  he  did  not  stay  longer  than  1816.  Nathan  Under- 
wood kept  a  tavern  on  Broad  street,  next  door  east  of  the  pres- 
ent Washington  Hall.  It  is  the  same  rickety  building  that  stands 
there  still.  Designed  to  catch  the  travel  that  came  into  the 
place  by  the  Minden  turnpike,  it  was  opened  about  the  same 
time  with  that  road,  whose  natural  terminus  it  was  deemed  to 
be.  Mr.  U.  left  about  1822.  Erastus  Row  kept  the  Coffee 
House.  Ezra  Wood,  a  weaver  from  Little  Compton,  R.  L,  lived 
in  the  place  until  1818,  driving  only  hand  looms,  but  at  that 
time  he  went  to  the  lower  mills  at  New  York  Mills,  and  there, 
in  the  employ  of  Benjamin  Walcott,  he  started  the  first  power 
loom  in  this  part  of  the  countrv.  Here  he  had  been  con- 
nected with  the  Presbyterian  Church,  and  was  for  a  time  its 
sexton ;  there  he  took  part  in  organizing  another  church  of  the 
same  denomination,  and  labored  almost  alone  in  getting  up  a 
Sunday  school.  He  died  in  1870,  in  his  ninetieth  year ;  his  wife 
in  1874.  Of  his  six  children,  one  is  still  living  at  New  York 
Mills.  Robert  Edmunds  tarried  a  few  months  and  then  enlisted! 
and  was  killed  in  battle.  His  widow  remained  several  years. 
Their  son,  John  H,  is  now  one  of  the  prosperous  and  leading 
X 


388  THE  PIONEERS  OF  UTICA. 

meu  of  L'tica.  Two  printers,  apprentices  of  Ira  Men-ell,  Chauu- 
cey  and  Augustus  Morgan,  brothers,  gave  a  good  account  of 
themselves  in  after  years  as  editors  in  Oxford  and  Binghamton, 
respectively.  Another  printer's  apprentice  was  the  now  vener- 
able Thurlow  Weed,  who  joined  William  Williams  in  Decem- 
ber 1812,  and  was  afterwards  transferred  to  the  office  of  Thomas 
Walker,  having  in  the  meantime  seen  two  terms  of  militaiy 
service  at  Sacketts  Harbor. 

Other  temporary  residents  were :  Perley  Harris,  leather 
dealer;  John  A.  Bury,  tobacconist;  Z.  B.  Clark,  painter;  Cas- 
tle Southerland,  gunsmith  ;  Israel  Decker  and  Jacob  Hart,  tan- 
ner ;  Isaac  McChestney,  tailor ;  Peter  Jones,  farmer,  who  soon 
moved  up  to  William  Inman's  first  place  of  residence,  but  of 
whose  sons  two  or  three  have  done  business  in  Utica  ;  Philip 

Smith  and  Robert  Ansart,  laborers ;  Matthews,  portrait 

painter ;  J.  Bond,  dancing  master ; Ryder,   who  kept  a 

school  near  Hedge's  tavern ;  Willard  Clark,  J.  S.  Olmsted, 
Franklin  Ripley,  G-riffith  Jones,  whose  occupation  I  cannot  give. 

1813. 

The  most  engrossing  topic  with  the  trustees,  as  well  as 
with  the  freeholders  generally  during  the  year  1813,  would  ap- 
pear to  have  been  the  market,  recently  erected  on  the  public 
square  A  determined  opposition  to  its  presence  is  revealed  in 
the  partial  change  now  effected  in  the  constituency  of  the  board, 
which  was  made  to  consist  of  Moses  Bagg,  Montgomery  Hunt, 
Seth  Dwight,  E.  B.  Shearman  and  Talcott  Camp.  It  is  still 
more  evident  in  the  resolution  which  was  passed  at  the  annual 
meeting,  directing  the  trustees  to  sell  the  market  at  vendue 
after  the  rent  of  the  stalls  should  have  expired.  At  an  early 
session  of  these  trustees  they  passed  an  ordinance  enacting  that 
from  the  25th  of  May  to  the  1st  of  October,  anybody  might 
sell  meat  without  a  license,  provided  that  it  be  sold  in  the  mar- 
ket square  and  conformable  to  the  ordinances,  and  provided 
this  should  not  impair  any  claim  by  the  trustees  for  rent  of  stalls. 
But  the  friends  of  the  market  were  aroused,  and  at  a  special 
meeting  of  the  inhabitants,  held  in  November,  the  vote  of  the 
annual  meeting  to  sell  this  unwelcome  neighbor  was  rescinded. 
A  little  later,  the  trustees  ordered  six  of  the  market  stalls  to  be 


THE  SECOND  CHARTER.  339 

put  up  at  auction.  And  here  the  matter  rested  for  the  j^ear. 
Aside  from  the  above  and  other  routine  business,  nothing  was 
done  b}"  the  board  of  1813. 

Spafford's  Gazetteer  of  New  York,  published  at  Albany,  in 
1813,  contains  a  notice  of  Utica,  though  it  adds  little  to  the 
knowledge  of  the  place  we  have  obtained  from  other  sources. 
From  the  initials  attached  to  it,  viz. :  T.  E.  G.,  D.  0.,  and  M.  H., 
it  would  seem  to  have  been  furnished  the  editor  by  Thomas  R. 
Gold,  David  Ostrom  and  Montgomeiw  Hunt  or  Marcus  Hitch- 
cock. The  place  is  described  as  a  flourishing  incorporated 
post  village,  the  commercial  capital  of  the  great  western  district 
of  New  York ;  and  though  small  in  area,  comprising  a  popula- 
tion of  seventeen  hundred  souls,  with  three  hundred  houses  and 
stores,  a  Presbyterian  and  an  Episcopal  Church,  a  grammar 
school,  mills,  factories,  machine  shops,  printing  offices,  &c. 
"The  Hotel  is  an  elegant  establishment,  and  the  many  fine  pri- 
v^ate  mansions  of  gentlemen  of  taste  and  opulence,  give  Utica  a 
character  in  this  respect  worthy  a  great  commercial  town."  The 
Manhattan  Branch  is  the  only  bank  mentioned  as  already  in 
existence,  but  the  fact  is  noted  of  the  near  prospect  of  another. 
To  this  the  editor  appends  a  note  informing  us  that  such  bank 
was  already  chartered.  The  article  itself  would  appear,  there- 
fore, to  have  been  prepared  sometime  previous  to  June  1812, 
the  date  of  incorporation  of  the  Bank  of  Utica. 

Rev.  Mr.  Carnahan,  as  we  have  seen,  was  dismissed  from  the 
pastorate  of  the  United  Presbyterian  Society  on  the  4th  of 
November,  1812.  On  the  3d  of  February,  1813,  the  United 
Church  was  divided,  fifty-seven  of  its  members  with  two  elders 
were  by  act  of  Presbytery,  constituted  a  church  which  took 
the  title  of  the  First  Utica  Presbyterian  Society.  And  on  the 
following  day,  February  4,  Pev.  Henrj^  Dwight,  who  had  tem- 
porarily supplied  the  two  pulpits,  was  ordained  and  installed 
their  minister. 

This  Mr.  Dwight, — by  turns  merchant,  minister  and  banker,  a 
devout,  humble  and  most  useful  man,  an  earnest  preacher,  and 
a  prince  of  pastors, — served  the  church  about  as  long  as  Mr. 
Carnahan,  and  was  then  disabled  from  the  same  cause.  His 
historj^  is  as  follows:  He  was  born  June  25,  1783,  in  Spring- 


340  THE   PIONEERS  OF  UTICA. 

field,  Mass.,  and  his  family  connections  were  of  the  first  respec- 
tability. He  was  the  youngest  of  four  brothers,  all  of  whom, 
were  men  of  acknowledged  ability  and  force  of  character,  and 
occupied  conspicuous  positions  as  bankers  and  capitalists.  Hav- 
ing graduated  at  Yale  College,  in  1801,  he  became  a  partner  in 
the  mercantile  firm  in  his  native  town,  of  which  his  brother  was 
the  head,  and  in  this  capacity  passed  a  year  in  England.  Here 
it  was,  as  we  may  presume,  that  his  thoughts  were  first 
deeply  engaged  in  matters  of  religion,  and  that  he  solved  the 
c[uestion  of  his  personal  duty.  For  on  his  return,  he  abandoned 
a  prosperous  business  to  devote  his  talents  and  his  life  to  the 
office  of  a  Christian  minister.  His  professional  studies  were 
begun  in  New  Haven,  with  Rev.  Dr.  Dwight,  and  finished  at 
Princeton  Theological  Seminary.  And  from  Princeton  he  rode 
across  the  country,  on  horseback,  to  begin  his  ministry  at  Utica. 
Some  six  weeks  after  the  settlement  of  Mr.  Dwight,  Rev.  John 
Frost  was  ordained  over  the  church  at  Whitesboro,  and  thus 
the  independence  of  the  two  societies  was  established.  Yet  by 
vote  of  their  respective  trustees  these  ministers  were  requested 
to  exchange  regularly,  and  a  further  cooperation,  if  not  an  actual 
unity  of  financial  interests,  is  intimated  in  the  offer  which  was- 
made  by  Mr.  Dwight,  who  was  rich,  and  whose  salary  was  fixed 
at  seven  hundred  dollars,  to  share  equally  with  his  poorer  pro- 
fessional brother,  who,  for  three  years  at  least,  was  to  have  but 
five  hundred  and  fifty  dollars.  *  But  beyond  the  warm  friend- 
ship which  ever  existed  between  their  pastors,  the  frequent 
interchanges  of  these  latter,  and  their  common  efforts  for  the 
good  of  the  community,  the  severance  of  the  two  societies 
was  now  absolute  and  final ;  and  henceforth  each  enjoyed 
regular  preaching  every  Sabbath. 

Almost  immediately  Mr.  Dwight  began  to  reap  from  the 
sowing  of  his  predecessor ;  and  ere  long  his  own  faithful  labors 
were  crowned  with  yet  happier  results.  No  communion  season 
passed  without  some  accessions,  and  in  one  year  more  than  a 
hundred  were  added  to  the  previously  small  number  of  com- 
municants under  his  care.  By  his  exemplary  life  and  the 
affectionate  interest  he  evinced  in  the  real  good  of  his  people, 

*  In  February,  1814,  it  was  resolved  by  the  Trustees  "  to  pay  Mr.  Dwight 
during  the  present  war,  in  addition  to  his  salary,  the  dividends  on  the 
shares  in  the  bank  of  Utica  belonging  to  the  Society." 


THE  SECOND  CHARTER.  341 

by  Lis  clearness  and  pungency  in  the  pulpit,  and  especiall}'  b}^ 
the  useful  instruction  conveyed  in  his  popular  weekly  lectures, 
an  impression  was  made  upon  the  community  which  is  not  jet 
erased.  It  was  not  long  before  the  modest  church  edifice  was 
insufficient  for  the  congregation  which  frequented  it.  In  1815 
it  was  elongated  bj  the  addition  of  about  one  quarter  to  its 
length,  and  this,  with  the  supplement  of  a  porch  at  the  endi 
somewhat  marred  its  architectural  proportions.  Within  it  was 
still  more  unique,  for  its  sentry  box  of  a  pulpit  was  perched 
against  the  wall  in  the  middle  of  the  north  side,  and  had  a  can- 
opy or  sounding  board  aboye.  while  the  pews  were  for  the 
most  part  so  placed  as  to  look  one  half  westward  and  one 
half  eastward,  a  few  square  ones  being  immediatel}'  in  front 
of  the  pulpit,  and  a  few  long  ones  under  the  chorister's 
gallery  on  the  south  side.  But  to  the  3"oung  eyes,  espec- 
iall}^, of  that  generation  it  seemed  a  model  of  conyenience 
and  a  clief  d'oeiivre  of  beauty.  Mr.  Dwight,  who  was  single 
when  he  settled  in  Utica,  boarded  for  a  time  w'ith  Mrs.  Susan, 
widow  of  Elisha  E.  Sill,  and  daughter  of  Samuel  Hopkins,  of 
Goshen,  Conn.  They  were  married,  and  lived  in  the  double 
Avooden  house  still  standing  on  the  west  side  of  Hotel  street 
about  midway  of  its  length,  until  they  moved  into  the  Clarkson 
house  on  Broad  street.  The  ministry  was  his  delight,  but  after 
less  than  five  years  exercise  of  it,  and  when  the  number  of  his 
church  members  had  increased  from  fifty-seven  to  two  hundred 
and  twenty-two.  the  failure  of  his  voice  compelled  his  reluctant 
return  to  secular  pursuits.  On  the  first  of  October,  1817,  he 
was  dismissed  from  his  pastoral  care,  and  soon  after  removed 
to  Geneva,  where  he  continued  to  reside  for  forty  years,  and 
where  he  died,  September  6,  1857. 

He  established  the  bank  of  Geneva,  and  as  its  president 
■acquired  an  enviable  fame  throughout  the  State  for  probit}'  and 
success.  His  banking  operations  embraced  at  one  time  not 
merely  Western  ISTew^  York,  but  extended  to  Michigan  and  Ohio, 
where  he  and  his  brothers  were  proprietors  of  similar  institu- 
tions. His  own  bank,  down  to  the  expiration  of  its  charter  in 
185B,  never  failed  to  divide  ten  per  cent,  per  annum  among  its 
stockholders,  besides  a  very  large  amount  in  extra  dividends. 
Amid  these  professional  cares  and  responsibilities  Mr.  Dwight 
never  lost  sight  of    those  higher   purposes  of  life  which  had 


342  THE   PIONEERS  OF  UTICA. 

taken  possession  of  his  conscience  and  his  affections.  In  his- 
connection  Avith  the  church,  as  an  elder,  a  Bible  class  and  Sab- 
bath school  teacher,  a  comforter  of  the  afflicted,  a  guide  to  the- 
inquiring,  a  counsellor  of  the  young,  a  helper  of  the  poor,  and 
a  friend  to  all,  he  honored  the  religion  of  his  Divine  Master. 
In  the  great  enterprises  for  the  dissemination  of  religious  truth 
and  the  establishment  of  Christian  institutions,  he  took  the 
deepest  interest,  and  contributed  largely  of  his  wisdom,  his  per- 
sonal influence  and  his  pecuniary  bounty.  Previous  to  the 
organization  of  the  American  Home  Missionary  Society  of  the 
Presbyterian  Church,  Mr.  Dwight  had  a  leading  agency  in  the 
formation  and  management  of  a  Domestic  Missionary  Society 
in  his  immediate  vicinity.  He  rendered  important  service  in 
developing  a  national  institution  on  substantially  the  same 
basis,  and  was  at  its  organization  constituted  a  director.  In 
1837  he  was  elected  its  president  and  continued  to  liold  the  office- 
until  his  death.  Tlirough  the  medium  of  this  societ}^  he  had 
the  happiness  of  preaching  by  the  voices  of  others,  and  of  ex- 
tending his  influence  more  widely  perhaps  than  if  he  had 
remained  in  the  pulpit.  For  fifteen  years,  from  1814  to  1829, 
he  was  a  trustee  of  Hamilton  College,  and  for  the  last  thirty 
years  of  his  life  a  trustee  of  Auburn  Theological  Seminary. 
At  his  death  his  associates  in  the  board  of  the  latter  institution, 
as  well  as  those  of  the  Home  Missionary  Society,  recognized 
the  event  as  a  peculiary  severe  bereavement,  and  both  put  on 
record  their  deep  sense  of  his  ability  and  exalted  worth.  An- 
other effort  of  the  active  benevolence  of  Mr.  Dwight  connects 
him  with  Utica  long  after  he  had  left  it.  He  was  much  inter- 
ested in  the  establishment  of  an  asylum  for  the  insane,  and 
having  at  his  own  expense  employed  agents  to  gather  up  stat- 
istics relating  to  the  condition  of  the  insane,  and  then  prepared 
a  circular  setting  forth  the  necessity  of  an  asylum,  he  sent  it  to 
each  member  of  the  Legislature,  and  continued  to  urge  them 
to  favorable  action  for  years  before  the  passage  of  the  act  which 
gave  origin  to  the  asylum  at  Utica.  His  most  marked  char- 
acteristic was  the  predominance  over  him  of  Christian  ])rin- 
ciple.  Life  to  him  was  a  serious  scene  of  action  and  of  duty. 
The  idea  of  duty — of  what  he  ought  to  do — was  ever  present 
in  his  mind,  and  exercised  a  coercive  and  repressing  power  upon 
his  nature  and  its  manifestations.      Childlike   in  the  simplicity 


THE  SECOND  CHARTER.  343 

of  his  character,  kind  and  affectionate  in  liis  intercoiirse,  care- 
ful in  the  observance  of  all  the  courtesies  of  life,  but  solemn 
of  demeanor  and  with  little  gajety  of  spirit,  he  bore  at  times  an 
aspect  of  sternness  which,  however  repellant  to  strangers,  those 
who  knew  him  well  knew  was  due  only  to  his  ever  pressing 
conviction  of  duty.  Through  this  -it  was  that  his  life  was  pecul- 
iarly fruitful  of  results,  and  marked  by  a  constancy  of  useful- 
ness, and  a  judiciousness  and  a  liberality  in  deeds  and  gifts  of 
charity,  which  made  him  a  benediction  to  his  fellows.  "Mrs. 
D wight,  with  her  gentle,  hopeful,  courageous  spirit,  lightened 
her  husband's  cares,  while  her  wit,  intelligence,  good  breeding 
and  benevolence,  made  her,  for  forty  3'ears,  one  of  the  principal 
attractions  of  the  society  of  Geneva.  Those  only  can  know  tlie 
important  part  which  she  performed  in  its  religious  interests 
who  were  the  witnesses  of  the  grace,  intelligence,  kindness  and 
never-failing  resources  of  this  trul}-  Christian  lady."*  They  had 
three  children,  of  whom  two  were  born  in  Utica,  viz. :  Edmund^ 
Mary  E.  (Mrs.  Henry  L.  Young)  and  Henry,  Jr. 

While  Oneida  was  still  a  part  of  Herkimer,  there  settled  within 
its  borders  a  yoang  lawyer,  who  was  acknowledged  at  once  as 
an  equal  among  the  best  of  his  associates  at  the  bar,  and  who, 
since  then,  not  more  by  rare  excellence  in  his  calling  than  by 
weighty  sense  and  energy  in  action,  uprightness,  purity  and 
benevolence  of  conduct,  and  much  effective  and  unselfish  official 
service,  has  made  the  name  of  Joseph  Kirkland  suggestive  to" 
all  of  virtue,  usefulness,  power  and  honor. 

A  native  of  Norwich,  Conn.,  where  he  was  born.  January  18, 
1770,  and  a  graduate  of  Yale  twenty  years  later,  he  qualified 
himself  in  legal  studies  with  Judge  Swift  of  Windham  in  that 
State,  and  then  assumed  their  exercise  in  New  Hartford  in  this 
county,  where  he  was  near  to  his  uncle,  Samuel  Kirkland,  the 
celebrated  missionary  to  the  Oneidas.  At  the  first  term  of 
Common  Pleas  held  in  the  county  after  its  organization,  in  com- 
pany with  Thomas  R  Gold,  Jonas  Piatt,  Erastus  Clark,  Nathan 
Williams,  Arthur  Breese  and  others,  all  of  whom  had  practiced 
in  the  courts  of  Herkimer,  he  was  admitted  to  the  same  privil- 
ege in  Oneida,  and,  together  with  those  enumerated,  he  was  ap- 
pointed to  report  a  system  of  rules  for  the  Court.     The  under- 

*  Mrs.  Bradford's  History  of  Geneva. 


S44  THE   PIONEERS  OF  UTICA. 

taking  to  enter  into  professional  rivalr}^  with  men  such  as  these, 
who,  with  others  hke  them,  constituted  the  bar  of  Oneida  at  this 
time  and  for  twenty  years  longer,called  for  qualities  and  efforts 
of  no  ordinary  stamp.  Mr.  Kirkland,  however,  by  his  unremit- 
ting application,  tenacity  of  purpose,  and  an  integrity  that,  amid 
the  fierce  collisions  of  legal  competition,  was  never  called  in 
•question,  soon  rose  to  an  eminent  rank.  In  1801  he  ran  as  a 
candidate  for  delegate  to  the  State  Constitutional  Convention, 
^nd  received  as  many  votes  as  his  opponent,  Henry  Huntington 
of  Eome,  though  the  seat  was  accorded  to  the  latter.  In  1803 
he  was  chosen  by  the  Federal  party  to  represent  them  in  the 
State  Assembly.  Of  his  career  while  here  it  may  be  said,  as  of 
his  like  experience  in  later  years,  that  no  man  ever  sent  from 
the  county  carried  with  him  and  preserved  more  completely  the 
confidence  of  his  constituents.  From  February  1813,  to  Feb- 
ruary 1816,  he  discharged,  with  ability  and  faithfulness,  the 
duties  of  district  attorney  for  the  sixth  district.  That  these 
duties  involved  much  labor  and  care,  in  addition  to  no  small 
amount  of  professional  skill  and  acquirement,  we  are  assured 
when  we  consider  that  this  district  then  comprised  Herkimer, 
Otsego,  Chenango,  Madison,  Lewis  and  Jefferson  as  well  as 
Oneida  counties. 

It  was  in  1813  that  Mr.  Kirkland  transferred  his  residence  to 
Utica,  and  thenceforth,  for  thirtj^  years,  he  was  identified  with 
its  prosperity  and  enterprises,  with  its  charities,  hospitalities, 
•and  its  municipal  administration.  Sent  again  to  the  Legislature 
during  the  sessions  1818-21,  he  vacated  his  seat  in  the  latter 
year  to  fill  a  higher  one  in  the  seventeenth  Congress,  where  he 
succeeded  that  eminent  speaker,  Henry  R  Storrs.  After  serv- 
ing a  single  term,  with  great  acceptance  to  members  of  all  par- 
ties, he  was  again  elected  to  the  Assembly  of  1825.  Mr.  Kirk- 
land was  the  first  mayor  under  the  city  charter  of  Utica,  and 
was  reelected  in  1834,  two  years  afterward.  Without  dispar- 
agement to  his  successors,  it  may  be  affirmed  that  no  adminis- 
tration is  remembered  with  a  livelier  gratification  than  the  one 
of  which  he  was  the  head.  It  was  while  he  presided  over  the 
public  councils,  that  the  city  was  visited  by  that  desolating 
calamity,  the  cholera,  wliich  in  no  part  of  the  State  bi'oke  out 
in  a  more  sudden  and  fearful  manner,  or  swept  into  eternity,  in 
jirojiortion  to  the  po})ulation,  such  a  crowd  of  victims.     A  large 


THE  SECOND  CHARTER.  845 

number  of  the  citizens  left  tlie  place.  Men  much  younger,  and 
better  able  to  contend  against  the  ravages  of  disease,  left  their 
homes.  Mr.  Kirkland,  although  then  sixty  years  of  age,  re- 
mained at  his  post,  and  continued  during  the  entire  period  of 
this  frightful  visitation,  to  perform  the  duties  which  devolved 
upon  him.  He  was  ever  devising  measures  to  relieve  those 
who  were  smitten,  or  to  check  the  violence  of  the  pestilence 
and  prevent  its  spread.  He  manifested  during  tliis  crisis  the 
real  boldness  and  energy  of  his  character,  and  showed  that  there 
was  in  him  a  spirit  which,  in  more  auspicious  circumstances  and 
on  a  larger  held,  would  have  secured  to  him  no  ordinary 
amount  of  reputation. 

In  the  upbuilding  of  Hamilton  College,  the  Utica  Academ}^, 
the  Presbyterian  Church,  the  Ontario  Branch  Bank,  the  Oneida 
Glass  Factory,  the  New  Hartford  Manufacturing  Society,  the 
Farmers'  Factory,  the  Paris  Furnace  Compan}^  and  other  early 
institutions  of  the  county,  Mr.  Kirkland  bore  a  part  from  their 
inception.  If  not  one  of  the  originators,  he  was  at  a  very  early 
stage  of  the  enterprise,  a  coadjutor  in  opening  and  constructing 
the  Seneca  turnpike,  the  great  internal  highway  of  commerce 
through  Central  New  York,  and  was  for  many  3''ears  and  until 
his  death,  the  president  and  treasurer  of  its  corporation.  And 
in  schemes  afterward  projected  to  advance  the  educational,  com- 
mercial or  manufacturing  interests  of  town  or  county,  there  was 
scarcely  one  in  which  this  public-hearted  man  was  not  called  to 
participate.  To  a  large  circle  of  individuals  also,  of  various 
classes,  he  was  the  valued  counsellor  or  compassionate  friend. 

As  his  legal  reputation  was  based,  not  on  brilliant  fancy, 
showiness  in  speaking,  or  the  trickish  arts  of  the  advocate,  l)ut 
rather  on  the  sounder  merits  of  the  learned  and  painstaking 
jurist,  intent  on  the  right  and  studious  for  justice,  so  his  stand- 
ing as  a  man  depended  not  on  qualities  which  dazzle  and  be- 
wilder, but  on  such  as  give  steadiness,  elevation,  force  and 
dignity  to  character,  inspire  confidence  in  all  who  behold  them, 
and  win  for  their  possessor  a  claim  on  the  respect  and  venera- 
tion of  posterity.  Moderate  in  height,  and  full,  though  not 
corpulent  in  person,  with  regular  and  pleasing  features,  he  had 
a  quiet  and  impressive  dignity  of  carriage  in  harmony  with  the 
man.  The  title  of  general,  which  he  always  bore,  he  derived 
from  early  service  in  the  militia,  and  however  his  deportment 


346  THE  PIONEERS  OF  UTICA. 

might  justif}^  the  gravity  of  the  title,  he  had  none  of  the  con- 
straint or  punctiliousness  of  the  soldier,  but  was  eminently  affa- 
ble and  social,  and,  without  unbecoming  condescension,  put  at 
ease  all  who  approached  him.  He  owned  a  large  wooden  build- 
ing on  Liberty  street  and  the  canal,  confronting  the  Devereux 
block  above  it.  Here  was  liis  law  office,  wherein  he  was  for 
many  of  the  later  years  of  his  life  associated  with  his  son, 
Charles  P.  Kirkland.  His  residence  was  the  house  now  occu- 
pied by  Mrs.  Susan  Gridley,  which  house  he  altered  and  im- 
proved while  still  in  New  Hartford,  and  in  anticipation  of  his 
removal.  Greneral  Kirkland's  life  was  prosperous  in  no  ordi- 
nary degree,  having  been  subjected  to  few  vicissitudes  and  to 
no  serious  calamity,  and  blessed  with  a  competence  for  its  de- 
clining years.  So  his  death  may  be  pronounced  happy,  being- 
tranquil  and  comparatively  free  from  pain,  and  his  bedside  sur- 
rounded by  numerous  relatives  and  friends.  This  event 
occurred  January  2,  1844. 

Mrs.  Kirkland,  whose  maiden  name  was  Sarah  Backus,  was 
in  all  respects  worthy  of  her  partner,  a  noble  minded  and  effi- 
cient woman.  Her  son-in-law,  William  J.  Bacon,  describes  her 
as  follows :  "  She  had  a  sound  intellect,  a  clear  judgment,  and 
for  her  day  was  possessed  of  large  and  discriminating  culture. 
The  training  of  her  numerous  family,  which  devolved  almost 
wholly  upon  her,  was  a  task  she  met  bravely  and  conscien- 
tiously, and  it  may  be  truly  said  she  trained  them  in  the  fear 
of  Grod,  and  in  all  manly  and  humane  sentiments  and  tender 
and  loving  affections.  She  had  the  faculty  to  impress  her  own 
characteV  strongly  upon  the  minds  and  hearts  of  her  children, 
and  thus  her  influence,  which  was  always  on  the  side  of  truth, 
integrity,  benevolence  and  charity,  in  the  largest  and  noblest  sense, 
has  been  perpetuated  through  her  posterity,  and  may  be  for 
generations  yet  to  come."  Of  this  famil^^  of  twelve  children 
the  ten  who  lived  to  manhood  and  womanhood  were :  Charles 
P.,  the  business  partner  of  his  father  and  for  some  years  longer 
a  leading  member  of  the  Oneida  county  bar,  now  of  New  York 
City ;  William,  successively  professor  of  Latin  in  Hamilton 
College,  teacher  of  a  private  school  at  Goshen,  Seneca  county, 
resident  of  Michigan  and  of  New  York  City,  where  with  Rev. 
Dr.  Bellows  he  commenced  the  Christian  Inquirer^  died  1846 ; 
Edward,  died  a  young  man;  Mary  (widow  of  J.  M.  Holly)  of 


A 


THE  SECOND  CHARTER.  347 

Lyons,  N.  Y.  ;  Eliza  (Mrs.  William  J.  Bacon)  deceased  ;  Sarah 
(Mrs.  John  Gr.  Floyd)  deceased ;  Louisa  (Mrs.  Charles  Tracy) 
of  New  York;  John  Thornton,  of  Cleveland,  deceased;  and 
Francis  of  Wisconsin. 

The  only  other  professional  man  whose  career  in  Utica  begins 
with  the  year  1813  is  Dr.  Ezra  Williams,  the  sometime  partner 
of  Dr.  Amos  Gr.  Hull.  This  partnership  terminating  in  Sep- 
tember 1816,  Dr.  Williams  opened  an  office  near  Burchard's 
tavern,  and  was  in  practice  abont  four  years  longer,  when  he 
moved  to  Dunkirk.  He  bad  studied  with  Dr.  Hull,  but  was 
possessed  of  more  acc[uirements  than  his  preceptor,  and  was, 
besides,  cautious,  sedate  and  reflective  ;  in  his  relations  to  others 
he  was  unassuming  and  respected.  Both  he  and  his  wife,  who 
was  a  half- sister  of  Walter  King,  have  been  long  deceased. 

A  new  mercantile  firm  was  that  of  Piatt  &  Lansing.  It 
remained  in  being  only  about  three  years,  though  its  members 
bad  each  a  somewhat  lengthy  residence.  Both  were  honorable 
dealers  and  gentlemen  in  mien  and  breeding,  and  on  their  own 
account  as  well  as  by  reason  of  their  family  connection  filled  a 
high  social  position. 

James  Piatt  was  brother  of  Judge  Jonas  Piatt  of  Whites- 
boro,  and  was  born  in  Pougbkeepsie,  1787.  After  his  brief 
connection  with  Mr.  Lansing  he  traded  some  years  by  himself, 
and  then,  having  failed,  withdrew  temporarily  from  the  village. 
On  his  return  he  set  up,  for  forwarding  purposes,  a^  large  ware- 
house situated  on  what  was  known  as  Bleecker's  slip,  a  narrow 
basin  extending  from  the  canal  to  Catherine  street  wher'e  is  now 
the  western  end  of  DeLong's  furniture  house.  And  this  Mr. 
Piatt  carried  on  during  the  remainder  of  his  stay  in  Utica, 
having  during  a  portion  of  the  time  Harmon  Pease  for  a  part- 
ner. During  the  year  1828-9,  he  served  also  as  post  master, 
but  was  soon  ousted  by  an  in-coming  administration.  He 
removed  the  office  to  Catherine  street,  near  its  mouth  on  the 
south  side.  Going  in  1835  to  Albany  and  thence,  the  next 
year,  to  Oswego,  he  became  quite  prosperous.  He  was  the 
first  mayor  of  Oswego,  and  in  1852-3  he  was  State  senator 
from  the  Oswego  district.  He  was  also  president  of  the  Lake 
Ontario  National  Bank.  His  death  occurred  May  8,  1870,  at 
the  age  of  eighty-three. 


848  THE  PIONEERS  OF  UTICA. 

Mr.  Piatt  was  an  earnest,  affable,  kind-hearted,  public-spirited 
and  high-principled  man,  rather  small  of  stature,  nervous  in 
temperament  and  at  times  a  little  irritable,  but  deservedl_y  poj:)- 
ular.  As  a  business  man  his  chief  failing  was  his  inability  to 
say  no !  Elizabeth,  his  first  wife,  was  daughter  of  General 
William  Floyd  of  Western.  She  died  December  17,  1820. 
His  second  was  Mrs.  Auchmuty,  sister  of  Commodore  Melancthon 
T.  Woolsey ;  his  third,  whom  he  married  after  his  removal 
from  Utica,  was  Sarah,  widow  of  Bleecker  Lansing,  his  early 
partner,  and  daughter  of  Arthur  Breese.  Her  home  is  with 
her  daughter  at  Saybrook,  Conn.  His  children,  the  off- 
spring of  the  first  Mrs.  Piatt,  were  William  Floyd,  James 
Augustus  and  Eobert.  J.  Augustus,  now  of  Mineral  Point,  Wis., 
is  the  only  one  who  is  living. 

Parent  Bleecker,  second  son  of  Colonel  Garret  G.  Lansing, 
was  born  January  17,  1793,  and  had  been  a  clerk  for  William 
G.  Tracy,  at  Whitesboro,  before  joining  Mr.  Piatt  in  business 
in  Utica.  After  their  separation  he  was  a  short  time  in  trade 
in  Rome,  but  returned  to  Utica  about  1822,  and  opened  a  store 
just  below  the  Ontario  Branch  Bank.  In  this  he  was  unsuc- 
cessful, and  after  a  short  service  as  bookkeeper  of  the  United 
States  Branch  Bank,  he  became  cashier,  about  1835,  of  the 
Bank  of  Belleville,  N.  J.  Thence  he  was  called  in  December 
1836,  to  the  cashiership  of  the  Oneida  Bank,  and  filled  the 
place  until  his  death 

Honesty,  truthfulness,  charity,  an  affectionate  and  most  lov- 
ing nature,  these  were  the  characteristics  which  made  friends 
for  Mr.  Lansing  of  all  who  knew  him,  and  forbade  that  be 
should  ever  have  an  enemy.  As  cashier  it  was  said  of  him 
that  it  was  more  agreeable  to  be  refused  a  favor  than  to  receive 
it  from  another.  His  integrity  was  unsullied,  and  his  charity 
outran  his  means.  Qualities  so  winning,  and  which  made  him 
so  loveable  as  a  man,  were  ill  calculated, — coupled,  too,  as  they 
were,  with  modesty  pure  as  childhood's, — to  promote  his  suc- 
cess in  public  business,  or  to  aid  in  the  augmentation  of  his 
own  estate.  While  he  lacked  tlie])ositiveness  needed  to  refuse, 
he  lacked  also  the  energy  needed  to  win,  and  the  hardihood 
requisite  to  save.  Or,  perhaps,  I  may  rather  say,  that  contented 
with  his  social  standing,  his  "troops  of  friends,"  and  tbe  smiles 


THE  SECOND  CHARTER.  349 

of  his  lovely  wife  and  children,  he  plucked  life's  pleasures  as 
he  went,  and  was  deaf  to  the  enticements  of  the  goddess  who 
demands  entire  devotion  as  the  sole  condition  on  which  she 
will  dispense  her  stores.  Yet  thej  are  qualities  that  ensure 
regard,  and  whose  power  and  worth  are  realized  only  when 
they  are  lost.  Their  effect  was  evinced  at  his  death.  This 
took  place  December  3,  1853,  at  the  house  of  his  son-in-law  in 
Brooklyn.  His  remains  were  brought  to  Utica  for  interment, 
and  as  they  were  borne  to  the  Presbyterian  Church,  where  he 
had  been  a  trustee,  the  stores  along  the  street  were  closed  by 
their  owners  as  a  spontaneous  tribute  of  respect  to  the  memory 
of  one  whom  they  loved  and  were  grieved  to  part  with.  The 
Utica  Observer,  in  commenting  upon  his  death,  closes  with  these 
words  :  ''A  good  man  has  fallen,  leaving  behind  him  few  who  were 
his  equals  in  qualities  that  do  most  become  the  man."  In  1815 
he  had  married  Sarah,  daughter  of  Arthur  Breese,  and  to  him 
were  born  the  following  children,  all  of  whom  are  living  and  all 
heads  of  families  :  Arthur  Breese,  who  was  educated  at  West 
Point,  served  in  the  Mexican  war,  and  as  captain  in  the  quarter- 
master's department,  after  which  he  resigned,  and  is  now  livino- 
in  New  York ;  Henry  Livingston,  banker  at  Cahandaigua  and 
at  Buffalo,  now  resides  at  Niagara,  Ontario  county,  Canada ; 
Henry  Seymour,  commanded  the  17th  Regiment,  New  York 
volunteers,  at  the  beginning  of  the  late  war,  and  left  the  service 
in  1863  with  the  rank  of  brevet  brigadier-general;  is  now  audi- 
tor general  of  the  Centennial  Board  of  Finance,  Philadelphia ; 
Manette  Antill,  married  Charles  W.,  eldest  son  of  Professor 
S.  F.  B.  Morse,  and  hves  at  Saybrook,  Conn.  ;  Borent  Bleecker 
of  Buffalo. 

A  merchant  of  much  weight  of  character,  both  personal  and 
mercantile,  was  Alexander  Seymour,*  who  entered  this  j-ear  into 
an  arj-angement  with  Messrs.  Watts  Sherman  and  Henry  B. 
Gibson,  whereby  he  was  to  represent  them  in  Utica  while  they 
conducted  affairs  in  New  York  City.  In  1816  the  "Co."  at- 
tached to  his  name,  signified  Ezekiel  Bacon ;  and  thus  it 
continued  until  the  close  of  1822,  their  store  being  at  No. 
66  Genesee  street.  After  this  time  the  principal  was  alone  at 
10-1  Genesee,  until  1833,  when  he  moved  to  Cleveland,  Ohio. 
Mr.  Seymour  had  but  one  price  for  his  goods,  and  to  this  he 


350  THE  PIONEERS  OF  UTICA. 

adhered,  and  so  scrupulous  was  he  hi  his  honesty,  that  if  even 
a  child  was  sent  to  make  purchases  of  him,  the  superior  might 
rest  assured  the  business  would  l:)e  as  carefull}^  executed  as 
though  he  traded  in  person.  j\Iild  and  (|uiet  in  manner,  he  did 
not  lack  in  efhciency,  and  was,  moreover,  kind  hearted  and  emi- 
nently virtuous.  In  the  Pj-esbyterian  Church  he  was  of  much 
account,  as  he  was  afterward  in  the  second  church  of  that  de- 
nomination. His  house  was  on  Broad  street,  next  west  of  the 
present  home  of  J.  T.  Spriggs,  but  before  his  departure  he 
erected  and  lived  in  the  house  on  Steuben  park,  now  occupied 
by  K.  V.  Yates.  In  February  1813,  Mr.  Seymour  married  Miss 
Mary  Ann  Bissell,  who  had  one  child  that  was  buried  with  her. 
His  second  wife  was  Helen,  sister  of  Rev.  Dirck  C.  Lansing. 
Her  children  were  Mary  Ann,  Alexander  and  Lansing. 

Other  merchants  were  Hezekiah  and  John  Hurlbut.  After 
their  ill-success  in  trade,  the  former  became  a  teacher,  went  to 
Champion  and  died  there.  John,  living  afterwards  many  years* 
at  Mackinaw,  had  quite  recentl}^  a  second  residence  in  Utica ; 
was  cashier  of  the  Central  City  Savings  Bank,  and  died  in  the 
place  in  the  summer  of  1874  Since  then  his  family  have  re- 
moved. 

Thomas  Eockwell  was  a  native  of  Middletown,  Conn.,  but 
came  to  Utica  from  Holland  Patent  in  this  county,  where  he 
was  brought  up  by  Bezaleel  Fisk,  an  early  settler  and  leading 
man  of  that  place.  After  coming  to  Utica,  Mr.  Rockwell  was 
at  first  a  teacher,  but  in  1815  entered  the  service  of  the  Ontario 
Branch  Bank,  as  its  book-keeper.  For  thirtj^-four  years  he 
served  the  bank  with  unvarying  steadiness.  "Much  of  its 
prosperity,"  says  its  president,  A.  B.  Johnson,  "  was  due  to  his 
vigilance  and  faithfulness.  He  was  never  a  borrower  from  the 
bank,  and  never  left  his  post  for  recreation  or  business,  other 
than  that  of  the  bank.  On  a  salary  far  too  small  for  the  value 
of  his  services,  he  maintained  a  family  and  left  a  sufficiency  for 
their  support  at  his  death."  This  occurred  August  16,  1849, 
after  some  months  of  failing  health.  He  dropped  at  his  post, 
and  on  being  carried  home,  lingered  for  about  three  weeks. 
His  first  wife,  who  was  Mehitable  Wells  of  Wethersfield,  Conn,, 
died  November  5, 1832.  He  afterwards  married  Miss  Elizabeth 
"Williams  of  this  place,  who  still  survives.     He  had  three  chil- 


THE  SECOND  CHARTER.  351 

dreii,  two  daughters  who  died  in  their  j^outh,  and  one  son, 
Henry  W.,  who  has  for  some  years  been  connected  with  a  hard- 
ware house  in  Albany,  but  whose  family  are  in  Utica.  Mr 
Rockwell  lived  for  some  time  on  Elizabeth  street,  but  after 
Court  street  was  opened,  he  built  on  the  corner  of  this  and 
Cornelia,  the  brick  house  now  occupied  by  the  Industrial  Home, 
and  here  he  was  hving  at  the  time  of  his  death. 

About  this  time  a  private  school  was  in  operation,  which  was 
known  as  the  Juvenile  Academy.  It  may  have  been  started 
two  37ears  earher,  and  was,  perha})s,  the  academy  referred  to^b}^ 
Mr.  Mellish  heretofore  quoted.  It  was  kept  in  the  third  story 
of  the  building  situated  on  the  north  corner  of  Broad  and  Gren- 
esee,  of  which  the  first  floor  was  occupied  by  Benjamin  Paine, 
the  merchant  tailor,  and  the  second  by  a  law  office.  The  room 
had  been  constructed  for  a  masonic  hall  and  consisted  of  a  tol- 
erably sized  hall  and  two  small  rooms  in  the  rear.  It  was  at- 
••tended  by  many  of  the  children  of  the  principal  families  of  the 
village,  male  and  female,  instruction  being  given  in  all  the 
branches  of  a  classical  education,  as  well  as  in  the  elements  of 
English  learning.  The  first  teacher  was  Henry  White,  a  gentle, 
fair-haii'ed  man,  who  afterwards  became  a  minister.  And  he 
being  taken  with  a  fever  and  afterwards  going  away  to  recruit, 
the  remainder  of  one  of  his  years  of  teaching  was  completed  by 
S.  W.  Brace,  then  a  pupil  of  Hamilton  College.  The  teacher 
in  the  year  1816  was  Oded  Edd}",  son  of  the  first  Baptist  preacher 
of  Deerfield.  Mr.  Eddy  subsequently  lived  on  a  farm  in  Deer- 
field.  An  incident  of  his  farming  life  is  told  as  follows :  Dr. 
Hull  called  on  him  for  a  settlement  of  his  account  for  medical 
attendance.  "How  much  is  the  account?"  he  asked,  and  on 
being  informed,  exclaimed  with  most  innocent  surprise:  "How 
singular !  that's  just  the  price  of  the  straw  I  sold  to  J'ou." 

I  name  together  John  Welles  and  Amos  Gay,  because  they 
were  two  inn-keepers  who  began  in  Utica  in  May  1813,  though 
quite  unconnected  in  their  affairs,  and  totally  unlike  in  charac- 
ter. The  former,  son  of  Melancthon  Welles  of  Lowville,  had 
lived  in  Herkimer  and  in  Whitesboro.  He  moved  from  Whites- 
boi'o  to  the  yellow  house  next  east  of  M.  Bagg's,  on  Main  street, 
and  kept  it  for  some  time  as  a  place  of  entertainment,  but  in 
April  1821,  he  took  the  Canal  Coffee  House,  which  had  been 


352  THE   PIONEERS  OF  UTICA. 

opened  in  November  previous.  This  was  a  neat,  white  woodert 
building,  on  the  berm  bank  of  the  canal,  south  of  Genesee- 
bridge,  where  is  now  the  Exchange  building.  It  was  for  sev- 
eral years  a  popular  stopping  place  for  travellers  by  the  packets, 
and  its  head  was  a  well-mannered  and  estimable,  though  diffi- 
dent person,  who,  with  his  intelligent  family,  filled  a  creditable 
place  in  the  community.  In  1832,  Mr.  Welles  was  keeping 
the  National,  lower  down  the  street,  and  opposite  the  mouth  of 
Liberty.  Not  Ions;  afterwards  he  removed  to  Detroit.  His 
son,  John  A.,  at  first  in  the  Bank  of  Utica,  went  thence  to- 
Yates  county,  and  from  there  to  the  Farmers  and  Mechanics' 
Bank  of  Detroit,  where  he  amassed  a  fortune  and  was  highly 
respected  for  his  public  spirit  and  his  benevolence.  The  daugh- 
ters (Mrs.  Paine  and  Mrs.  Alfred  Hunt),  followed  their  father 
to  Michigan ;  Kachel  B.  (wife  of  Vistus  Balch),  died  in  Utica, 
January  10,  1831 ;  William  J.,  after  his  clerkship  here,  was  in 
business  and  a  banker  at  Grand  Eapids,  Michigan :  having* 
failed,  be  took  up  his  residence  at  Topeka,  Kansas ;  Henry,  a 
merchant  at  Ann  Arbor,  is  deceased. 

Some  men  seem  born  to  a  particular  calling,  be  it  mechanical, 
artistic,  ministerial,  or  other,  and  are  fortunate  when  they  early 
discover  their  bent  and  pei'sistently  follow  it.  Amos  Gay  was 
born  a  landlord,  l)ut  he  was  a  restless  one,  changing  often  his 
place  and  even  his  employment,  and  scarce  finding  one  to  his 
mind.  Yet  with  all  his  vibrations  he  gravitated  continually 
into  tavern  keeping.  Born  in  Lebanon,  Conn.,  in  September 
1778,  he  was  at  twenty-five  a  proprietor  at  Goshen  Hill,  in  that 
State.  Two  years  later,  in  1805,  he  was  living  in  Westmore- 
land, Oneida  county.  Successively  a  trader  in  Hampton,  and 
an  inn-keeper  in  Whitesboro,  and  then  in  Nevv^  Hartford,  he 
found  his  way,  in  1S13,  to  the  house  on  the  southeast  corner  of 
Main  and  John  which  had  just  been  moved  across  the  street 
from  the  site  of  the  early  Bagg  tavern,  and  was  now  coupled 
with  the  former  homestead  of  Joseph  Ballou.  He  christened 
it  Union  Hall.  Next  he  was  in  the  National,  but  before  1828, 
he  had  built  and  was  conducting  the  Fayette  Street  House,  so 
called,  which  is  still  standing  on  the  northeastern  corner  of 
this  street  and  State.  He  was  also  at  one  time  the  owner  of 
the  pottery  in  West  Utica,  which  has  been  of  late  in  the  pos- 


THE  SECOND  CHARTER,  353 

session  of  Noah  White  &  Son.  A  later  structure,  erected  by 
Mr.  Gay,  was  the  large  brick  building  which  gave  way  to  the 
City  Hall  as  its  successor.  And  this,  though  he  built  it  for  a 
theatre,  became  also  a  tavern.  Long  before  it  ceased  to  be  so 
occupied,  Mr.  Gay  removed  to  Albany.  He  was  a  contriving, 
changeful,  though  gentlemanly  man.  He  had  five  sons,  of 
whom  one  is  now  living  in  Philadelphia,  and  two  in  Brooklyn. 

It  has  been  stated  that  Levi  Comstock,  shoemaker,  when  he 
came  from  Danbury,  in  L809,  brought  with  him  as  an  appren- 
tice, his  brother-in-law,  Ezra  S.  Barnum.  This  apprentice,  his 
indentures  completed,  engaged  in  business  for  a  brief  term  in 
Buffalo,  in  company  with  Timoth}^  McEwen,  an  apprentice  of 
David  P.  Hoyt.  The  war  had  then  opened,  and  minute  men 
being  called  for,  he  volunteered,  and  was  present  at  the  first 
taking  of  Fort  Erie.  Having  become  ill,  he  returned  to  Utica; 
while  here  Buffalo  was  burned  by  the  British,  and  he  did  not 
go  back.  He  joined  Mr.  Comstock  in  December  1813,  and  in 
1815  exchanged  this  connection  for  a  like  one  with  William 
Geere.  The  latter  partnership  lasted  about  a  year,  when  he 
took  charge  of  the  shoe  and  leather  store  of  Mr.  Ho3='t,  and 
subsequently  did  business  on  his  own  account  At  a  later 
period  he  was  with  Z.  B.  Everson,  confectioner  and  grocer, 
successor  to  Bryant  &  Everson,  on  the  corner  of  Catherine  and 
Genesee  streets ;  and  buying  out  the  interest  in  the  concern  on 
the  death  of  his  partner,  he  was  a  wholesale  grocer.  His  next 
move  was  to  a  farm  on  East  street,  hoping  thereby  to  improve 
his  health,  which  was  never  rugged.  After  this  he  established 
the  Bazaar  on  Genesee  street,  just  above  Broad,  and,  visiting 
Europe  in  1849,  he  made  arrangements  for  importing  goods  for 
the  establishment.  The  Bazaar  was  long  conducted  by  himself 
and  Stephen  0.  Barnum,  his  son,  then  by  the  latter,  and  since 
successively  by  others. 

'Squire  Barnum's  chief  claim  to  notice  and  remembrance 
comes  from  his  long  continued  and  varied  services  as  a  public 
ofhcer.  He  was  first  elected  to  office  in  1817,  and  put  into 
triple  harness,  as  it  were,  from  the  outset,  being  made  constable, 
collector  and  coroner.  At  one  time,  besides  these  three  offices, 
he  held  also  those  of  police  officer  and  deputy  sheriff.  And 
when  to  these  functions  was  added  those  of  justice  of  the  peace,. 


35i  THE   PIONEERS  OF  UTICA. 

it  was  well  said  of  liim  by  the  editor  of  The  Cluh,  that  Utica 
contains  one  officer  of  rare*  qualifications,  for  lie  can  issue  pro 
cess,  serve  it,  try,  convict,  hang,  hold  inquest,  and  sell  for  taxes 
the  effects  of  the  convict.  The  office  of  justice,  which  he 
first  received  from  the  Council  of  Appointment  in  1821,  he  con- 
tinued to  hold  for  seventeen  years.  How  well  he  did,  notwith- 
standing his  ignorance  of  law  at  the  start,  may  be  inferred  from 
the  fact  that  onl}^  two  cases  were  ever  appealed  from  his  de- 
cision ;  one  of  these,  though  reversed  by  the  court  of  the  county, 
was  affirmed  by  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  State,  and  the  other 
was  never  tried  on  appeal.  On  retiring  from  the  justiceship 
'Squire  Barnum  was  appointed  deputy  United  States  marshal, 
and  commissioner  of  deeds.  In  1832  he  was  elected  to  the 
board  of  aldermen,  and  was  several  times  reelected.  At  the 
organization  of  the  Oneida  Bank,  in  1836,  he  was  chosen  one 
of  the  directors,  and  he  is  to  daj"  the  only  member  of  the  orig- 
inal board  still  living. 

There  remains  to  add  a  record  of  long  and  eminent  service 
and  high  honors  in  the  order  of  Free  and  Accepted  Masons. 
Few  living  masons  have  been  so  long  connected  with  the  order ; 
fewer,  if  any,  have  been  so  highly  honored  by  it.  He  was 
elected  a  member  of  Utica  Lodge,  in  January  1817,  and  having 
soon  gone  through  the  four  chapter  degrees,  he  was  early  induct- 
ed into  official  position.  From  that  day  to  this  he  has  not 
been  released  from  the  duties  and  the  responsibilities  of  office, 
being  promoted,  from  year  to  year,  until  the  highest  honor  in 
the  gift  of  the  body  was  conferred  upon  him.  He  has  filled 
nearly  every  office  in  the  Grand  Commandery  of  Knights 
Templar  of  this  State,  and  for  twenty  one  3rears  served  in  one 
position  or  another  in  the  Grand  Chapter  of  Royal  Arch 
Masons  of  the  United  States,  of  which  body  he  is  now  Past 
General  Grand  Captain  General.  In  the  troublous  anti-masonic 
period,  when  the  fraternity  was  the  object  of  such  suspicion 
that  the  attempt  to  hold  their  assemblages  was  attended  with 
difficulty,  and  in  some  places  with  danger,  and  when  most 
masonic  bodies  were  broken  up,  Mr.  Barnum  held  to  the  prin- 
ciples of  the  order,  and  labored  to  keep  alive  the  organization 
in  Utica.  He  has,  since  that  time,  presided  at  numberless  con- 
secrations, dedications,  funerals  and  layings  of  corner  stones. 
He  witnessed  the  ceremony  attendant  on  the  laying  of   the 


THE  SECOND  CHARTER.  355 

foundation  of  the  Washington  monument  and  thsft  of  the  com- 
pletion of  the  Bunker  Hill  monument,  as  well  as  those  con- 
nected with  the  inauguration  of  the  monument  to  Worcester,  at 
Danbury,  and  the  one  in  honor  of  Franklin,  at  Boston.  In 
1849,  he  was  present  at  the  completion  of  the  monument  to 
Frederick  the  Great,  at  Berlin,  and  was  honored  with  a  seat  in 
the  Grand  Lodge  of  Germany. 

His  present  residence  on  Broad  street  Mr.  Baruum  has  occu- 
pied forty  years.  And  though  he  has  no  other  duties  to  occupy 
him  than  his  attendance  on  the  directors'  meetings  of  the 
Oneida  Bank,  he  yet  takes  an  earnest  interest  in  affairs.  His 
church  connections  have  been  with  the  Universalists  since  they 
first  met  as  a  society  inUtica,  in  1825.  He  was  one  of  the  orig- 
inal subscribers  to  the  fund  for  establishing  the  Liberal  Insti- 
tute, at  Clinton,  and  was  elected  a  member  of  the  first  board 
of  trustees,  an  office  that  he  has  continued  to  hold  for  forty-five 
years.  His  wife,  to  whom  he  was  married  in  May  1815,  was 
Miss  Mary  Ostrom.  She  died  in  July  1875.  He  has  two  sons 
in  Buffalo  and  one  in  Chicago,  and  one  daughter  (Mrs.  I.  C. 
Mcintosh).    Mrs.  D.  Y.  W.  Golden  and  two  sons  being  deceased. 

Comfort  Butler  was  enrolled  as  a  soldier  at  Unionstown, 
Pennsylvania,  in  August  1812,  and  after  a  year's  service,  he 
was  discharged  at  Sacketts  Harbor.  In  August  1813,  he  and 
William  Jones  commenced  saddlery  together  in  Utica.  They 
dissolved  their  connection  three  years  afterward.  Mr.  Butler 
carried  on  the  business  until  1828,  when  in  cooperation  with 
Mr.  Peale,  of  Philadelphia,  he  opened  a  museum  in  what  is  now 
the  Carton  block,  this  building  having  been  erected  for  such 
purpose.  Within  a  few  months  he  became  totally  blind.  Aided 
by  his  family,  he  continued  some  years  longer  his  attractive 
museum,  with  its  numerous  curiosities  and  its  frequent  exhibi- 
tions of  various  kinds,  that  made  it  the  chief  place  of  resort  of 
its  time.  But  about  1850,  this  worthy  and  much  commiserated 
man  moved,  with  his  large  family,  to  Brooklyn,  and  there  he 
died ;  his  widow  is  still  in  Brooklyn.  William,  the  eldest  son, 
was  for  some  time  a  crockery  merchant  in  Utica,  and  two  of 
the  older  daughters,  Mrs.  Eoth  and  Mrs.  Bennett,  found  hus- 
bands in  the  place. 

William  Jones  became  a  grocer  after  his  separation  from 
Mr.  Butler,  apd  kept  a  family  grocery  store  at  the  lower  end 


356  THE  PIONEERS  OF  UTICA. 

of  Genesee  street.  He  appeared  afterward  as  a  surveyor,  and 
served  the  village  in  this  capacity,  and  when  he  died,  at  Nor- 
wich, he  was  making  surveys  for  the  proposed  route  of  tlie 
Chenango  canal.  His  wife  was  a  daughter  of  Evan  Owens  (of 
1799).  After  his  death  she  married  Richard  Huntington.  His 
daughter,  Mrs.  Erastus  Blauvelt,  is  still  in  Utica. 

At  some  time  during  the  residence  of  Mr.  Jones,  a  brother  of 
his,  named  Anson,  was  studying  medicine  with  one  of  the  village 
physicians.  Of  the  further  histor}'  of  Anson  Jones,  the  writer 
can  learn  nothing  but  the  single  fact  that  he  became  president 
of  Texas. 

James  C.  DeLong,  a  morocco  dresser,  who  made  his  debut 
in  Utica  in  January  of  this  year,  survives  to  this  day,  a  hale 
and  vigorous  looking  citizen,  to  all  appearance  as  sprightly  and 
youthful  in  feeling  as  he  was  then.  In  1814  he  entered  into 
partnership  with  William  Clark,  their  stand  being  opposite  the 
old  Coffee  House  of  Judge  Ostrum.  His  business,  intermitted, 
a  month  for  military  service  at  Sacketts  Harbor,  was  shortly 
renewed.  Soon  they  were  below  Catherine,  but  still  on  the  east 
side  of  Genesee.  In  1820,  Mr.  DeLong  had  his  factory  in  the 
gulf,  now  covered  by  the  sluggish  waters  of  the  Big  Basin. 
After  being  driven  thence  he  dealt  in  wool  and  transformed 
skins  into  leather  on  Water  street  near  Division,  his  house 
being  above,  on  Whitesboro  street.  For  several  years  he  has 
been  free  of  the  cares  of  business.  He  was  long  in  fellowship 
with  the  Methodists  of  Utica,  was  one  of  the  trustees  at  the 
incorporation  of  the  Church,  and  after  the  erection  of  the  edifice 
on  Bleecker  street,  he  for  some  time  held  the  title  to  the  pro- 
perty. With  the  anti-slavery  cause  he  was  associated  in  its 
darkest  days  of  ill-favor,  and  went  as  a  delegate  to  the  conven- 
tion of  1835.  Having  outlived  two  wives  and  raised  two  fami- 
lies, he  has  now  a  third.  A  younger  member  of  his  second 
famil}^  is  M.  B.  DeLong,  furniture  dealer. 

A  neighbor  of  Mr.  DeLong,  in  the  gulf,  was  Nehemiah  Brown, 
butcher,  brother  of  Enos  Brown,  before  mentioned.  At  first  he 
was  on  Whitesboro  street,  near  Genesee,  and  was  grocer  as  well 
as  butcher,  but  the  latter  was  his  chief  ofiice  throughout  his 
residence.      After  leaving  the  neighborhood  of  the  basin,  his 


THE  SECOND  CHARTER.  357 

slaughtering  was  done  lower  down  Ballou's  creek  and  near  its 
outlet,  his  house  being  then  on  Main,  east  of  Second  street 
Three  houses  of  the  brick  row,  at  the  lower  end  of  Broadway, 
were  built  by  him  :  he  died  about  1850.  Big  and  burly  in  person, 
his  "  talk  was  of  oxen,"  the  town's  talk  of  his  oxen.  Three  of 
his  sons  are  living. 

Elder  David  G-riffith,  of  the  Welsh  Baptist  Church,  though 
adequate  for  the  duties  that  especially  belonged  to  him,  was 
not  so  conversant  with  the  English  language  as  to  be  at  his  ease 
in  speaking  it.  On  the  occasion  of  the  baptism  of  one  of  his 
flock  at  the  river,  he  felt  called  on  to  address  the  numerous  spec- 
tators who  were  standing  near,  and  started  oft'  bravely  enough, 
but  was  soon  brought  to  a  stand  by  his  poverty  of  language,  and 
was  forced  to  end  rather  abruptly  in  pantomime.  Having  begun 
in  a  very  loud  voice,  he  screamed  out,  "  My  friends,  you  all  heard 
of  Philip  and  Eunuch  ;  they  went  down  to  water,"  and  then,  after 
a  pause,  "  Did  they  stay  there  ?  No !  Philip  did  as  you  see 
me."     A  plunge  finished  his  speech. 

Other  new  comers  of  1813  were  Joshua  M.  Church  and 
Stephen  Herrick,  carpenters  and  joiners — the  former  a  builder 
and  lumber  dealer  of  prominence,  and  a  popular  and  good 
citizen,  some  time  supervisor  and  director  of  the  Utica  Savings 
Bank,  and  father  of  Joshua  W.  Church,  who  is  now  resident,  the 
latter  in  the  employ  of  Mr.  Culver,  and  having  a  family  of 
three  or  four  children  ;  Orson  Seymour,  officer  of  the  Bank  of 
Utica,  who  was  transferred  to  the  cashiership  of  its  branch  at 
Canandaigua ;  Ira  J.  Hitchcock,  deputy  to  the  county  clerk, 
and  a  marvellously  skillful  penman,  but  whose  accomplishment 
proved  his  snare  and  brought  him  to  shame  ;  Ulysses  F.  Doub- 
leday,  a  journeyman  printer  on  the  press  of  Seward  &  Williams, 
afterwards  an  able  journalist,  and  twice  elected  a  member  of 
Congress,  the  father  of  Major  General  and  Colonel  Doubleday, 
of  the  late  war ;  John  and  Jacob  Schaefer,  saddlers,  of  whom 
one  only  was  resident  in  1820,  nor  he  a  few  years  later ;  John 
Todd,  and  Smead  &  Cable,  cabinet  makers  ;  George  Green,  boat- 
man ;  Lemuel  and  Shuthelah  Wilcox,  the  latter  of  whom 
drummed  the  enlisted  men  into  rank,  while  the  former  trans- 
ported them  in  his  boats  on  the  river ;  and  after  the  war  was  over. 


358  THE  PIONEERS  OF  UTICA. 

did  bis  boating  on  tbe  canal ;  Jedediab  Marvin,-  successor  to  Mr 
Macomber,  as  "  the  man  who  rings  the  bell ;"  Cornelius  Davis^ 
laborer;  Mrs.  Lois  Wliite,  mother  of  Olive  and  Susan,  two  well 
known  dressmakers,  and  of  John,  a  wheelwright ;  William 
Lowell,  Charles  Smith,  Susannah  Howell,  Rebecca  Van  Syce,, 
etc. 

1814. 

At  the  annual  meeting  held  in  the  spring  of  1814,  the 
Market  house  was  still  a  matter  of  disagreement  among  the 
inhabitants.  A  motion  to  sell  the  same  was  lost  by  a  majority 
of  three.  A  motion  to  remove  it  to  some  other  place  was 
j)assed  b}^  a  majority  of  six ;  but  on  reconsideration,  this  reso- 
lution was  also  lost  by  a  vote  of  eighteen  against  eleven.  The 
vexatious  subject  continued,  however,  to  rankle  in  the  minds 
of  those  who  deemed  themselves  most  incommoded  by  what 
others  deemed  so  very  essential.  And  when,  in  October,  the 
trustees  passed  an  ordinance  allowing  any,  one  to  sell  meat  in 
any  quantity  and  at  any  hour,  provided  it  be  done  in  the 
Market  square,  and  in  accordance  with  the  ordinances,  these 
dissentients  appealed  to  the  trustees  to  call  another  meeting 
of  the  inhabitants  to  consider  the  propriety  of  disposing  of 
the  market.  Such  special  meeting  was  accordingly  held,  when 
D.  W.  Childs  submitted  the  following  preamble  and  resolution, 
which  was  carried,  though  not  without  a  show  of  opposition 
from  Arthur  Breese,  the  original  projector  of  the  market : 

"  Whereas,  In  the  opinion  of  this  meeting  the  market  in  the 
village  of  Utica,  is  situate  in  a  very  improper  place,  and  whereas 
the  removal  of  the  same  would  be  of  public  utilit}^,  therefore, 
Resolved,  That  after  the  expiration  of  the  term  for  which  the 
stalls  in  said  market  are  let,  the  trustees  be,  and  the  same  are 
hereby  authorized  to  cause  said  market  to  be  removed  to ." 

The  blank  was  then  filled  by  designating  the  corner  of 
Division  and  Water  street  as  its  resting  place,  and  seventy-five 
dollars  were  ap})ropriated  for  its  removal.  Marketing  for  the 
future  w^as  made  free  to  everybody,  and  at  all  times  and  places. 
And  at  a  meeting  of  trustees  held  on  the  following  day,  the 
by-laws  relating  to  the  market  were  rescinded,  and  thus  was  set 
at  rest,  for  some  j^ears  at  least,  this  most  perplexing  and  faction- 
provoking  question. 


THE  SECOND  CHARTER.  359 

The  trustees  who  held  office  during  the  year  were  Talcott 
Camp,  Jeremiah  Van  Kensselaer,  Natlian  WilHams,  Kilhan 
Winne,  and  Samuel  Stocking.  J.  C.  Hoyt  was  continued  as 
treasurer,  and  Nicholas  Smith  as  collector.  When  the  board 
first  met  after  their  election,  they  again  made  Mr.  Camp  their 
president  and  Jolin  H.  Ostrom,  clerk.  At  one  of  their  meetings 
held  later  in  the  course  of  the  year,  they  appointed  William  H. 
Maynard,  village  attorney,  in  the  place  of  Thomas  Skinner,  the 
latter  having  become  about  this  time  captain  of  an  artillery 
company,  destined  for  Sacketts  Harbor. 

The  most  important  business  of  the  board  during  the  year, 
respects  an  improvement  which  we  are  surprised  to  learn  has 
not  been  made  before.  That  a  thrifty  village  of  seventeen  hun- 
dred to  eighteen  huudred  inhabitants,  and  which  has  already 
earned  the  appellation  of  commercial  capital  of  the  county, 
should  be  destitute  of  so  common  a  convenience  as  sidewalks, 
seems  to  us,  who  enjoy  so  many  rarer  privileges,  truly  astonish- 
ing. Yet  so  it  is,  that  not  until  the  23d  of  May,  ISi-i,  do' we 
find  an  ordinance  passed  "  for  the  better  improving  the  streets 
of  Utica,  and  making  the  sidewalks  in  said  village."  This 
ordinance  required  the  owners  or  occupants  of  houses  on  both, 
sides  of  Genesee  street,  from  Bleecker  to  Water,  on  both  sides 
of  Whitesboro,  from  Genesee  to  the  corner  east  of  Inman's 
brewery  (Broadway),  on  both  sides  of  Main  as  far  as  First,  and 
thence  on  its  south  side  as  far  as  Bridge,  to  make  sidewalks  for 
foot  travellers  within  ninety  days,  in  the  manner  prescribed,  or 
be  subject  to  a  fine  of  twenty  dollars,  and  a  further  one  of 
two  dollars  and  a  half  for  every  month  of  neglect  thereafter. 
The  sidewalks  of  Genesee  street  were  to  be  fifteen  feet  in  width, 
and  to  be  constructed  of  smooth  or  cobble  stone,  from  Whites- 
boro to  Catherine,  except  between  the  stoops,  where,  at  the 
owners  option,  they  might  be  made  of  gravel.  Elsewhere, 
that  is  to  say,  on  Whitesboro  and  Main  streets,  these  walks 
were  to  be  ten  feet  from  the  front  line  of  the  lots,  and  of  smooth 
or  cobble  stone,  or  of  good  clean  gravel,  at  the  option  of  the 
maker.  The  same  liberty  with  respect  to  material,  was  allowed 
on  Genesee,  below  Whitesboro  and  above  Catherine  to  Bleecker, 
a  street  which  seems  now  first  to  be  officially  recognized.  The 
outer  border  of  these  walks  was  to  be  protected  by  timber  and 
a  line  of  posts,  except  where  passages  to  barns  were  needed. 


360  THE  PIONEERS  OF  UTICA. 

The  ordinance  likewise  forbade  driving  upon  the  sidewalks, 
unless  it  were  to  leave  or  take  away  loading,  the  making  of 
fires  to  heat  wagon  wheels,  or  the  fastening  of  a  horse  or  leav- 
ing of  a  wagon  thereupon.  In  September,  additional  sidewalks 
ten  feet  wdde,  but  of  optional  material,  were  ordered  to  be  con- 
structed on  the  north  side  of  Liberty  street,  from  the  office  of 
Joseph  Kirkland,  as  far  as  the  Presbyterian  meeting-house,  and 
on  the  south  side  of  Broad  street,  from  the  corner  of  James 
Van  Eenssalaer's  store,  to  the  Episcopal  church.  Pleased,  appa- 
rently, with  the  improvements  effected,  and  yet  not  satisfied  that 
all  had  been  done  w^hich  was  necessary  or  becoming,  the  trustees, 
in  October,  proceeded  to  order  at  the  public  expense,  the  laying 
of  crosswalks  at  all  the  principal  intersections.  Those  of  Gen- 
esee and  Whitesboro  streets  were  to  be  of  flagging,  two  feet 
wide  and  protected  by  timbers,  while  a  three  foot  width  of 
gravel,  similarly  bordered,  was  thought  to  be  sufficient  for  the 
intersections  of  less  travelled  highways.  The  work,  thus  or- 
dered by  the  trustees,  involved  an  expense  not  anticipated  by 
their  constituents,  and  for  which  no  funds  had  been  provided, 
and  it  was  the  first  instance  in  which  the  board  had  overrun 
their  estimates.  But  at  the  special  meeting  o'f  inhabitants 
which  occurred  shortly  afterward,  the  latter  sanctioned  the  act, 
requested  the  trustees  to  procure  the  stone  that  would  be  needed, 
and  agreed  to  pay  for  the  same. 

One  further  proceeding  of  this  board  of  1814,  is  worthy  of 
mention,  suggestive  as  it  is  of  the  war  and  the  scai'city  of  currency 
wdiich  this  entailed.  Having  first  obtained  a  promise  from  the 
officers  of  the  Manhattan  Branch  Bank,  that  in  case  of  the 
issue  of  notes  by  the  board,  the  bank  would  redeem  them,  they 
passed,  in  February  1815,  the  following  resolution:  '■'■Resolved^ 
That  corporation  bills,  not  to  exceed  five  thousand  dollars,  be 
issued,  signed  by  the  president,  and  made  payable  at  the  Man- 
hattan Branch  Bank."  The  bills  were  all  of  fractional  currency, 
and  of  six  different  denominations,  ranging  from  three  to  seven- 
ty-five cents.  Specimens  are  still  preserved,  which  were  issued 
during  this  and  the  two  succeeding  years,  bearing  the  name  of 
the  president  of  the  year. 

The  Capron  Cotton  Manufacturing  Company  went  into  opera- 
tion at  New  Hartford,  in  the  year  181-1.  Of  its  capital  rather 
more  tlian  one-third  was  subscribed  by  citizens  of  Utica ;  the 


THE  SECOND  CHARTER.  361 

heaviest  subscribers  being  Seth  Capron,   of  Whitesboro,  and 
Jeremiah  Van  Kensselaer,  and  Asahel  Seward,  of  Utica. 

It  was  in  1814,  also,  on  the  28th  of  March,  that  the  first 
charter  was  obtained  of  the  Utica  Academy.  But  the  getting 
a  charter  was  the  simplest  part  of  founding  such  a  school ;  and 
as  much  difficulty  was  encountered,  and  a  long  delay  occurred 
before  the  building  was  erected  and  the  school  put  in  progress, 
I  defer  a  further  notice  until  we  reach  a  more  prominent  era  in 
its  histor^^ 

A  brief  notice  has  already  been  taken  of  the  Female  Charit- 
able Society  of  Whitestown,  founded  in  1806.  In  181-4,  this 
society  reappears  under  the  title  of  the  Female  Missionary 
Society  of  Oneida.  The  preamble  to  its  constitution,  opens 
with  the  same  language  with  that  of  the  first  one,  viz.  :  '■  The 
subscribers,  believing  that  a  portion  of  the  bounties  of  Provi- 
dence," etc.,  and  to  this  succeeds,  the  following,  viz. :  "  From  the 
success  this  institution  has  been  crowned  with,  we  are  encouraged 
to  hope  for  stillgreater favor."  The  presumption  is  reasonable, 
therefore,  that  the  newly  named  society  was  but  a  continuation 
of  the  former.  In  one  of  its  annual  reports  it  is  stated  that 
it  was  originally  an  auxiliary  to  the  Hampshire  Missionary 
Society, — which  was  an  association  organized  at  Northamton, 
Mass.,  in  1802,  and  designed  to  propagate  the  Gospel  among 
the  inhabitants  of  the  new  settlements  of  the  United  States — 
that  it  became  independent  in  the  year  1814,  under  the  name 
of  the  Female  Missionary  Society  of  Oneida,  and  that  in  1817, 
after  having  extended  its  operations,  it  took  the  title  of  the 
Female  Missionary  Society  of  the  Western  District.  In  the 
account  given  by  Hotchkin*  of  the  Grenesee  Missionary  Society, 
mention  is  made  of  several  of  its  auxiliaries,  that  bore  the  title 
of  Female  Charitable  Missionary  Societies,  and  were  designed 
to  cooperate  in  missionary  work  with  a  central  head. 

The  association  was  made  up  of  ladies  from  different  towns 
in  the  county  and  having  numerous  branches  in  connection 
with  it.  It  w^as  governed,  in  1814,  by  ten  trustees,  and  had  for 
its  president  Mrs.  Susan  B,  Snowden  of  New  Hartford,  and  for 
its  secretary  Mrs.  Ann  Breese  of  Utica.  Forty-six  of  its  sub- 
scribers were  from  Utica.  The  receipts  into  the  treasury  for 
the  year  1819  amounted  to  more  than  thirteen  hundred  dollars. 
*  History  of  Western  New  York. 


362  THE  PIONEERS  OF  UTICA. 

The  only  annual  reports  which  the  writer  has  seen  are  those  of 
1822  and  1827.  The  former  of  these  show^s  that  the  parent 
society  had  then  fift}^  branches  scattered  all  over  the  western 
and  northern  portions  of  the  State,  numbering  from  thirteen  to 
seventy  four  members  each.  The  contributions  of  the  year 
ending  September  3,  1822,  amounted  to  $1,175.62.  The  num- 
ber of  missionaries  employed  from  time  to  time  iii  the  course  of 
the  year  was  eleven.  Their  whole  time,  had  it  been  all  thus 
consumed  by  one  of  them  only,  would  have  amounted  to  thirty 
months,  for  most  of  them  were  ministers  who  had  engagements, 
more  or  less  engrossing,  with  churches  in  the  neighborhood  of 
then-  missionary  fields,  and  could  give  but  a  few  weeks  of  the 
year  to  the  call  of  this  society.  The  region  of  country  covered 
by  their  labors  extended  to  St.  Lawrence  countj^  on  the  nortli, 
to  Otsego  on  the  south  and  to  Niagara  on  the  west.  The  re- 
ports of  the  missionaries  embraced  in  the  general  report,  show 
that  they  were  actively  and  usefully  engaged,  chiefly  in  preach- 
ing and  in  visiting  from  house  to  house.  They  established 
Sunday  schools,  helped  destitute  churches  to  get  pastors,  and 
afforded  aid  to  numerous  infant  ones ;  they  encouraged  the 
branches  of  the  parent  society  and  obtained  j^atronage  for  the 
latter,  besides  setting  in  motion  springs  of  benevolence  that 
touched  upon  temperance,  education,  Bible  and  tract  distribu- 
tion, and  mission  work  in  foreign  countries.  The  greater  part 
of  the  district  embraced  within  the  care  of  this  society  was,  at 
the  commencement  of  its  operations,  a  moral  wilderness;  little 
had  yet  been  done  within  its  bounds  in  the  wa}"  of  systematic 
and  efficient  missionary  labor.  The  report  of  one  of  its  em- 
ployes of  the  year  1821,  shows  that  in  the  whole  county  of  Gen- 
esee there  was  but  one  Presbyterian  minister  who  had  a  pas- 
toral charge,  and  that  there  was  but  one  in  charge,  likewise,  in 
that  part  of  the  county  of  Livingston  which  lies  west  of  the  Gen- 
esee river.  The  sections  included  within  the  range  of  the  other 
laborers  were,  in  general,  but  little  more  favored  in  spiritual 
matters.  The  parent  society,  having  its  seat  in  Oneida  county, 
was  managed  by  fifteen  trustees,  all  ladies,  chosen  from  eight 
towns  of  the  county.  Hannah  P.,  wife  of  President  Davis  of 
Hamilton  College,  was  the  president  of  the  society,  and  Electa 
Eandal  and  Cynthia  Risley,  her  mother,  both  of  New  Hartford, 
were  the  secretary  and  the  treasurer  respectively.     Mrs.  Joseph 


THE  SECOND  CHARTEE.  863 

Kirkland,  Mrs.  Walter  King  and  Mrs.  William  Tillman  consti- 
tuted the  trustees  from  Utica,  which  place  contained  a  larger 
number  of  members  than  any  other  town.  One  of  the  mission- 
aries of  the  society,  during  the  year  1821-2,  was  Kev.  David  E. 
Dixon,  the  teacher  heretofore  noticed :  another  was  Eev.  Sam- 
uel T.  Mills,  the  first  principal  of  the  Utica  Academy.  In  the 
year  1824,  Rev.  Charles  Gr.  Finney,  the  well  known  revival 
preacher,  was  one  of  the  missionaries  of  this  society,  and  this 
was  his  first  ministerial  duty.  Some  of  the  results  of  his  efforts 
at  this  time  are  related  in  his  Autobiography. 

From  the  society's  report  of  1827,  we  learn  that  Mrs.  Davis 
was  still  the  president  and  Mrs.  Risley  treasurer.  The  trustees 
from  Utica  were  Mrs.  King,  Mrs.  Alexander  Seymour  and  Mrs. 
Oren  Clark.  Six  missionaiies  had  been  in  service  during  the 
year,  and  the  amount  of  money  received  was  $637.22.  In  hope 
of  more  extended  usefulness,  it  was  determined  at  the  annual 
meeting  to  become  auxihary  to  the  Western  Domestic  Mission- 
ary Society,  an  organization  which  was  created  June  7,  1S26,. 
which  had  similar  objects  and  the  same  field  of  operations  with 
their  own,  and  employed  a  local  agent  at  Utica.  This  connec- 
tion was  continued  until  the  dissolution  of  the  Western  Domes- 
tic Society,  about  two  years  later,  and  the  supply  of  its  place  by 
the  central  agency  of  the  American  Home  Missionary  Society. 

A  young  people's  missionary  society  was  also  formed  in  the 
county,  about  this  time,  in  which  the  people  of  Utica  bore  only 
a  part  in  conjunction  with  residents  elsewhere ;  but  as  Utica 
was  the  seat  of  its  operations,  some  account  of  it  belongs  appro- 
priately to  the  place  and  the  time.  In  the  year  1813,  some 
pious  youth  in  Hamilton  College  conceived  the  design  of  a  mis- 
sionary society,  to  be  composed  chiefly  of  young  people,  whose 
object  it  should  be  to  send  missionaries  into  the  destitute  parts 
of  the  western  district  of  New  York.  They  received  the  coun- 
tenance of  the  Presbyter}^  of  Oneida,  a  few  branch  societies 
were  formed,  and  in  February  181-1,  a  meeting  of  delegates  was 
held  at  New  Hartford,  and  $58.25  were  paid  over  to  the  treas- 
urer. In  February  1815,  the  annual  meeting  was  held  at  Clin- 
ton, and  an  address  was  delivered  by  Rev.  Azel  Backus,  D.  D.^ 
President  of  Hamilton  College.  Ten  branch  societies  were  rep- 
resented, and  $289.84  was  placed  in  the  treasur}^     In  June  fob 


36-1  THE   PIONEERS  OF  UTICA. 

lowing  the  society  appointed  Miles  P.  Squires,  a  student  of  the 
seminary  at  Andover,  as  a  missionary.  His  more  particular 
designation  was  to  explore  the  more  unsettled  portions  of  the 
country,  and  form  auxiliaries  in  the  principal  villages  and  towns 
in  Western  New  York.  This  service  he  performed  with  inde- 
fatigable industry  and  success,  and  made  so  strong  an  impres- 
sion on  the  people  of  Buffalo,  that  they  settled  him  among  them. 
In  February  1816,  the  annual  meeting  was  held  at  Whitesboro, 
and  the  sermon  delivered  by  Rev.  Asahel  Norton  of  Clinton. 
Thu'teen  branches  were  reported,  among  which,  for  the  first 
time,  appeared  one  from  ITtica.  The  amount  raised  was  $-143.50. 
During  this  year  several  missionaries  were  appointed.  Elisha 
P.  Swift,  a  licentiate  from  Princeton,  travelled  through  the  south- 
western counties  of  the  district,  and  describes  them  as,  in 
general,  deplorably  destitute  of  religious  instruction.  Elam 
Clark,  a  theological  student  from  Schenectady,  who  was  also  em- 
ploj^ed  by  the  society,  followed  verj-  nearly  the  route  of  Mr. 
Squires,  preached  over  one  hundred  and  fifty  sermons,  assisted 
in  forming  some  branch  societies,  and  obtained  some'  funds. 
The  next  annual  meetino-,  in  1817,  was  held  at  Onondaga,  and 
the  sermon  preached  by  Rev.  John  Frost  of  Whitesboro.  The 
amount  of  receipts  reported  was  $839.34.  The  subsequent  pro- 
ceedings of  the  association  I  am  unable  to  trace,  as  the  report 
of  this  year  is  the  last  I  have  seen.  I  know  only,  that  as  mis- 
sionary they  appointed  Rev.  George  A.  Calhoun,  from  Salisbury, 
a  man  of  fine  abilities,  whose  classical  education  had  been  in 
part  obtained  at  Hamilton  College,  but  who  had  now  just  grad- 
uated at  Andover.  He,  too,  travelled  through  the  western  part 
of  the  State,  and  especially  in  Genesee  county,  and  was  success- 
ful in  setting  up  auxiliary  societies.  From  the  report  of  1817, 
it  would  appear  that  the  next  annual  meeting  was  to  be  held  at 
Auburn,  and  that  the  Reverends  Henry  Dwight,  John  Frost 
and  Noah  Coe  were  constituted  a  committee  to  prepare  the  re- 
port. Mr.  Hotchkin  *  assei'ts  that  "  for  several  years  this  society 
did  considerable  to  supply  the  destitutions  "  of  that  part  of  the 
State.  It  was  composed  ])rincipally  of  young  people,  who  paid 
twenty-five  cents  on  admission  to  membership,  and  a  quarterly 
tax  of  the  same  amount  Individuals,  over  thirty  years  of  age, 
might  become  advisory  members  for  the  term  of  two  years  on 

*  History  of  Western  New  York. 


THE  SECOND  CHARTER.  365 

the  payment  of  one  dollar,  but  were  not  allowed  to  vote.  The 
principal  officers  of  the  parent  society  w  ere  adults,  and  for  the 
most  part  Presbyterian  ministers.  Ebenezer  Griffin,  then  of 
Clinton,  though  shortly  afterward  of  Utica,  acted  as  treasurer. 
The  number  of  members  of  all  the  auxiliar}'  branches,  which 
were  located  throughout  the  western  portion  of  the  State,  M-as 
fourteen  hundred  and  fifty.  This  society,  like  the  one  just 
described,  was  eventually  merged  in  the  Western  Domestic  Mis- 
sionary Society. 

In  April  of  this  j'ear  there  was  formed  among  the  Welsh,  an 
association  for  the  support  of  its  members  in  time  of  affliction 
and  want.  It  was  incorporated  the  following  year,  under  the 
title  of  the  Ancient  Britons  Benevolent  Society.  By  virtue  of 
a  small  monthl}-  payment  each  member  received,  in  case  of  sick- 
ness, two  dollars  per  week ;  and  in  case  of  death,  twenty  dol- 
dars  was  paid  the  widow  or  nearest  relative,  to  defray  the 
expense  of  the  funeral.  In  1828,  the  society  had  eighty-six 
members,  and  a  fund  of  six  hundred  and  fifty  dollars.  On  the 
23d  of  jSIay  in  the  following  year  its  charter  was  renewed.  It 
had  paid  within  the  year  three  hundred  dollars  as  benefits  to 
its  members.  By  the  year  1845,  its  fund  had  increased  to 
$1,225,  and  there  was  requu-ed  an  initiation  fee  of  three  dol- 
lars, and  an  annual  payment  of  a  like  sum.     It  is  now  extinct. 

On  the  16th  of  August,  1814,  was  organized  the  Utica  Bap- 
tist Foreign  Missionary  Society.  It  is  still  in  existence,  and 
auxiliary  to  what  was  known  as  the  Triennial  Baptist  Conven- 
tion, now  the  American  Baptist  Union. 

It  will  have  been  observed  that  the  newly  appointed  officials 
of  the  year  comprise  two  men  not  named  before.  These  men 
were  afterward  conspicuous  in  the  annals  of  both  town  and 
county,  one  of  them,  in  fact,  by  reason  of  his  great  endow- 
ments and  the  influence  he  exerted,  accpTiring  a  very  much 
wider  celebrity. 

Let  me  essay  first  a  sketch  of  the  latter,  and,  with  befitting 
humility,  do  my  best  to  set  in  order  the  facts  I  have  been 
able  to  collect  relating  to  the  life  and  character  of  William 
Hale  Maynard,  one  of  the  ablest  lawyers  and  acutest  and  best 
furnished  intellects  of   any  that  has  ever  made    his  home  in 


S66  THE  PIONEERS  OF  UTICA. 

/ 

Utica.  He  was  the  son  of  Malachi  and  Anna  (Hale)  Maynard, 
of  Conway,  Mass.  His  father  was  the  second  of  tliirteen  sons 
of  Ebenezer  Maynard,  who  was  the  grandson  of  John,  one  of 
the  founders  of  Marlborough,  Mass.,  and  great-grandson  of  the 
John  Maynard,  who,  corning  from  England  in  1638,  became  one 
of  the  original  grantees  of  the  town  of  Sudbury  in  that  State. 
Malachi  Maynard,  an  intelligent  farmer,  "  was  a  genuine  old 
New  Englander  and  a  puritan,  and  a  good  specimen  of  both : 
strong  in  body  and  in  mind,  resolute,  independent,  upright,  re- 
ligious, staying  put  in  his  place.  He  had  but  six  weeks  school- 
ing, was  twenty  six  years  town  treasurer,  figured  in  his  head 
and  figured  right,  and  settled  right  after  he  had  figured."  He 
took  a  decided  stand  for  the  rights  of  the  colonies  and  held 
positions  on  important  committees.  He  was  representative  to 
the  general  court,  1799-1801,  and  a  member  of  the  convention 
of  1788  which  adopted  the  Federal  constitution.  Anna  Hale, 
his  second  wife  and  the  mother  of  six  of  his  ten  children,  was 
daughter  of  Captain  Thomas  Hale,  of  Brookfield,  Mass.,  who 
was  likewise  a  leading  man  in  his  town.  Among  her  brothers 
there  was  a  State  Senator  of  Mass.,  a  ca})tain  of  the  Revolu 
tionary  army,  and  two  highly  respected  physicians,  one  of  them 
a  surgeon  in  the  same  army,  who  afterwards  settled  in  West- 
chester county,  N.  Y.,  and  married  a  daughter  of  General 
"William  Paulding.  William  H,  who  was  the  eldest  of  the 
mother's  children,  was  born  in  Conwa}^,  November  23,  1786. 
His  early  years  were  characterized  by  filial  obedience,  strict 
integrity,  studious  habits,  and  an  ever  increasing  thirst  for 
knowledge.  He  fitted  for  college  under  the  tuition  of  Rev. 
Mr.  Hallock  of  Plainfield.  In  December,  1807,  he  was  him- 
self emj^loyed  in  teaching  in  Plainfield,  in  the  district  school. 
One  cold  morning,  as  he  entered  the  school  room,  he  observed 
a  boy  whom  he  had  not  before  seen.  The  lad  soon  made 
known  his  errand.  He  was  fifteen  years  old ;  his  parents  lived 
seven  miles  distant ;  he  wanted  to  obtain  an  education,  and 
had  come  from  home  that  morning  to  consult  Mr.  Maynard  on 
the  subject;  his  parents  were  unable  to  assist  him,  nor  had  he 
friends  on  whom  he  could  rely  for  such  assistance.  Mr.  May- 
nard was  impressed  with  cool  and  resolute  manner,  which 
showed  that  the  young  man  was  willing  to  encounter  difficul- 
ties that  would  intimidate  common  minds;  he  saw  also  that  he 


4\i^ 


^-"T^^^^^  ^.  .^^^a=^^--.*^^^^=^ 


THE  SECOND  CHARTER.  367 

possessed  good  sense,  but  no  uncommon  brilliancy.  He  made 
provision  for  having  him  board  in  the  family  with  whom  he 
was  himself  lodged,  the  lad  paj'ing  his  way  by  manual  labor. 
This  lad  was  Jonas  King,  who  afterwards  became  a  distin- 
guished and  useful  missionarj^  at  Athens  in  Greece,  and  passed 
through  trying  persecution  with  singular  courage  and  fortitude. 
Some  credit  for  the  success  in  after  life  of  this  remarkable 
person  is  surely  due  to  his  first  instructor.*  Mr.  Mayuard  him- 
self entered  Williams  College,  and  was  graduated  in  1810. 
He  and  Justin  Edwards,  were  room-mates  and  rivals  for  the 
valedictory,  and  though  it  was  assigned  to  Mr.  Edwards,  Mr 
Maynard  bore  off  the  second  honor. 

Soon  after  his  graduation  he  removed  to  New  Hartford  in 
Oneida  county,  and  entered  himself  as  a  student  of  law  in  the 
office  of  General  Joseph  Kirkland.  To  some  extent  he  con- 
tinued his  employment  of  teaching,  and  was  at  the  same  time 
diligent  and  laborious  in  the  study  of  his  profession.  Tn  the 
3-ear  1811,  he  purchased  of  John  H.  Lothrop  his  interest  in  the 
Uiica  Patriot^  and  at  once  assumed  its  editorshij^.  With  this 
paper  he  retained  a  connection,  and  was  its  chief  contributor, 
down  to  the  year  1824  While  it  schooled  him  to  the  facile 
use  of  the  pen,  and  kept  him  informed  of  the  political  events 
and  contentions  of  the  day,  its  columns  bore  always  the  im- 
press of  his  clear  and  logical  mind,  and  were  marked  b}'  forci- 
ble argument  and  ample  and  pertinent  illustration.  About  the 
time  of  the  comj^letion  of  his  course  of  legal  stud}'  he  followed 
his  preceptor  to  Utica.  In  December,  1814,  we  hear  of  what 
was  probably  his  first  suit.  In  behalf  of  one  of  the  citizens  of 
the  place,  he  conducted  successfully  a  prosecution  for  assault 
and  batter}^  brought  against  the  recruiting  sergeant  then  tem- 
poraril}-  established  here.  The  diarist  who  mentions  the  inci- 
dent, and  who  witnessed  the  trial,  speaks  of  Mr.  Maynard  as  a 
young  man  of  promising  talents.  In  January  following,  as  has 
been  before  stated,  he  is  made  attorney  of  the  village.  His  first 
associate  in  practice  was  Samuel  A.  Talcott.  Their  office  in 
1816  was  at  No.  4  Broad  street.  Another  attorneyship  which 
he  received  about  this  time  was  of  more  importance  to  him 
pecuniarily  than  that  of  prosecutor  for  the  village.  He  was 
appointed  law  officer  of  the  Utica  Insurance  Company,  which 
*  Durfee's  Biographical  Annals  of  Williams  College. 


368  THE   PIONEERS  OF  UTICA, 

it  will  be  remembered  was  a  banking  company  also,  and  here 
he  laid  the  foundation  of  his  property.  In  1818,  he  was 
admitted  to  practice  in  the  Supreme  Court. 

"But,"  says  Judge  Bacon,*  "he  rose  rapidly  after  he  had 
made  his  first  mark,  and  was  soon  employed  on  one  side  or 
the  other  in  most  of  the  heavy  litigation  that  engaged  the 
attention  of  the  courts  of  the  count3^''  It  was  in  the  Supreme 
Court,  and  that  for  the  correction  of  errors,  that  his  talents 
found  the  best  field  for  their  exercise ;  the  preparation  of  a 
cause  for  trial  in  the  inferio]-  courts,  the  presentation  of  the 
evidence,  and  the  artful  moulding  of  the  Jury  to  an  opinion 
favorable  to  one's  own  client,  were  done  as  well  by  many  others. 
But  in  logical  acumen  and  in  wealth  and  profundity  of  learn- 
ing,— in  exact  perception  of  the  points  at  issue,  and  in  thorough 
elucidation  of  them  by  all  of  law  and  of  precedent  that  were 
citable  and  apposite,  and  that,  too,  in  the  j^resence  of  his  com- 
peers, and  where  reason,  and  not  prejudice  or  feeling,  were  to 
judge, — it  was  here  that  Mr.  Maynard  most  excelled,  and  where 
his  principal  laurels  were  obtained.  For  these  were  his  dis- 
tinguisliing  traits,  and  which  characterized  him  both  as  a  speaker 
and  a  writer.  He  had  little  imagination ;  he  was  not  graceful 
in  manner  nor  finished  in  elocution,  though  the  language  he 
used  was  always  the  pui-est  and  plainest  Saxon.  But  his  men- 
tal vision  was  clear  and  his  reasoning  cogent,  and,  in  addition, 
he  was  possessed  of  a  memorj'-  wonderfully  retentive,  and  whose 
stores  were  ever  at  command.  He  would  try  a  cause  for  days 
together  without  touching  pen  to  jDaper  and  3'et  in  the  end  re- 
tain all  the  evidence  that  had  been  adduced.  At  one  time 
he  was  associated  with  the  late  Hiram  Denio  in  a  suit  in  which 
six  days  had  already  been  consumed  in  the  taking  of  testimony. 
"While  preparing  to  open  his  plea,  he  turned  to  his  as&ociate 
and  asked  for  a  list  of  the  witnesses.  The  latter,  thinking  he 
asked  for  an  abstract  of  their  evidence,  intimated  that  it  would 
require  time  to  make  it  out.  But  this  w^as  not  his  request;  all 
he  wanted  was  the  names  of  the  difi'erent  witnesses  in  the  oi'der 
of  their  appearance.  Furnished  with  such  a  list,  he  proceeded 
with  his  speech,  and  never  tripped  in  his  remembrance  of  every 
})article  of  testimony,  nor  in  marshaling  into  place  all  that  was 
relevant  and  effective.  To  the  foregoing,  communicated  to  the 
*  Early  Bar  of  Oueida  County. 


THE  SECOND  CHARTER.  869 

writer  b}^  Hon.  William  J.  Bacon,  who  had  it  from  Judge 
Denio  himself,  I  add  another  illustrative  incident  obtained  from 
the  lips  of  Hon.  Henry  A.  Foster,  who  was  associated  with  Mr. 
Maynard  in  the  State  Senate.  During  a  session  of  that  body, 
Senator  N,  P.  Tallmadge  introduced  a  bill  for  the  creation  of  a 
whaling  com])any  at  Poughkeepsie.  Though  Mr.  Maynard  had 
had  no  intimation  of  the  intended  introduction  of  any  such  bill, 
he  rose  at  once  and  discoursed  for  nearly  an  hour  upon  the  gen- 
eral subject  of  the  whaling  interest.  Beginning  with  its  earli- 
est experience  in  England,  he  stated  in  detail  the  various  legis- 
lative acts  relating  to  it,  the  successive  bounties,  with  their 
amounts,  that  had  been  offered  for  its  encouragement,  and  the 
issues  of  such  action.  Then  turning  to  the  United  States,  he 
recapitulated  in  like  manner  all  that  had  been  done  by  Congress 
with  reference  to  whaling,  together  with  the  past  and  present 
condition  of  the  business  in  this  country.  Accustomed  to  the 
patient  vigils  of  the  scholar,  Mr.  Maynard  had  laid  up  a  large 
fund  of  general  and  historical  knowledge.  He  could  give  all 
the  details  of  Napoleon's  several  campaigns  and  the  part  taken 
by  each  one  of  his  marshals,  as  well  as  the  personal  peculiarities 
of  these  subordinate  oflficers.  And  this,  let  it  be  borne  in  mind, 
'  was  when  histories  of  these  campaigns  were  rare,  and  news- 
papers and  reviews  furnished  the  most  of  what  was  known  of 
tliem. 

A  mind  thus  copiously  furnished,  and  so  clear  in  its  convic- 
tions, could  not  be  otherwise  than  instructive,  and  its  possessor 
much  sought  both  as  a  companion  in  private  and  as  a  speaker 
in  public.  His  public  addresses  were  spontaneous  and  free,  and 
though  often  abounding  in  facts  and  statistics,  were  delivered 
without  notes,  and  apparentl}^  without  purposed  preparation. 
To  the  confidence  reposed  in  him  as  a  wise  adviser  and  a  skill- 
ful manager  of  the  concerns  of  individuals,  he  added  also  much  in- 
fluence in  matters  of  general  and  political  interest.  He  was 
among  the  early  trustees  of  the  Utica  Academy ;  and  we  are 
informed  by  the  historian  of  that  institution  tliat  from  his  en- 
trance to  the  board,  the  marks  of  his  vigor  and  activity  are 
traceable  in  various  suggestions  and  reports  in  writing,  which, 
although  not  signed  by  him,  are  cognizable  by  his  peculiar 
hand  writing ;  and  also  that  he  was  one  of  a  committee  appointed 
z 


370  THE   PIOXEEKS  OF  UTICA. 

to  make  arrangements  for  the  opening  of  tlie  school,  to  procure 
a  teacher,  and  devise  a  system  of*instruction. 

In  pohtics,  Mr.  Maynard  was  the  leading  spirit  of  tlie  Adams 
administration  in  this  county,  his  most  formidable  opponent 
being  Samuel  Beardsley.  In  1819,  when  DeWitt  Clinton  was 
nominated  as  Governor  in  opposition  to  Daniel  D.  Tompkins, 
he  left  the  Federal  party,  which  had  now  almost  ceased  to  exist 
as  an  organized  faction,  and  took  sides  with  the  fifty-one  "high- 
minded  "  gentlemen  who  befriended  Grovernor  Tompldna  Nat- 
urally he  soon  began  to  manifest  liis  change  of  sentiment  by  a 
change  in  the  tone  and  conduct  of  the  paper  which  he  managed. 
Messrs.  Seward  &  Williams,  the  publishers  and  chief  owners  of 
the  Patriot,  were  startled  at  this  sudden  revolution  in  the  char- 
acter of  their  paper,  and  alarmed  l>y  the  falling  off  of  its  sub- 
scribers. Legal  advisers,  whom  they  consulted,  recommended 
the  setting  up  of  a  new  one  as  their  onl}^  mode  of  relief ;  and 
accordingly  they  started  the  Utica  Sentinel.  At  once  they  were 
met  by  a  prosecution  from  Mr.  Maynard.  How,  and  to  what 
extent  they  rendered  themselves  liable  for  so  doing,  and  which 
of  the  parties  was  most  at  fault  in  the  whole  transaction,  de- 
pends, of  course,  on  the  terms  of  the  contract  between  them,  and 
of  these  I  am  ignorant.  The  case  was  submitted  to  three  ref-' 
erees,  and  they  rendered  a  verdict  for  the  plaintiff  of  $7,500. 
Another  suit  of  a  personal  and  political  nature  in  which  he  was 
once  engaged,  was  one  for  libel,  brought  against  him  by  Sam- 
uel Beardsley.  The  libellous  words  were  contained  in  an  arti- 
cle written  by  Mr.  Maynard  for  the  Utica  Sentinel  and  Gazette^ 
and  which  appeared  on  the  20th  of  June,  1828.  They  were  in 
the  form  of  a  letter,  without  signature,  but  intended  to  be  un- 
derstood as  written  by  Mi-.  Beardsley,  and  addressed  to  a  brother- 
in-law,  and  commencing  with  the  words  "  Dear  Friend  and 
Brother  Jay,"  and  contained  an  admission  that  he,  the  writer, 
while  acting  as  district  attorney  for  the  northern  district  of  New 
York,  had  cliarged  the  government  six  hundred  dollars  as  ex- 
pended by  him,  when  in  fact  he  had  ])aid  out  only  ninety-two. 
It  also  contained  an  admission  of  unworthy  and  selfish  motives 
for  his  political  conduct  in  not  attending  a  convention  at  Herki- 
mer, to  which  he  was  appointed  delegate.  Of  the  alleged  prov- 
ocations of  the  libel,  one  was  a  communication  in  the  Utica 
Ohsei'ver^  signed  "  Old  School,"  charging  that  Mr.  Maynard  edited 


THE  SECOND  CHARTER.  371 

a  paper  during  the  late  war,  more  rife  with  treason,  and  tending 
more  to  imbrue  this  country  with  low-bred  treachery  than  all 
tlie  other  papers  that  haye  eyer  been  published  in  this  coun- 
try. Another,  with  the  same  signature,  charged  him  with  join- 
ing the  Democrats  for  the  sake  of  office,  and  of  now  being  en- 
gaged in  getting  the  Republicans  to  sign  a  call  for  a  Federal 
State  conyention,  to  oppose  General  Jacksoii.  The  hbel,  as  he 
offered  to  show  on  tlie  trial,  was  a  reply  to  these  seyeral  articles 
in  the  Observer,  written  by  Mr.  Beardsley,  and  meant  to  injure 
him,  and  it  was  so  understood  by  witnesses  whom  he  produced. 
But  Judge  Marcy  held  that  in  action  of  libel  the  defendant  can- 
not giye  in  eyidence  other  hbels  published  of  him  by  the  plain- 
tiff, which  do  not  distinctly  relate  to  the  same  subject ;  nor  is  it 
allowable  for  a  witness  to  declare  how  he  understood  the  libel, 
though  he  might  be  asked  to  show  how  it  was  generally  un- 
derstood by  others.  The  plaintiff  accordingly  recoyered  a  yer- 
dict  of  Ui^. 

Mr.  Maynard  had  been  a  member  of  a  masonic  lodge,  yet, 
when  in  consequencs  of  an  atrocious  crime  committed  in  West- 
ern New  York  by  some  indiyiduals  among  the  masons,  there 
arose  a  strong  opposition  to  the  whole  order,  which,  spreading 
through  the  State,  resulted  in  the  formation  of  the  anti-masonic 
party,  he  took  sides  with  that  party.  In  1828,  he  was  by  them 
elected  Senator  fi-oni  his  district,  and  continued  to  serye  during 
the  years  1829,  '30,  '31,  and  '32.  By  his  election  the  Senate  re- 
ceiyed  a  great  accession  of  talent,  and  though  he  was  one  of  a  small 
pohtical  minority,  he  exercised  a  high  and  commanding  influence, 
and  became  in  the  latter  portion  of  his  career,  the  acknowledged 
leader  of  that  body.  "  He  was,''  says  Proctor,*  "  the  great  intel  - 
lectual  light  of  the  Senate — the  Halifax  of  his  party."  In  the 
different  branches  of  the  Legislature  of  1832,  to  quote  further 
from  this  author,  "  two  future  Governors  of  the  State  occupied 
seats :  one  of  whom  was  William  H.  Seward  and  the  other 
John  Young.  The  former  was  eleyated  from  the  gubernatorial 
chair  to  the  Senate  of  the  United  States,  and  fi'om  thence  to  be 
prime  minister  of  two  presidential  administrations.  Both  of  these 
gentlemen,  in  1832,  were  overshadowed  by  the  talents,  position 
and  influence  of  Maynard  and  Granger.  The  early  death  of  the 
former  opened  a  field  for  the  splendid  abilities  of  Mr.  Seward, 

*  Bench  aud  Bar  of  New  York. 


372  THE  PIONEERS  OF  UTICA. 

while  the  mental  resources  of  John  Young  gradually  removed  all" 
opposition  in  his  way,  and  he  grasped  the  highest  honors  of  the- 
Empu"e  State."  Among  the  projects  advocated  by  Mr.  Maynard^ 
while  in  the  Senate,  and  one  which  was  mainly  effected  through 
his  advocacy,  was  the  act  for  the  creation  of  the  Chenango  canal. 
In  its  favor,  he  delivered  a  long  and  able  speech,  statesmanlike  in 
its  policy,  and  marked  by  careful  research,  unerring  figures  and 
wise  deduction.  During  this  period  he  continued  to  be  actively 
engaged  in  the  duties  of  his  profession,  and  was  so  up  to  the  time 
of  his  death.  From  the  year  1822,  his  law  partner  had  been 
Ebenezer  Griffin.  After  1828,  this  connection  was  exchanged 
for  a  partnership  with  Joshua  A.  Spencer.  With  such  masters 
of  legal  practice  as  were  his  successive  associates,  a  connection 
could  not  but  entail  a  responsible  standing  and  much  laborious 
duty,  even  upon  a  common  place  lawj'er.  But  when  this  law- 
yer was  himself  a  man  of  industry,  attainment  and  rare  intel- 
lectual vigor,  it  needs  scarcely  to  be  said,  that  the  reputation 
of  the  firm  was  widely  spread,  and  that  their  causes  were  heard: 
in  all  the  courts. 

In  August  1832,  Mr.  Maynard  was  in  the  city  of  New  York, 
in  attendance  upon  the  Court  of  Errors,  when  he  was  suddenly 
stricken  down  with  the  cholera,  the  dire  epidemic  of  that  sea- 
son. He  was  attacked  on  the  12th,  kept  his  bed  until  the  17th, 
when  he  was  convalescent,  but  was  taken  with  typhoid,  and 
died  on  the  28th  of  the  month.  His  remains,  at  first  de})osited 
in  New  York,  were,  the  following  April,  removed  by  direc- 
tion of  the  trustees  of  Hamilton  College,  and  I'einterred  with 
befitting  ceremony  in  the  College  Cemetery  in  the  presence  of 
a  large  number  of  gentlemen  and  ladies.  To  Hamilton  Col- 
lege, of  which  he  was  a  trustee,  Mr.  Maynard  was  a  liberal 
donor,  having  by  his  will  bequeathed  it  a  legacy,  amounting, 
as  he  estimated,  to  $20,000,  in  order  to  found  therein  a  Pro- 
fessorship of  Law.  At  the  grave,  as  says  the  record,  "  ex- Presi- 
dent Davis  made  a  short  but  impressive  address  to  those  who 
stood  around  in  silence,  with  heavy  hearts  and  solemn  coun- 
tenances, at  seeing  so  much  talent  and  learning,  and  goodness 
and  benevolence,  consigned  to  the  cold,  dark  and  silent  tomb." 

I  have  little  to  add  more.  "We  have  seen  his  munificence  in 
behalf  of  education  ;  an  instance  may  be  added  of  his  liberality 
towards  objects  of  a  religious  nature.     Though  a  worshipper  in 


THE  SECOND  CHARTER,  373 

"the  Presbyterian  Church,  when  a  Baptist  societ}'  in  Utica,  newly 
■organized  and  needy,  was  in  want  of  a  lot  on  which  to  build, 
he  sold  them  the  lot  on  Broad  street  where  they  placed  their 
church,  for  an  almost  nominal  sum,  about  one  third  of  what  he 
had  paid  for  it.  Amiable  and  benevolent,  his  life  was  directed 
by  principles  of  mtegrit}'  and  honor,  and  was  for  the  most  part 
free  of  reproach.  If  it  is  permissible  to  say  that  at  one  period 
he  was  not  beyond  the  influence  of  the  common  vice  of  the 
time,  it  is  to  be  said  also  that  he  gave  heed  to  the  counsel 
■of  friends  who  informed  him  of  his  danger,  and  mastered  the 
habit  before  it  had  acquired  a  fatal  ascendency.  He  was  above 
the  medium  size,  plain  in  his  manners  and  in  his  attire,  and  not 
especially  prepossessing  in  appearance,  unassuming  and  easy  of 
-approach.  He  was  never  married.  A  brief  editorial  notice  of 
Mr.  Maynard  appeared  in  the  Albany  A^-gus  immediately  after 
his  death.  After  adverting  to  his  vigor  of  mind,  thoroughly  im- 
bued with  the  learning  of  the  day,  professional  and  political,  his 
exactness  of  logic,  and  his  remarkable  facility  of  bringing  out  and 
applying  his  resources,  Mr.  Croswell  continues  as  follows  :  "As 
a  lawyer,  as  a  debater  in  the  Senate,  and  as  a  capable  writer,  he 
has  left  few  superiors  among  his  cotemporaries.  Although  of 
opposite  politics  with  ourselves,  we  knew  and  estimated  the 
power  of  his  intellect,  and,  along  with  our  friends,  have  felt  the 
sharpness  and  force  of  an  encounter  with  it.  To  his  personal 
friends  his  death  is  a  severe  deprivation.  In  the  political  party 
to  which  he  was  attached  he  has  left  no  equal,  and  none  that 
can  suppl}^  his  place." 

John  H.  Ostrom,  the  newly  appointed  clerk  of  the  village, 
was  a  son  of  Judge  David  Ostrom,  heretofore  noticed,  and  was 
still  at  his  studies  when  called  to  record  the  public  doings.  He 
was  born  in  New  Hartford,  in  1794,  and  was  now  a  student  at 
law  with  Walter  King.  Two  years  later,  in  February  1816,  he 
opened  an  office,  and  about  the  same  time  was  made  village 
attorne}^  In  1820  he  became  a  partner  of  Judge  Morris  S. 
Miller.  A  partnership  of  a  later  date,  and  which  lasted  until 
his  death,  he  had  with  his  brother-in-law,  Thomas  R  Walker. 
But  he  was  not  so  much  to  attain  eminence  in  the  law  as  by 
Iiis  popular  manners  and  personal  influence  to  impress  himself 
upon  his  fellows,  to  manage  and  direct  the  affairs  of  town  and 


374  THE  PIONEERS  OF  UTICA, 

couuty,  and  to  serve  with  credit  in  numerous  public  offices, 
AVithin  his  own  municipahty  he  tilled  successively,  the  posts  of 
clerk,  trustee  and  assessor  of  the  village,  and,  after  its  incor- 
poration as  a  city,  those  of  member  of  the  Common  Council 
and  mayoi",  besides  discharging  for  several  years,  the  duties  of 
chief  engineer  of  the  fire  department.  He  rose  through  the- 
various  grades  of  military  preferment  to  that  of  major  general ; 
and  was  hkeways  clerk  of  the  county  from  1826  to  1882.  He 
was  an  original  director  in  the  Oneida  Bank  and  was  of  service 
in  the  concerns  of  the  Presbyterian  Church.  His  life  was  one 
of  constant  activity,  and  the  duties  of  his  several  offices  were- 
performed  with  unvarj-ing  fidelity.  As  a  lawyer  his  standing 
was  respectable,  but  he  was  chiefly  distinguished  as  a  political 
leader.  His  success  in  this  regard  was  largely  due  to  the 
enticement  of  his  manners,  which  were  elevated,  graceful  and 
insinuating.  Affability  was  his  most  evident  trait.  For  higli 
and  low,  young  and  old,  he  had  a  smile  of  recognition  and  a 
word  of  cheerful  and  sympathizing  salntation  ;  nor  did  he  ever 
forget  the  face  or  name  of  a  person  whom  he  once  had  met. 
Yet  it  was  not  the  assumed  urbanity  of  the  artful  seeker  of 
office  which  he  practiced  ;  his  sincerity  was  undenied,  his  kind- 
ness genuine,  prompt  and  overflowing.  He  was  a  trusty  friend, 
a  true  patriot  and  a  helpful  citizen.  Traits  such  as  these — this 
conciliatory  tact,  and  his  readiness  to  serve  and  skill  in  serving,, 
on  all  occasions,  whether  as  chairman  of  a  public  meeting,  as 
manager  at  the  funeral  of  a  neighbor,  or  privately  as  counsel 
with  any  in  need — made  him  popular  in  an  uncommon  degree,, 
and  caused  the  regret  at  his  loss  to  be  profound  and  universal. 
Although  overtaken  by  death  while  absent  from  home,  it 
found  liim  not  unpi-epared,  and  "in  his  dying  hour,  his  faith 
was  strong,  and  his  soul  replete  with  love  to  God  and  man." 
He  died  at  Poughkee])sie,  August  10,  1845,  when  aged  fifty-one. 
His  wife  was  Mary  E.,  eldest  daughter  of  Thomas  "Walker. 
Nearly  half  a  century  of  benevolent  labons,  unremitting  and 
humble,  and  more  than  ordinarily  efficacious,  have  secured  for 
her  a  preeminent  place  in  the  history  of  the  charities  and  relig- 
ious labors  of  Utica.  In  1816,  having  then  recently  made  a 
profession  of  religion,  she  was  one  of  the  four  young  ladies 
who  originated  Sabbath  schools  in  the  village.  For  more  than 
forty  years  she  continvied  to  labor  in   them,  and  for  months 


THE  SECOXD  CHARTEK.  875 

after  she  felt  that  the  liand  of  death  was  "apon  her,  she  attended 
ev.ery  Sunday  at  a  Mission  school  in  prosecution  of  her  self- 
denying  labor.  Yet  this  was  but  one  of  the  many  modes  in 
which  she  exerted  herself  to  do  good.  In  tract  distribution,  in 
personal  acts  of  benevolence,  in  zeal  and  energy  in  all  matters 
relative  to  the  church  with  which  she  was  connected,  and  the 
cause  of  religion  generally,  she  had  no  peer  in  the  system, 
constancy,  and  disinterested  fidelity  of  her  labors.  She  pos- 
sessed a  good  degree  of  culture  and  accomplishments,  which  in 
another  would  have  been  conspicuous.  Her  one  passion  was 
to  do  good,  to  relieve  sufferings  and  convert  souls  to  ..Christ. 
Her  death,  which  followed  a  lingering  and  painful  disease 
occurred  Septembei-  5,  1859,  and  was  peaceful  aiid  triumphant. 
She  was  without  a  family. 

In  the  summer  of  181-1,  two  lawyers  from  Schenectady  set- 
tled in  Utica,  and  after  a  residence  of  nearly  two  years  removed 
to  Chittenango.  These  were  John  B.  Yates  and  William  K. 
Fuller.  The  former  had  been  already  seven  years  at  the  bar^ 
had  served  as  a  captain  in  the  campaign  of  1813,  had  been 
elected  a  member  of  the  fourteenth  United  States  Congress, 
and  was  enjoying  a  well  deserved  reputation  as  an  able  lawyer, 
w^hen  he  took  up  his  brief  stay  in  Utica.  Mr.  Fuller,  who  was 
but  just  admitted  to  the  practice  of  the  Supreme  Court,  served 
while  here  as  Master  of  Chancery  and  as  attorney  of  the  Oneida 
and  Stockbridge  Indians.  Both  of  them  in  the  place  they 
selected  as  their  subsequent  home,  filled  important  positions 
and  rendered  invaluable  service,  and  in  the  history  of  Madison 
county  their  career  is  more  ampl}^  detailed. 

Apropos  of  one  of  Mr.  Fuller's  offices,  while  in  Utica,  this 
incident  is  related :  An  Indian  called  one  day  at  his  place  of 
business  and  inquired  for  him.  Mr.  Fuller  was  pointed  out  to 
the  inquirer  as  one  of  a  group  of  gentlemen  on  the  opposite 
side  of  the  street  in  front  of  the  Utica  Insurance  office.  The 
Indian  approached  him,  when  the  following  conversation  ensued' 
"  Are  you  Mr.  Fuller  ?  "  "  Yes ;  what  can  I  do  for  you  ?  "  "A 
man  trespassed  on  my  land.''  "  Who  was  the  man  ;  was  he  an 
Indian  ?  "  "  No."  "  Was  he  a  negro  ?  "  "  No."  "  Was  he  a 
white  man?"  "No."  "And  pray  what  was  he,  if  he  was 
neither  an  Indian,  a  negro,  nor  a  white  man  ?  "     "  A  Dutchmau," 


376  THE   PIONEERS  OF  UTICA. 

As  Mr.  Fuller  was  from  the  old  town  of  Durq),  and  was  Dutcli 
in  his  maternal  ancestry,  and  himself  passed  for  a  Dutchman, 
the  reply  was  much  relished  b}'  his  companions. 

A  merchant  who  filled  a  tolerably  large  place  in  the  concerns 
of  Utica,  mercantile,  social,  ecclesiastical  and  charitable,  was 
Nicholas  Devereux.  Coming  from  Ireland  to  New  York  in 
1806,  he  landed  in  a  strange  country,  and  among  a  strange  peo- 
ple. The  capital  he  brought  with  him  was  a  strong  heart,  a 
clear  head,  a  solid  and  Christian  education.  Though  alone  in 
New  York,  Mr.  Devereux  found  on  his  arrival  in  Utica,  brothers 
who  had  preceded  him  and  who  had  already  secured  a  position 
in  the  community,  and  one  of  them,  at  least,  a  standing  in  its 
mart  of  trade.  Received  into  the  store  of  his  brother  John, 
he  served  him  for  a  time  as  his  clerk,  and  next  in  turn  after 
Luke  became  a  member  of  the  firm.  It  was  in  May  1814,  that 
the  partnership  was  formed.  Ere  long  it  was  interrupted,  how- 
ever, by  the  death  of  their  father,  which  recalled  Nicholas  to 
Ireland,  to  settle  the  estate  and  provide  for  the  remaining  mem- 
bers of  the  family.  As  war  was  then  in  progress  with  Great 
Britain,  he  sailed  under  a  cartel,  and  in  returning  was  obliged 
to  proceed  to  Portugal,  whence  he  embarked  in  a  neutral  vessel 
for  this  country.  Again  in  Utica,  he  prosecuted  with  ardor  his 
chosen  calling,  a  calling  beset  for  him  with  few  reverses,  and 
crowned  in  time  with  an  ample  fortune.  In  May  1816,  the 
previous  partnership  was  dissolved,  and  a  new  one  under  the 
title  of  N.  Devereux  &  Co.,  was  formed  with  George  L.  Tisdale, 
who  had  before  been  the  clerk.  This  continued  until  June 
1819.  He  had  afterwards  several  later  partners,  as  Horace 
Butler,  James  McDonough,  Yan  Yechten  Livingston,  and 
numerous  were  the  changes  that  were  rung  in  the  appellation 
of  this  highl}?-  respectable  house.  And  though  in  these  changes 
the  name  of  the  senior  brother  never  appeared,  a  bonus  was 
paid  him  meanwhile  for  the  use  of  his  capital  and  his  credit, 
as  well  as  a  rent  for  his  store. 

As  a  merchant  Mr.  Devercux's  course  was  marlced  by  indus- 
tr}^  accuracy  and  econoni}'-.  It  was  not  until  he  had  in  part 
retii'ed,  and  when  the  management  of  matters  was  entrusted  to 
Mr.  McDonough,  that  such  pecuniar}^  stress  was  encountered 
as  obliged  him  to  again  resume  the  reins.     At  this  time,   the 


"/<^  /( ^ct..<C^    «^^. 


^^ 


^r  yL^ 


THE  SECOND  CHARTER.  *  377 

fall  of  1827,  the  firm  was  called  on  to  pay  $90,000  within 
ninety  days.  But  Mr.  Devereux  was  now  owner  and  occupant 
of  the  handsome  grounds  that  had  once  been  the  home  of  Jere- 
miah Van  Rensselaer,  and  which  had  cost  the  purchaser  only 
about  $7,000.  Dividing  it  into  lots  and  intersecting  it  by  streets, 
he  sold  it  for  a  sum  wdiich  added  largely  to  his  revenues ;  while 
there  was  developed  thei-eby  that  spirit  of  enterprise  inherent 
in  the  man,  and  which  he  soon  afterwards  manifested  on  a  still 
larger  scale.  In  the  interest  of  the  New  York  Life  and  Trust 
Company,  he  spent  a  portion  of  a  winter  at  Albany,  and  while 
there  took  an  active  part  in  the  organization  of  the  Utica  and 
Schenectady  Eailroad.  Not  long  afterward,  while  still  in  the 
employ  of  the  same  company,  he  travelled  extensively  through 
the  State  and  had  his  attention  attracted  to  the  profitable  na- 
ture of  transactions  in  the  uncultivated  and  fast  setthng  lands 
of  its  western  part.  In  company  with  a  few  gentlemen  of  New 
York,  he  bought  of  the  Holland  Land  Companj^,  the  residue 
of  their  lands  in  Alleghany  and  Cattaraugus  counties,  amounting 
to  4:00,000  acres.  The  general  care  and  disposal  of  this  land 
engaged  much  of  its  owner's  time  during  the  remainder  of  his 
life,  its  immediate  sale  being  committed  to  his  son,  John  C. 
Devereux. 

But  his  vigorous  and  wide-embracing  mind  was  not  absorbed 
in  his  mercantile  duties  or  his  personal  investments.  Intelli- 
gently busied  in  works  of  general  improvement  throughout 
the  State,  he  was,  too,  deeply  interested  in  improvements  for 
the  good  of  his  own  home  community,  while  as  an  ardent 
Roman  Catholic,  consistent  and  faithful  in  every  requirement 
of  his  faith,  he  was  a  very  pillar  of  the  church,  and  a  zealous 
forwarder  of  its  interests  here  and  abroad.  He  was  mainly 
instrumental  in  procuring  the  establishment  at  Utica  of  the 
first  branch  of  the  United  States  Bank  that  was  located  west 
of  Albany.  He  was  also  a  director  of  the  Utica  Savings  Bank, — 
already  initiated  and  conducted  by  him  and  his  brother  before 
a  charter  was  obtained, — a  director  of  the  New  York  Life 
and  Trust  Company,  a  director  of  the  Steam  Woolen  Mills, 
and  a  manager  of  the  New  York  State  Asylum  for  the  Insana 

An  Irishman  b}^  birth,  Mr.  Devereux  was  an  American  by 
adoption,  and  found  no  difficulty  or  inconsistency  m  maintain- 
ing his  own  religious  faith  while  executing  his  duties  as  an 


378  THE   PIONEERS  OF  UTICA. 

American  citizen.  Going  down  annually  to  Albany,  during 
his  earlier  residence,  to  perform  his  Easter  duties,  aild  often 
assembling  the  few  Catholics  of  Utica  to  read  mass  on  a  Sun- 
day, he  cooperated,  when  the  auspicious  time  arrived,  in  gath- 
ering them  into  a  church  organization.  With  his  brother  John, 
he  formed  the  Uticja  quota  of  the  six  trustees  who  then  man- 
aged its  affairs,  the  remaining  ones  being  sought  for  in  Johns- 
town, Rome  and  Augusta.  To  enumerate  the  repeated  liberal 
gifts  to  this  particular  society  as  well  as  to  the  great  ecclesias- . 
tical  body  to  which  he  belonged,  would  best  become  those  who 
have  partaken  of  their  benefits.  To  adopt  the  language  of 
one  who  was  in  full  sympathy  with  his  form  of  belief:  "Utica 
will  never  forget  the  founder  of  the  Orphan  Asylum  or  the 
Brothers'  School,  while  Western  New  York  will  long  bless  the 
man  who  introduced  the  zealous  Franciscans  from  Rome." 
There  is  another  of  his  benefactions  for  which  Protestant  and 
Catholic  alike  should  revere  his  memory.  Many  years  ago, 
when  a  Douay  Bible  was  scarcely  to  be  had,  he  purchased,  in 
company  with  Lewis  Wilcox  of  New  York,  a  set  of  stereotype 
plates  of  the  New  Testament  in  this  version,  from  which 
Messrs.  Seward  &  Williams  printed  numerous  editions,  that 
were  circulated  chiefly  in  the  West,  and  sold  for  little  more  than 
the  cost  of  paper  and  binding.  Mr.  Devereux  became  after- 
wards the  sole  owner  of  these  plates,  and  sold  them  to  the  Messrs. 
Sadlier,  of  New  York,  by  whom  over  40,000  copies  printed 
therefrom  were  thrown  into  circulation.  About  two  years 
before  his  death  he  passed  a  winter  in  the  city  of  Rome,  where 
he  was  gratified  by  a  flattering  interview  with  the  venerable 
head  of  his  church,  and  an  acquaintance  with  several  of  its 
cardinals, — a  visit  which  quickened  his  zeal  and  rendered  him 
more  bountiful  than  ever  in  efforts  for  the  advancement  of  his 
church. 

Cheerful  in  disposition,  urbane  and  refined  in  manners,  char- 
itable and  given  to  hospitality,  his  example  and  influence, 
equally  with  that  of  his  brother,  John  C.  Devereux,  had  a  whole- 
some effect  upon  the  comnumity  in  which  they  lived,  and  pro- 
moted unity  and  liberality  of  feeling  among  those  who  differed 
in  race  and  religion.  Thoroughly  social  in  his  tastes,  unsurpassed 
in  anecdote  and  story,  his  unfailing  good  humor,  joined  to  his 
intelligence  and  large  experience,  made  him  an  ever  delightful 


THE  SECOND  CHARTER.  379 

companion.  Assisted  by  his  brother,  and  dependent  on  him  at 
the  outset,  he  outran  him  in  the  magnitude  of  his  schemes.  But 
like  that  brother,  he  had  not  begun  at  the  very  foot  of  the  Lad- 
der; and  if  evincing  more  enterprise,  he  was  less  cautious, 
less  self-forgetful  and  less  liumble-minded.  Not  exceeding  that 
brother  in  the  kindness  and  benevolence  of  his  heai't,  his  chari- 
ties, like  his  business,  took  a  larger  scope  and  have  left  him  a 
more  wide  spread  reputation.  Mr.  Devereux  was  rather  full 
in  figure  and  had  a  fine  open  and  expressive  face.  He  was  mar- 
ried in  1817,  to  Miss  Mary  Butler  of  New  York,  a  lady  who 
had  been  brought  up  in  the  Episcopal  Church,  and  with  whom, 
until  his  own  church  was  established,  he  regularly  worshipped. 
He  commenced  housekeeping  in  the  house  that  stands  on  the 
southwestern  corner  of  Broad  and  Second  streets.  In  1820  he 
removed  to  the  building  cornering  on  Whitesboro  and  Hotel,, 
which  had  been  built  for  the  Manhattan  Bank.  Afterwards 
occupying  for  some  years  the  mansion  of  Jeremiah  Van  Rens- 
selaer, he  left  it  in  1830,  for  the  home  on  Chancellor  square,  where 
he  died,  December  29,  1855,  and  where  his  widow  still  resides. 
His  children  were  Hannah  (Mrs.  Francis  Kernan),  John  C, 
Cornelia  (Mrs.  Richard  Lalor),  Catherine,  Mary  and  Thomas  B., 
of  whom  four  are  residents  of  Utica,  and  one  is  deceased. 

The  career  in  Utica,  of  the  merchant  next  to  be  noticed, 
covers  a  wide  extent  of  time,  for  it  reaches  from  the  spring  of 
180-4  to  that  of  1874.  His  pedestrian  journey  in  the  former 
year  from  Lebanon,  Conn.,  as  bearer  of  the  purchase  money  of 
the  house  and  lot  of  his  brother-in-law,  has  been  already  nar- 
rated. At  that  time,  Briggs  White  Thomas  was  under  age,  his 
life  dating  from  the  15th  of  October,  1785.  He  died  April  11, 
1874,  and  from  his  first  coming  had  been  a  resident  of  Utica 
during  most  of  the  intervening  time,  though,  as  will  be  seen, 
not  continuously.  In  1809  he  married  and  set  out  for  Canada 
to  embark  in  trade.  There  and  at  Ogdensburgh  he  was  thus 
employed  until  the  fall  of  1813,  when  he  returned,  and,  the  fol- 
lowing year,  began  anew,  in  company  with  Anson  Thomas,  his 
brother-in-law.  Together  for  many  years  they  pursued  an  in- 
dustrious, a  safe  and  successful  mercantile  course,  each  year 
finding  them  richer  than  before.  After  Anson's  retirement, 
Briggs  remained  alone  foi-  a  time ;  then  he  was  associated  with 


380  THE  PIONEERS  OF  UTICA. 

Truman  Parmelee,  also  his  brother-in-law,  and  subsequently 
he  had  a  place,  if  not  an  interest,  in  the  firm  of  Parmelee  & 
Bra3'ton.  The  store  he  built,  and  which  was  occupied  by  him 
and  them,  is  the  one  now  occupied  by  T.  K.  Butler.  About 
this  time  he  was  concerned  with  Josiah  Bissell  of  Rochester,  in 
starting  the  Pioneer  line  of  packet  boats.  In  1833  he  went  to 
Albany  and  placed  his  capital  in  a  firm  supposed  to  be  highly 
prosperous,  but  within  three  years  withdrew  it  and  returned  to 
Utica,  since  he  found  affairs  not  so  promising  as  he  had  been 
led  to  expect.  Mr.  Thomas  experienced  his  share  of  the  varia- 
tions of  commercial  life.  He  had  once  achieved  a  competence ; 
but  did  not  enjoy  it  long,  unfortunate  endorsements  sweeping 
away  all  that  he  had  made.  When  no  longer  a  young  man,  he 
was  glad  to  accept  of  a  clerkship  in  the  Oneida  Bank,  where 
he  again  acquired  the  means  to  live  without  employment. 

At  an  eai'ly  period  he  was  active  in  the  affairs  of  the  Pres- 
byterian Church  ;  at  Albany  he  was  an  officer  in  the  church 
under  Dr.  Kirk,  and  on  his  return  resumed  his  former  connec- 
tion here.  But  in  July  18^4,  he  was  one  of  those  who  separated 
themselves  from  the  First  Presbyterian  and  united  to  form  the' 
Westminster  Society.  From  the  inception  of  the  Utica  Sunday 
School,  he  took  a  leading  part  therein ;  was  its  third  superin- 
tendent, and  many  years  a  teacher.  The  interest  he  felt  in 
Sabbath  schools  in  the  early  part  of  his  life  did  not  abate  with 
his  years,  for  in  1860,  at  the  age  of  seventy-five,  being  con- 
vinced of  the  need  of  such  a  school  in  the  upper  part  of  the  city, 
he  purchased  a  lot  on  Francis  street,  erected  a  building  thereon, 
placed  in  it  a  library  of  one  hundred  volumes,  and  gave  it,  free 
of  charge,  to  the  Westminster  Church,  to  be  used  so  long  as 
they  should  maintain  a  Sunday  school  in  that  part  of  the  city. 
Tn  proportion  to  his  means,  he  cooperated  in  many  of  the  pub- 
lic enterpi-ises  designed  to  develop  and  advance  the  town 
and  its  neighborhood.  He  always  felt  a  deep  concern  in  its 
prosperity  and  the  welfare  of  its  inhabitants,  and  to  the  last, 
while  maintaining  a  mental  and  physical  vigor  most  extraor- 
dinary for  one  of  his  years,  he  perambulated  the  city,  person- 
ally inspecting  the  improvements  that  were  going  on  and  noting 
the  successive  changes.  As  a  citizen  he  was  respected  by  every 
one.  His  cheerful  and  sprightly  temper  and  his  fondness  for 
anecdote,  conjoined  with  a  remarkable  memory,  made  him  a 


.      THE  SECOND  CHARTER.  381 

most  agreeable  and  entertaining  companion ;  his  true  and  ten- 
der heart  made  him  an  affectionate  husband  and  father.  His  first 
wife,  who  was  Miss  Orra  Parmelee,  died  in  1828.  He  married, 
in  1830,  Mrs.  Mary  Wilkrd  of  Albany,  who  died  about  two 
years  before  him.  His  children  are  Miss  Fanny  Thomas  and 
Mrs.  H.  C.  Kingsley  of  New  Haven,  Conn.,  and  Mrs.  Langford, 
now  Mrs.  Charles  Rhodes  of  Oswego. 

The  following  were  likewise  in  business  in  1814,  though 
neither  of  them  continued  in  it  any  great  length  of  time.  John 
Bernard,  son  of  the  Pharez  Barnard  (of  1800,)  opened  a  "  new 
store"  in  September.  In  1816  he  married  Miss  Amelia  Crary 
of  Lairdsville.  In  1821  he  was  deputy  in  the  oflEice  of  the  county 
clerk.  In  1840  his  widow  was  boarding  with  Mrs.  Eliza  Crary 
on  Seneca  street.  He  left  a  son  and  a  daughter,  the  last  of 
M^hom  became  the  wife  of  John  C.  Hoadley,  and  removed  to 
Pittsfield,  Mass.  Social  and  gentlemanly,  Mr.  B.  had  yet  cer- 
tain traits  that  caused  the  soubriquet  of  Prince  of  Denmark,  a 
character  which  he  had  once  personated  in  one  of  Mr.  Cozier's 
histrionic  performances,  to  adhere  to  him  ever  after.  William 
B.  Savage  had  been  a  clerk  at  Whitesboro  and  at  Utica  before 
he  was  was  himself  a  merchant  in  the  latter  place,  and  at  Ellis- 
burg,  under  the  firm  name  of  William  B.  Savage  &  Co.  The 
associate  was  Charles  C.  Brodhead.  They  failed  in  1818.  Mr. 
Savage  lived  in  Ellisburg,  but  died  in  Arkansas.  A.  W.  Van 
Alstyne,  successively  partner  of  Nicholas  Smith  and  Henry 
Thompson,  made  but  a  short  stay,  and  returned  to  Wampsville, 
whence  he  came.  In  June  1814,  a  theological  book  store  was 
opened  by  Camp,  Merrell  k  Camp,  the  firm  consisting  of  Tal- 
cott  Camp,  his  son  George,  and  his  son-in-law,  Ira  Merrell. 
They  published  also  a  few  books,  and  they  reprinted  a  religious 
periodical  termed  The  Panoplist,  which  was  the  predecessor  of 
the  Missionary  Herald^  and  was  issued  monthly  in  Boston. 
George  Camp,  the  only  one  of  the  house  not  mentioned  before, 
soon  moved  to  Sacketts  Harbor,  where  he  was  a  much  respected 
citizen.  His  wife  was  a  sister  of  Marcus  and  Alfred  Hitchcock. 
Horace,  another  son  of  Talcott  Camp,  and  a  printer,  died  in  1817. 
Dr.  Wilbor  Tillinghast,  physician  and  druggist,  remained  but 
a  few  years.     He  died  at  Wickford,  R  I,  in  1824. 


382  THE  PIONEERS  OF  UTICA. 

The  Hotel  received  a  new  tenant  in  Ma}'  181-i,  in  tlie  person 
of  Henr}^  Bamman,  a  Frenchman,  who  had  come  into  the 
country  in  the  suite  of  David  Parish,  of  Jefferson  county.  He 
repaired  the  building,  fitted  it  with  new  furniture,  and  gave  it 
the  name  of  the  York  House,  by  which  it  continued  to  be  known 
so  long  as  it  remained  a  place  of  public  entertainment.  Pro- 
vided with  good  servants,  the  best  wines  and  liquors,  and  coach 
house  and  stabling  for  many  horses  in  the  rear  of  the  house, 
the  proprietor  "  hoped  that  by  assiduity  and  attention  he  should 
secure  the  patronage  of  those  interested  in  the  western  country." 
Polished  and  courteous  in  his  manners,  and  obliging  and  atten- 
tive he  certainly  was  ;  while  his  large  and  commanding-looking 
wife  had  a  tact  that  surpassed  even  his  own.  During  the  six 
3^ears  of  his  stay,  he  met  with  a  fair  amount  of  custom.  Then 
came  the  canal,  and  this  drew  away  travellers  from  the  river, 
and  so  many  from  the  stages,  as  to  seriously  diminish  his  pa- 
trons. And  so,  he  exchanged  his  control  of  the  York  House 
for  that  of  the  Eagle  in  Albany. 

A  vvddow  who  came  to  Utica  in  1814,  with  twH>  half-grown 
sons  and  a  daughter,  was  Mrs.  Susan  Winston.  She  became 
housekeeper  for  Gurdon  Burchard,  and  likewise  acted  as  nurse 
in  some  of  the  princij)al  families.  She  was  greatly  valued  in 
these  capacities,  and  met  with  general  esteem.  This  estimable 
lady  passed  her  later  years  with  her  son  in  New  York.  Her 
son,  Frederick  Seymour,  once  a  clerk  with  Doolittle  &  Gold, 
has  enjoyed  in  the  metropolis  a  degree  of  success  that  he 
well  deserves,  and  is  now  president  of  the  New  York  Mutual 
Life  Insurance  Company.  A  teacher  in  the  Sunday  school 
while  at  Utica,  he  is  remembered  with  affection  by  man}^  former 
pupils  who  are  now  leading  men  in  various  parts  of  the  country. 
Dennis  Marvin,  his  brother,  was  a  cotemporary  and  friend  of 
H.  G.  0.  D  wight.  Together  they  prepared  for  college,  under 
the  instruction  of  Erastus  Clark  ;  together  they  were  graduated 
at  Hamilton  ;  and  together  they  passed  through  Andover.  Ill 
health  drove  Winston  to  the  South,  and  he  died  at  an  early  age. 

A  writer  in  the  office  of  the  clerk  of  the  Supreme  Court  was 
William  K3^te,  a  quaint,  old-fashioned  man  and  respected  office- 
bearer of  Trinity  Church.  He  died  July  20th,  1832,  aged  eighty- 
seven,  leaving  a  daughter  Jenny. 


THE  SECOND  CHARTER.  883 

Nicholas  N.  Weaver,  an  apprentice  of  Shubael  StoiTs  was  a 
captain  in  the  war,  and  then  was  married.  This  Weaver,  as  was 
noted  by  the  papers,  married  a  Shoemaker,  and  had  the  ceremony 
performed  by  a  Spinner.  Setting  up  as  a  watchmaker,  he  carried 
on  his  trade  for  a  few  years,  and  then  went  to  Cleveland,  Ohio. 
He  was  back  again  by  1884,  sold  watches  and  jewelry  ten  or  a 
dozen  years,  and  returned  to  Cleveland  to  die.  He  was  father 
of  William  N.  Weaver,  the  persistent  office-holder  of  the  sec- 
ond ward. 

Among  the  grocers  were  Thomas  and  James  Battle,  the 
former  killed  after  a  few  years,  by  being  crushed  between  a  canal 
boat  and  a  bridge,  the  latter,  temporarily  absent,  but  return- 
ing about  1882,  and  remaining  a  dozen  years  ;  William  Shelton, 
butcher  as  well  as  grocer  and  saloon  keeper ;  Justin  Cooley, 
who  swapped  land  situated  where  is  now  the  Parker  Block, 
with  Levi  Thomas,  and  went  upon  the  New  Hartford  road  to 
keep  tavern  ;  Daniel  Brown,  whose  grand -children  are  still  in 
Utica,  and  Braddock  Loring,  of  short  continuance. 

Among  the  mechanics,  were  Thomas  Laney  and  Richard 
Lawrence,  masons  ;  Greorge  Van  Syce,  Micajah  Pinckney  and 
Morgan  Truesdell,  shoemakers,  of  whom  the  widow  of  the  last 
has  been  living  in  Utica  since  1806 — and,  a  girl  when  she  came, 
has  survived  three  husbands:  WiUiam  A.  Tennery,  morocco 
dresser ;  John  Lewis,  tailor  ;  Jesse  Kingsbury,  tobacconist,  suc- 
ceeded by  his  widow  as  keeper  of  a  cigar  and  candy  store ; 
Jonathan  Ingersoll  and  Peter  Mix,  printer's  apprentices,  the 
first  of  whom  revived  and  edited,  as  well  as  printed,  The  Club ; 
John  Harrison,  baker;  Henry  Sherman,  butcher;  John  P.  Hin- 
man  and  Henry  Mesick,  curriers;  Nathaniel  Lamson,  wagon 
maker ;  William  Staples,  chair  maker — -who  also  boarded  the 
village  poor ;  George  Plato,  tinner ;  David  Miller,  machinist ; 
John  Robinson,  blacksmith.  The  latter  was  the  father  of  the 
notorious  Jack  Robinson,  circus  proprietor.  Not  taking  kindly 
to  study,  the  boy  slipped  away  from  home  one  day,  after  a 
castigation  from  his  father  for  absence  from  school,  and  walked 
to  Albany.  He  soon  got  a  situation  in  a  menagerie,  and  four 
years  experience  in  it  shaped  his  subsequent  career.  He  became 
celebrated  as  a  performer,  and  his  graceful  and  daring  four-horse 
act  was  one  of  the  principal  attractions  of  the  show.     In  turn  he 


384  THE  PIONEERS  OF  UTICA. 

was  attached  to  several  different  companies,  and  at  lengtli  got  up 
one  of  his  own.  With  it  he  travelled  extensively  throughout 
the  South  and  West,  and  in  the  management  of  a  business  that 
brought  him  more  than  a  million  of  dollars,  he  showed  great 
executive  ability,  and  the  power  to  govern  and  control.  Since 
1865  he  has  made  his  headquarters  in  Cincinnati ;  and  in  1875 
he  was  the  independent  candidate  for  mayor  of  that  city.  His 
brother  Alexander,  who  follow^s  the  same  pursuit,  lives  in  Utica, 
and  during  the  winter  season  quarters  his  retinue  in  the  neigh- 
borhood. Thomas  Cornwall,  barber,  says  in  1814,  that  "  he  is 
established  in  the  line  of  his  barberous  profession,  one  door  east 
of  Messrs.  Lee  &  Clark's  law  office,  where  all  kinds  of  shaving 
that  will  not  interfere  with  the  regular  business  of  his  neigh- 
bors, will  be  carried  on  in  the  most  genteel  style."  James 
Ingolls,  another  barber,  kept  also  a  fancy  store  and  remained 
manv  years  in  the  place.  The  following  were  laboring  men, 
viz. :  Jacob  Evertson,  Elijah  Root,  John  Hewson,  and  John 
Rowe.  Francis  Kent  was  a  farmer.  The  occupation  of  James 
Little,  Amos  Gridley  and  Silas  D.  Strong  is  not  known. 

1815. 

The  inhabitants,  at  the  annual  meeting  held  on  the  second  of 
May  1815,  ordered  that  one  thousand  dollars  should  be  raised 
by  tax,  for  the  current  expenses  of  the  year,  and  they  elected 
the  following  persons  to  serve  as  trustees,  viz.  :  Abraham  Van 
Santvoort,  Augustus  Hickox,  Grurdon  Burchard,  Jason  Parker, 
and  William  Geere.  Mr.  Yan  Santvcort  was  subsequently 
chosen  presulent.  Mr.  Parker  neglected  to  qualify,  and  the 
board  fined  him  twenty-five  dollars  for  his  neglect.  Little  was 
done  throughout  the  year  that  deserves  mention.  Additional 
sidewalks  w^ere  ordered  on  both  sides  of  Whitesboro  street,  as 
far  west  as  Washington,  and  on  both  sides  the  latter  street ;  on 
both  sides  of  Division  ;  of  Main,  as  far  as  First ;  a  like  dis- 
tance on  the  northern  side  of  Broad,  and  on  both  sides  of  First 
between  Main  and  Broad.  The  market  was  leased  to  Ilenry 
Sherman  and  John  Roberts.  And  before  the  expiration  of 
their  term,  the  board  resolved  to  discontinue  the  issuing  of 
small  bills,  and  appointed  Harry  Camp  to  redeem  those  already 
issued. 


THE  SECOND  CHAKTER.  385 

In  August  1814,  Judge  Morris  S.  Miller,  joint  owner  of  the 
Bleecker  estate,  and  who  looked  after  the  family  interest  in 
Utica,  addressed  a  letter  to  John  R  Bleecker  of  Albany,  with 
reference  to  the  extension  of  John  street,  which  had  been  opened 
from  Main  to  Broad  some  four  or  five  years  before.  The  letter 
contains  some  points  of  sufficient  interest  to  justify  the  quoting 
of  an  extract :  •'  I  would  urge,"  he  says,  "  that  John  street  should 
be  continued  to  Bridge  street ;  that  Third  street  should  be  con- 
tinued to  Elizabeth ;  and  that  Elizabeth  and  all  the  streets  par- 
allel to  it,  down  to  Catherine,  should  also  be  formed  with  the 
least  possible  delay.  Now  is  the  time  particularly  favorable 
for  us  to  do  something,  as  Mrs.  Codd  has  commenced  a  suit 
against  Mr.  Kip,  and  this  places  our  property  altogether  in  a 
better  situation  than  any  other  in  the  village.  In  regard  to  the 
streets  which  I  allude  to,  even  if  the  prospect  of  doing  some- 
thing with  the  property  was  not  so  fair  as  I  think  it  is,  the  ad- 
A^antage  they  would  aiiord  as  a  drain  for  the  wet  ground  would 
do  much  toward  compensating  for  the  expenditure.  Another 
object  is  the  public  square.  People  are  pretty  full  of  the  idea 
that  the  Legislature  wall  sit  here  at  no  very  remote  period ;  and 
are  casting  their  eyes  to  that  part  of  the  town  as  the  probable- 
site  of  the  public  buildings.  This  is  an  important  circumstance 
of  which  we  ought  to  avail  ourselves.  If  the  square  should  be 
distinctly  marked  by  posts,  the  roads  around  it  thrown  up,  and 
trees  planted  about  it,  the  square  would  be  seen  by  every  body, 
and  the  consequent  advantages  to  us  need  not  be  mentioned. 
For  myself,  I  think  that  next  to  rebuilding  the  bridge  (the 
bridge,  he  means,  at  the  foot  of  Bridge  street,  known  as  Miller's 
bridge,  w^hich  had  recently  been  swept  away),  the  opening  of 
this  street  is  most  important ;  and  in  addition  to  the  part  of  the 
lot  wanted  for  the  street,  I  would  be  contenfto  give  my  proportion 
of  $2,800  (say  $700),  provided  it  could  not  be  efEected  for  less. 
John  street  would,  I  think,  be  the  second  street  in  the  village." 
The  improvements  here  proposed  were  probably  entered  upon 
the  following  year,  and  were  completed  in  the  course  of  the  sea- 
son, for  in  the  fall  of  1816,  when  the  first  village  directory  w^as 
prepared,  John  street  had  about  half  a  dozen  residents,  and 
Chancellor  square  and  Jay  street  each  half  as  many. 

For  information  relative  to  other  matters  of  a  public  nature,, 
we  are  left  to  the  inferences  that  mav  be  drawn  from  a  few  ad- 
A-1 


386  THE  PIOXEERS  OF  UTICA. 

vertisemeiits  of  this  date.  One  of  these  informs  us  tliat,  owine: 
to  a  stagnation  of  business,  from  thii'tv  to  forty  carpenters  and 
joiners  were  in  want  of  employment,  and  ready  to  work  on  the 
most  reasonable  terms.  Another  advertisement  announces  an 
application  as  pending  in  tlie  Legislature  for  the  incorporation 
of  a  Western  District  Bank.  A  bank  by  this  name  was  never 
incorpoi'ated,  but  the  Utica  Insurance  Company  now  obtained. 
its  charter,  and  had  as  directors  nearly  the  same  persons  as  those 
who  were  named  in  the  above  mentioned  application.  The 
branch  of  the  Ontario  Bank  was  also  established  the  present 
year. 

Utica  came  near  being  at  this  time  the  scene  of  an  event  of 
some  historic  import,  for  here,  as  it  had  been  arranged,  was  to 
take  place  the  trial  of  Greneral  Samuel  Wilkinson.  In  expecta- 
tion of  this  trial,  a  letter  was  addressed  by  President  John 
Adams  to  a  friend  residing  in  the  village,  in  which  occurs  the 
following  playful  passage:  "Nothing  will  be  wanting  to  make 
3^our  Utica  as  famous  as  Ithaca  in  the  kingdom  of  Ulj^sses. 
Homer  could  easily  make  out  of  Wilkinson,  Dearborn,  &c., 
Agamemnons,  Achilles,  Ajaxes,  Nostors,  or  what  he  pleased. 
Who  knows  but  Wilkinson,  who  has  suffered  as  much  perse- 
cution as  Cato,  and  who  has  advertised  Harper  and  John  Ran- 
dolph as  cowards,  may  be  reduced  to  such  a  state  of  indignation 
at  the  disgrace  of  his  country,  as  to  fall  upon  his  sword  and 
become  as  famous  or  notorious  as  Cato?"  These  military  heroes 
arrived,  as  did  also  Martin  Van  Buren,  the  advocate  general, 
and  other  prominent  counsel.  But  it  so  happened,  fortunately 
or  otherwise, — whether,  as  alleged,  from  the  covetous  spirit  of 
Utica  landlords,  or,  as  also  alleged,  from  the  lack  of  due  appre- 
ciation by  the  villagers  of  the  honor  intended  them,  and  their 
slighting  treatment  of  these  distinguished  worthies, — the  jjlaceof 
trial  was  suddenly  changed  to  Troy.  Thus  Utica  was  robbed 
of  the  glory  that  had  been  expected,  as  well  as  spared  the  spec- 
tacle of  so  tragic  an  event  as  the  self-immolation  of  a  second 
Cato. 

It  promptly  took  its  part  in  the  joy  that  attended  the  declara- 
tion of  peace  with  Great  Britain,  the  first  hint  of  whose  coming 
reached  the  village  on  this  wise:  A  stranger  dropped,  one 
evening,  into  the  book  store  of  Asahel  Seward,  and  remarking 


THE  SECOND  CHARTER.  387 

that  he  saw  a  newspaper  was  printed  there,  he  left  a  printed 
slip  which  he  said  he  had  no  further  need  of,  but  which  might 
be  of  use  to  the  editor,  and  then  took  his  departure.  The 
stranger  had  business  in  the  neighborhood,  the  issue  of  which 
depended  on  the  issues  of  the  war.  Desirous  to  complete  it  be- 
fore the  news  got  abroad  of  the  making  of  peace,  he  had  ridden 
postdiaste  from  Albany,  and  had  reached  Utica  four  hours  in 
advance  of  the  mails.  The  slip  he  brought  with  him  was  an 
extra,  announcing  the  fact  that  peace  had  been  made.  Mr, 
Seward  repaired  at  once  to  his  printing  room  above,  to  direct 
that  the  news  be  put  in  type,  while  his  clerk  stuck  a  few  can- 
dles in  the  windows.  By  the  time  he  re- appeared  below  an  ex- 
cited crowd  had  gathered  about  the  door,  frantic  to  know  the 
particulars.  Despite  tlie  apprehensions  of  some,  that  the  stage 
on  its  coming  might  not  confirm  the  intelligence,  the  few  can- 
dles of  the  store  kindled  up  others,  and  soon  lit  the  town  in  a 
spontaneous  blaze.  A  more  formal  and  thorough  illumination 
was  made  a  few  days  later,  when,  with  scarce  an  exception, 
every  house  was  lighted,  and  the  streets  were  made  brilliant 
with  rockets  and  fire  balls. 

From  another  advertisement,  dated  June  8,  1815,  we  learn 
that  the  trustees  of  the  Utica  Academy  had  employed  Rev.' 
Jesse  Townshend  as  its  instructor,  and  in  view  of  "  his  long  ex- 
perience and  well  known  talents,"  they  commend  him  to  pub- 
lic favor.  And  this  reminds  me  that  it  is  time  I  should  give 
some  notice  of  the  founding  of  an  institution  which  has  obtained 
a  reputation  and  permanence  that  make  its  history  well  worthy 
of  reminiscence.  In  doing  so,  I  am  fortunately  aided  by  the 
ample  details  contained  in  the  genial,  sprightly  and  graceful 
address  of  J.  Watson  Williams,  delivered  on  the  31st  of  January, 
1868,  at  the  opening  of  the  second  or  modern  academy  building. 
From  this  I  shall  freely  draw.  In  the  year  1813,  nineteen 
citizens  of  Utica  asked  the  Regents  of  the  University  to  incorpo- 
rate an  academy  to  be  located  in  their  village.  A  charter  was 
granted  on  the  28th  of  March  in  the  next  year,  in  which  char- 
ter the  following  persons  were  named  as  trusteees,  viz. :  Jeremiah 
Van  Rensselaer,  Arthur  Breese,  Talcott  Camp,  David  W.  Childs, 
Francis  A.  Bloodgood,  Bryan  Johnson,  A.  B.  Johnson,  Thomas 
Skinner,Thomas  Walker,  ApoUos  Cooper,  Solomon  Wolcott,  An- 


888  THE  PIONEERS  OF  UTICA. 

son  Thomas  and  Ebenezer  B.  Shearman.  They  elected  Mr.  Van: 
Rensselaer  their  president,  Mr.  Walker  treasurer,  and  Mr.  Shear- 
man secretary.  They  also  started  a  subscription  to  raise  the  means 
witli  which  to  erect  a  building  and  create  a  fund  that  should  yield 
an  annual  income  of  one  hundred  dollars,  for  these  were  the  pre- 
liminaries on  which  depended  the  validity  of  their  charter. 
After  a  little  fruitless  experiment  in  favor  of  their  design,  it 
was  found  necessar}^,  as  it  would  seem,  to  modify  tlie  terms  of 
tlieir  subscription  in  order  to  give  it  success ;  and  a  marginal 
after-thought  was  appended,  enlarging  the  original  purpose  of  a 
mei'C  academic  building  into  that  of  a  building  for  the  accomo- 
dation of  conrts  of  justice  and  public  meetings.  Though  the 
circulation  of  the  subscription  ceased  after  only  about  one 
thousand  six  hundred  dollars  had  been  subscribed,  the  trustees 
formally  accepted  their  trust,  and,  as  we  have  said,  requested 
Rev.  Jesse  Townshend,  in  June  1815,  to  take  chai'ge  of  their 
"infant  seminary."  This  Mr.  Townshend  was  now  in  his  fif- 
tieth year,  having  been  born  in  1766,  at  Andover,  Conn.  In 
1790,  he  was  graduated  at  Yale  College,  after  which  he  pre- 
pared himself  for  the  ministry,  and  took  charge  of  a  church 
in  his  native  State.  Subsequently  he  was  for  thirteen  years  a 
successful  preacher  and  pastor  at  Durham  in  Dutchess  county, 
and  next  for  some  years  a  teacher  at  Madison.  Madison  county. 
The  repute  of  his  school  at  the  latter  place  had  drawn  thither 
several  boys  from  Utica  and  its  vicinity,  and  gained  him  a 
patronage  wdiicli  induced  him  to  settle  there.  At  the  time 
of  his  appointment  by  the  trustees,  he  was  teaching  a  grammar 
school  in  the  village.  That  he  was  scholarly  in  acquirement  is 
evinced  by  his  authorship  of  an  abridgement  of  Milnor's  Church 
History,  a  work  by  which  he  was  well  and  favorably  known. 
For  the  present  he  was  to  occupy  the  school-hoi;se  "  where  Mr. 
Williams  now  is."  His  compensation,  which  was  seven  hun- 
dred and  fifty  dollars,  was  to  be  collected  by  himself  from  the 
tuition  fees,  and  any  deficiency  was  to  be  provided  by  the 
trustees.  Mr.  Townshend  remained  instructor  about  two  years, 
and  then  became  pastor  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  at  Palmyra, 
N.  Y.  With  respect  to  his  personal  character,  it  is  said  that 
"few  men  have  lived  of  more  uniform  and  undissembled  piety." 
In  the  meantime,  a  committee  of  citizens  proposed  to  the 
trustees,  in  the  year  1816,  to  aid  them  in  erecting  a  building, 


THE  SECOND  CHARTER.  389 

^liicli  should  subserve  the  joint  purposes  of  "  an  academy, 
town-house  and  court  house,"  and  fresh  subscriptions  were 
started.  "At  once,"  says  Mr.  WilHams,  "there  sprung  up  a 
famous  con  trovers}^  about  a  site  for  tlie  proposed  structure ; 
and  Genesee  road,  Miller  road  and  Whitesboro  road  had  a  street 
fight  to  settle  that  matter.  The  Van  Eensselaers,  the  Bleeckers, 
Dudlej^s  and  Millers,  the  Coopers,  Potters  and  Bellingers  con- 
tested it  so  hotly,  that  it  became  necessary,  as  expressed  in 
the  new  subscription  paper,  in  order  to  '  secure  harmony  in  the 
village,'  that  the  subscriptions  should  be  so  made,  as  that  every 
subscriber  to  the  amount  of  five  dollars,  should  have  a  vote  for 
either  of  two  sites  designated;  one  of  which  was  the  site 
finally  adopted,  and  the  other  a  lot  on  Grenesee  street,  then  ad- 
joining the  old  Van  Rensselaer  homestead.  The  final  subscrip- 
tion, dated  May  -i,  1816,  is  a  venerable  document,  the  body  of 
it  printed,  and  both  printing  and  signature  done  on  a  roll  of 
parchment,  a  yard  and  a  half  long,  well  filled  with  names  and 
subscriptions,  from  three  hundred  dollars  down  to  five  dollars. 
At  the  foot  are  two  certificates,  engrossed  by  Colonel  Ben- 
jamin Walker,  one  of  them  purporting  that  subscriptions  have 
been  dul}^  made  to  the  required  amount  within  the  prescribed 
time,  (only  twenty-six  daj-s,)  and  the  other,  that  on  polling 
the  votes  for  a  site,  as  provided  in  the  document,  six  hundred 
and  sixty-seven  votes  were  found  in  favor  of  the  site  on  Chan- 
cellor square,  and  four  hundred  and  forty -five  in  favor  of  that 
on  Genesee  street,  being  a  majority  of  two  hundred  and  twenty- 
two  ;  so  that  Genesee  road  had  to  retire  from  the  great  contest, 
satisfied  with  its  private  school  and  its  Seneca  turnpike,  and 
Whitesboro  road,  with  its  York  House  and  the  graveyard. 
Chancellor  square,  with  its  capacity  for  possible  glories,  proved 
triumphant ;  for,  although,  it  was  an  unenclosed,  boggy  plain, 
with  a  dirtj^  ditch  stagnating  through  the  middle,  yet  a  pre- 
scient eye  might  perceive  that  it  had  not  only  the  present  cer- 
tainty of  a  roomy  playground,  but  that  it  might,  in  the  course 
of  time,  when  surrounded  hj  imposing  domestic  and  public 
buildings,  be  a  fine  park  and  breathing  place  for  crowded  in- 
habitants, as  we  see  it  at  the  present  day."  The  choice  was 
strongly  stimulated  by  an  auxiliary  subscription,  containing  the 
.significant  signatures  of  John  R.  Bleecker,  and  Charles  E. 
Dudley,  who  offered  two  village  lots  valued   at  five  hundred 


390  THE  PIONEERS  OF  UTICA. 

dollars,  contingent  on  the  selection  of  their  favorite  site.  The- 
subscription  amounted  to  five  thousand  dollars,  but  though 
strong  in  amount  for  that  period,  it  was  inadequate  to  finish  the 
building  and  yield  the  requisite  income  of  one  hundred  dollars 
a  year.  To  this  sum  the  village  authorities  at  length  voted  an 
addition  of  three  hundred  dollars  more,  and  this  was  followed 
in  the  summer  of  1818,  while  the  building  was  in  process  of 
erection,  by  a  fresh  subscription,  on  which  was  raised  five 
hundred  dollars  more,  and  by  a  pledge  of  the  Dudley  &  Miller 
lots  to  secure  the  annual  income.  Whence  came  the  gradual 
accumulation  wherewith  the  building  was  finally  completed  at 
an  expense  of  eight  thousand  dollars,  Mr.  Williams  finds,  as- 
he  tells  us,  no  data  to  estimate.  His  description  of  the  build- 
ing, which,  after  such  serious  discouragement  and  wearisome 
delay,  was  finally  completed  in  the  summer  of  1818,  and  which 
occupied  the  very  site  of  its  beautiful  and  imposing  successor^ 
is  as  follows  :  It  was  an  unpretending  brick  edifice  of  two  sto- 
ries, about  fifty  by  sixty  feet  with  a  wide  hall ;  one  large  room 
on  the  north  and  two  smaller  on  the  south,  on  the  first  floor  ; 
and  the  whole  upper  floor  was  the  court  room.  The  external 
appearance  of  the  structure,  was  not  such  as  would  now  suit 
the  eye  very  favorably,  although  it  was  a  well  proportioned 
and  S3mimetrical  building,  possessing  more  of  the  old  breadth  of 
style  than  is  agreeable  to  modern  eyes,  accustomed  to  see  only 
the  beauty  of  height  and  narrowness.  With  suitable  external 
embellishments,  such  as  the  economy  of  that  day  would  not- 
tolerate,  it  would  have  been  a  tasteful  edifice,  if  left  to  stand 
alone,  without  any  towering  neighbors  to  put  it  out  of  counten- 
ance. But  it  was  never  commodious  for  its  purpose,  and  was 
ill  calculated  to  serve  the  double  use  it  was  destined  to.  Con- 
stables were  required  to  stand  guard  during  play  hours  to  stifle 
urchin  shouts,  while  the  sacred  silence  of  study  hours  was  inter- 
rupted by  the  tread  and  turmoil  of  throngs  of  jurymen,  wit- 
nesses, attorneys  and  judges ;  to  say  nothing  of  the  pleasant 
grievance  of  being  routed  out  of  this  'and  that  recitation  room  to 
make  way  for  jurymen  about  to  cast  lots  or  toss  coppers  for 
verdicts." 

And  thus,  with  all  its  inconvenience  and  its  hindrances,  it 
stood  for  over  forty  years  without  change  of  purpose  or  planj 
never  lacking  of  a  teacher  or  of  pupils,  yet  harboring  from 


THE  SECOND  CHARTER. 


391 


term  to  term  tlie  followers  of  the  Supreme,  the  National  and  the 
County  Courts,  and  serving  likewise  the  ends  of  citizens  intent 
on  matters  of  local  or  of  general  interest — a  nursery  for  gener- 
ations of  youth,  a  hall  of  judgment  for  the  wrong  doer,  and  a 
town-hall  for  a  public  spirited  and  intelligent  people.  But  it  is 
of  the  foundation  only  of  the  Academy,  not  of  its  later  career 
as  a  completed  and  successful  seminary,  that  I  intended  now 
to  speak  of  it.  Adding  merely  that  is  was  duly  opened  in 
August  1818,  under  the  preceptorship  of  Eev.  Samuel  T. 
Mills,  we  leave  it. 


THE  UTICA  ACADEMY. 


It  has  been  mentioned  that  the  Methodists  from  about  the 
year  1809  worshipped  at  times  in  the  school  house  on  Genesee 
below  Elizabeth  street.  Preaching  in  this  place  was  for  several 
years  only  occasional,  for  the  little  house  near  the  gate  on  the 
New  Hartford  road,  was  also  maintained  by  them  as  a  place  of 
assemblage.  In  1815,  Utica  was  erected  into  a  station  of  the 
recently  formed  Oneida  district  of  the  Genesee  Conference. 
Eev.  Benjamiij.  G.  Paddock  was  appointed  preacher  in  charge, 
and  a  powerful   revival  was  the  result  of    his  labors.      The 


392  THE  PIONEERS  OF  UTICA. 

society  now  centred  in  the  village,  and  was  legally  incorporated 
under  the  title  of  The  First  Society  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal 
Church  in  Utica.  Some  of  the  first  trustees  were  Eudolph  Sny- 
der, Jacob  Snyder,  Eobert  McBride,  J.  C.  DeLong,  Erastus  Cross 
and  Ara  Broadwell.  The  building  on  the  New  Hartford  road 
was  sold  to  Levi  Thomas,  for  seventy  thousand  brick,  and  with 
these  and  additional  ones  a  new  house  was  built  under  the  super- 
intendence of  Mr.  Paddock,  who  raised  the  necessary  funds.  It 
•Stood  on  the  north  side  of  Main  street,  at  its  extreme  eastern 
end,  a  little  west  of  Ballou's  creek  and  nearly  opposite  the 
extremity  of  Third  street,  and  was  a  small,  plain  chapel,  without 
spire  or  cupola.  It  was  dedicated  August  16,  1816,  by  Eev. 
Daniel  Hitt,  then  general  book  steward  at  New  York,  Charles 
Giles  being  presiding  elder.  The  pastors  who  were  successively 
placed  in  charge  during  the  years  that  this  chapel  was  in  use 
were  as  follows :  1816,  B.  G.  Paddock ;  1817,  George  Gary ;  1818, 
W  Barlow:  1819,  Elias  Bowen:  1820,  Elijah  King  and  EHas 
Bowen:  1821,  B.  G.  Paddock ;  1822-3,  George  Peck;  1824, 
George  Harmon.  1825,  Paris  and  Utica  were  united  under  the 
charge  of  Z.  Paddock  and  Ephraim  Hall. 

The  solemn  scenes  which  this  old  chapel  must  from  time  to 
time  have  witnessed,  the  fervid  discourses,  the  earnest  prayers 
uttered  there,  time  has  swept  from  the  remembrance  of  the 
living ;  while  their  record  is  preserved  on  high,  the  substance 
of  this  record  is  gone  from  human  inspection.  As  of  men 
when  they  die,  the  good  is  apt  to  perish  with  them  and  the 
evil  to  live  afterward,  so  with  societies  and  commingled  en- 
deavors, as  they  pass  down  the  current  of  time,  the  graver  and 
weightier  elements  subside  and  are  lost  from  view,  while  the 
scum  alone  is  left  floating  on  the  surface.  Thus  are  we  consti- 
tuted, we  forget  the  momentous  while  the  trivial  is  retained. 
Nay,  it  sometimes  happens  that  on  occasions  of  special  serious- 
ness, and  when  we  are  awakened  to  matters  of  the  highest 
interest,  the  trifling  or  the  ludicrous  will  force  itself  upon  us 
and  take  full  possession  of  our  thoughts.  So  it  was  with  one 
of  the  early  preachers  of  this  church,  a  man  of  sensitive  and 
risible  make,  and  attuned  as  well  to  fun  as  to  soberness,  in 
accordance  as  the  responsive  note  was  struck.  He  was  lodging 
with  one  of  the  officers  of  the  society,  and  his  term  of  service 
at  an  end,  he  was  about  to  pi-each  his  farewell  sermoiL     While 


THE  SECOND  CHARTER.  893 

silently  reading  it  over  on  Sanda}^  morning  in  the  presence  of 
his  friend,  he  suddenly  broke  into  a  laugh.  The  latter,  sup- 
prised  that  such  an  exercise  could  be  a  source  of  merriment, 
asked  him  why  he  laughed.  ''You  know,"  said  he,  "  that  Mr. 
A.  sits  directly  in  front  of  the  pulpit ;  he  comes  to  church  tired, 
and  soon  after  the  sermon  begins,  he  closes  his  eyes  and  seems 
to  be  asleep,  except  that  now  and  then  he  breaks  out  most 
unexpectedly  with  a  very  loud  '  Amen.'  Now  as  I  was  review- 
ing my  sermon  and  came  toward  the  conclusion,  in  which  I  had 
introduced  from  St.  James,  the  passage :  '  Finally,  mj-  brethren, 
farewell,'  I  bethought  m3'self  of  Mr.  A.,  and  seemed  to  hear 
him  blurt  out  his  vigorous  Amen."  The  explanation  was  satis- 
factory. After  amusing  themselves  over  it  together,  the  con- 
versation turned,  and  not  long  after  the  two  took  then*  way  to 
the  chapel.  The  sermon  was  delivered  with  becoming  unction, 
and,  drawing  to  an  end,  was  closed  with  the  words,  "  Finally,  my 
brethren,  farewell."  At  once  there  followed  an  echoing  "  Amen." 
The  preacher  dropped  to  his  seat,  covered  his  face  with  his 
handstand  bowed  it  behind  the  desk.  The  audience  were 
touched  by  this  proof  of  tenderness  from  their  retiring  min- 
ister, and  some  were  moved  to  tears  of  sympathy.  For  some 
time  they  waited  in  suspense  for  him  to  rise  and  continue  the 
service,  which  as  he  delayed  to  do,  they  were  more  and  more 
overcome.  The  embarrassment  was  getting  painful,  when  the 
minister's  host,  who  alone  divined  the  true  state  of  affairs,  rose 
and  moved  toward  the  door,  at  the  same  time  beckoning  to  the 
audience  to  do  the  same.  The  hint  was  taken,  and  all  sorrow- 
fully retired  but  the  afflicted  pastor.  He,  perchance,  would 
have  sooner  recovered  himself  but  for  the  incident  of  the  morn- 
ing, the  anticipation  he  had  related  and  its  exact  fulfillment. 
It  was  the  assurance,  as  he  afterward  said,  of  meeting  the  eye 
of  his  host,  and  thus  renewing  the  cause  of  his  mirth  which 
kept  him  chained  to  bis  seat. 

Again  turning  away  from  the  general  to  the  special,  from 
the  community  to  its  individual  parts,  the  next  to  be  recog- 
nized as  a  denizen  of  Utica,  is  Ezekiel  Bacon.  Already, 
before  his  history  becomes  connected  with  that  of  Utica, 
Ezekiel  Bacon  had  been  some  years  in  public  life,  and  had 
attained  high   honor  and  exalted  position.     He  was  born  Sep- 


394  THE   PIONEERS  OF  UTICA. 

tember  1,  1776,  and  his  earlier  memories  inclmle  the  hanging 
in  e&.gj  of  Benedict  Arnold,  and  the  return  of  the  soldiers 
from  the  war  of  the  Eevolution.  He  was  the  son  of  Rev. 
John  Bacon,  pastor  of  the  South  Church  of  Boston,  and  sub- 
sequently a  resident  of  Stockbridge  in  Massachusetts,  a  repre- 
sentative in  the  Legislature  of  his  State,  and  in  the  Congress 
of  the  United  States,  and  afterward  for  several  years  judge  of 
the  Berkshire  Common  Pleas.  The  son  entered  Yale  College 
at  the  age  of  fourteen  and  was  graduated  in  the  class  of  1794 ; 
read  law  in  the  law  school  of  Judge  Reeve  of  Litchfield,  Conn., 
and  then  with  Nathan  Dane  of  Beverly,  Mass.,  and  practiced  some 
years  in  Berkshire  county.  He  was  a  member  of  the  Massa- 
chusetts Legislaiure  in  1806-7,  represented  his  county  in  Con- 
gress from  1807  to  1813,  serving  on  the  Committee  of  Ways  and 
Means,  and  for  one  year  as  its  chairman.  He  was  then  ap- 
pointed Chief  Justice  of  the  Circuit  Court  of  Common  Pleas 
for  the  western  district  of  his  State,  and  immediately  after 
assuming  this  office,  was  made  first  Comptroller  of  the  Treasury, 
by  Mr.  Madison.  Within  two  years  he  was  obliged  to  resign 
by  reason  of  ill  health,  when  he  removed  to  the  State  of  New 
York  and  settled  in  LTtica. 

His  first  interest  here  was  in  merchandise,  for  he  became  a 
partner  in  the  firm  of  Alexander  Seymour  &  Co.  In  1818  he 
was  appointed  associate  judge  of  the  Court  of  Common  Pleas; 
in  the  following  year  he  went  as  a  representative  to  the  As- 
sembly; and  in  1821  he  was  one  of  the  honorable  men  of 
Oneida  who  had  seats  in  the  Second  Constitutional  Convention ; 
and  he  took  an  earnest  part  in  its  deliberation.  On  the  ques- 
tion of  the  final  adoption  of  the  proposed  instrument  he  was 
in  doubt,  and  "  would  have  voted  against  it  but  for  the  pro- 
vision it  contained  for  future  amendment,  which  afi:orded  the 
people  the  means  of  correcting  what  had  been  amiss,  without 
resorting  to  the  difficult  and  dangerous  experiment  of  a  for- 
mal convention,  which  no  man,  he  believed,  would  wish  to 
see  again  take  place,  so  long  as  the  acknowledged  evils  of 
our  present  system  were  at  all  tolerable."  About  the  year 
1824,  he  was  nominated  for  Congress  in  opposition  to  Henry 
R.  Storrs,  but  was  defeated  by  a  majority  of  less  than  one 
hundred  votes  in  a  poll  of  several  thousand.  In  October  of 
the  following  year  he  was  selected  by  his  fellow  citizens  to 


THE  SECOND  CHARTER,  395 

do  honor  to  Governor  De  Witt  Clinton,  and  in  a  forcible  and 
eloquent  manner  he  tendered  him  their  congratulations  on  the 
completing  of  the  Erie  canal.  As  chief  of  a  packet  boat  com- 
pany, he  already  had  in  this  canal  an  interest  more  personal  and 
profound  than  that  which  was  shared  by  other  liberal  and  enter- 
prising men  of  his  party.  From  that  time  onward  he  lived  a 
retired  life,  and  during  a  large  portion  of  it,  suffered  from  pro- 
tracted ill-health  and  manifold  bodily  infirmities.  So  that, 
though  he  lived  down  to  extreme  old  age,  surviving  the  asso- 
ciates not  merely  of  juvenility,  but  of  middle  age  also,  this  life 
was  much  of  the  time  a  blank  as  respects  the  community,  and 
at  its  best,  came  short  of  the  measure  of  his  previous  usefulness. 
Through  long  years  of  mental  wretchedness  he  was  either  una- 
ble or  indisposed  to  go  abroad,  saw  nothing  of  general  society, 
and  was  weighed  down  by  the  deepest  depression.  Or,  if  he  ven- 
tured out,  he  moved  shyly  through  the  streets  with  feeble  step, 
solemn  visage  and  averted  eyes,  avoiding  recognition  and  start- 
ing with  alarm  when  addressed  by  an  acquaintance  desirous  of 
tendering  him  the  sympathy  and  respect  which  was  felt  by  every 
one.  Though  much  of  the  time  he  was  thus  recluse  and  de- 
spondent, there  were  lightnings  amid  his  darkness,  and  long 
intervals  when  he  was  not  wholly  enchained  in  gloom,  nor  too 
ill  for  useful  endeavor.  At  such  times  he  wrote  largely  for  the 
public  press,  and  wrote  with  force  and  pungency.  For  a  period 
he  was  the  main  editorial  writer,  and  for  a  longer  one,  a  regular 
contributor,  of  the  Oneida  Whig,  and  the  Utica  Daily  Gazette. 
As  an  earnest  political  advocate,  shrewd  and  penetrating  in  his 
discernment,  well  furnished  with  varied  and  accurate  informa- 
tion, elevated  in  sentiment,  refined  in  taste,  and  vivacious  in 
style,  his  contributions  never  failed  of  zest  and  instruction. 
His  aspirations  were  noble,  his  patriotism  glowing,  and  his  char- 
ity toward  his  race  such  as  made  itself  seen  and  felt.  His  tem- 
perament was  poetic ;  he  was  familiar  with  the  standard  litera- 
ture of  poetry,  and  indulged  himself  considerably  in  the  com- 
posing of  it ;  though  his  compositions  were  mostly  tinged  with 
melancholy, — ^Egri  Somnia,  the  dreams  of  a  sick  man,  as  he 
entitled  them.  As  a  debater.  Judge  Bacon  is  described  as  not 
ready  or  fluent,  speaking  extemporaneously  with  embarrass- 
ment ;  but  when  he  prepared  himself  for  public  discussion,  he 
brought  to  the  subject  ample  knowledge,  sound  logic,  and  clear,. 


396  THE   PIONEERS  OF  UTICA. 

intelligible  statement.  Of  the  position  he  occupied  when  in 
public  life,  and  the  influence  he  exerted  when  in  the  vigor  of 
health,  we  obtain  some  idea  when  we  learn  that  with  Mr.  Madi- 
son he  was  on  terms  of  great  confidence  and  intimacy,  and  not 
with  him  alone,  but  also  with  Mr.  Gallatin,  Mr.  Crawford,  Mr. 
Monroe,  John  Quincey  Adams,  John  C.  Calhoun,  Henry  Clay, 
William  Lowmdes,  Elbridge  Gerry,  etc.,  and,  in  our  own  State, 
wnth  Chancellor  Kent,  Ambrose  Spencer,  and  De  Witt  Clinton, 
With  Judge  Story  his  intercourse  was,  from  an  early  period, 
■one  of  unbroken  friendship  and  warm  mutual  regard,  and  the 
appointment  of  tlie  latter  to  the  position  he  so  highly  adorned 
is  due  to  the  personal  effort  and  solicitation  of  Judge  Bacon. 
During  this  most  active  portion  of  his  career  he  was  a  democrat; 
after  coming  to  this  State  he  ranged  himself  with  the  whigs,  but 
when  the  free-soil  movement  arose  in  1848,  his  sympathies  with 
the  oppressed  among  his  fellow  creatures  led  him  to  take  sides 
with  that  party.  "  In  early  and  middle  life  his  religious  opinions 
were  a  good  deal  unsettled,  though  it  was  a  subject  on  wdiich  he 
thought  and  reasoned  much.  His  long  course  of  ill-health  threw 
him  much  upon  himself,  and  he  struggled  for  many  a  painful  year 
with  doubts  and  fears.  It  was  not  until  his  ninetieth  year  that 
these  struggles  ceased,  when,  with  the  simplicity  and  loving 
attitude  of  a  little  child,  he  received  the  doctrine  of  the  cross, 
■comprehended  the  import  of  the  atonement,  and  was  at  peace."' 
At  the  time  of  his  death  he  was  the  oldest  living  graduate  of 
Yale  College,  the  oldest  surviving  member  of  Congress,  and  the 
last  representative  of  the  administration  of  Mr.  Madison.  This 
event  occurred  October  18,  1870.  His  wife  was  Abby,  daugh- 
ter of  Dr.  Reuben  Smith  of  Litchfield,  Conn.,  and  sister  of  the 
M'ife  of  Thomas  Skinner.  To  her  he  was  married  in  1799,  and 
for  sixty  three  years  she  was  his  loving  and  devoted  wife. 
Not  to  him  alone,  to  her  family,  her  friends,  her  neighbors  and 
the  church  she  was  faithful  and  exemplary.  And  having  use- 
fully served  two  generations  at  least,  she  fell  asleep  in  her  eighty- 
sixth  year.  During  their  later  married  life  they  lived  on  Broad 
street,  in  the  house  next  west  of  the  one  occupied  by  General 
James  McQuade,  which  latter  house  Judge  Bacon  erected  for 
Mr.  Skinner.  Their  children  were:  John  H.,  wdio  died  several 
years  since;  William  J.,  our  present  valued  townsman,  who, 
like  his  grandfather  and  his  father,  has  been  in  turn  member  of 


i 


THE  SECOND  CHARTER.  397 

the  Legislature,  member  of  Congress,  and  judge  of  a  high  court 
of  judicature ;  Francis,  merchant  of  New  York ;  Elizabeth  (Mrs. 
Henry  Colt) ;  and  Fanny  (Mrs.  Pomeroy)  now  deceased. 

An  English  gentleman,  named  William  Green,  who,  in  early 
life,  was  connected  with  the  navy  of  his  country,  remained  here 
on  the  evacuation  of  New  York,  married,  and  after  a  few  trad- 
ing voyages  to  India  and  elsewhere,  and  some  further  trial  as  a 
merchant,  settled,  in  the  spring  of  1810,  upon  a  large  tract  of 
land  at  Oriskany,  which  had  become  the  property  of  his  wife, 
Temperance  Heatley.  Of  liis  family  of  nine  children,  all  well 
educated  and  trained  to  the  judicious  employment  of  wealth,  as 
w^ell  as  to  its  rational  enjoyment,  five,  at  least,  have  at  times 
been  residents  of  Utica.  Henry,  the  sixth  of  his  family,  was 
born  in  New  York  about  1793,  and  graduated  at  Columbia 
College.  Coming  with  the  family  to  Oneida  county,  he  studied 
law  with  Judge  Piatt,  and  set  up  an  office  in  Utica  As  early 
as  1815  he  was  clerk  of  the  vestry  of  Trinity  Church.  Not  long 
afterward  the  Utica  Insurance  Company,  closed  by  its  origin- 
ators, was  resumed  by  some  of  the  directors,  and  Mr.  Green  was 
made  secretary  and  attorney  of  the  corporation.  Pursuits  so 
alien  to  the  law  as  those  of  banking  and  insurance,  drew  him 
aside,  and  in  a  measure  disqualified  him  for  practice  in  a  pro- 
fession in  which  he  had  been  ably  fitted.  And  thus  it  happened 
that  after  the  concerns  of  the  company  had  been  closed,  he  found 
employment  in  the  care  of  property  in  trust,  and  still  later  be- 
came the  financial  manager  of  a  large  estate.  Herein  he  was 
regarded  as  a  man  of  intelligent  and  accurate  habits,  neat  and 
precise,  and  irreproachably  honest.  Somewhat  of  a  recluse,  he 
took  little  part  in  public  affairs,  but  retained  throughout  life 
the  scholarly  tastes  of  his  youth,  amusing  the  leisure  of  middle 
and  advanced  life  with  studies  that  had  once  been  his  tasks. 
He  delighted  especially  in  the  ^neid  of  Virgil,  and  has  left,  in 
manuscript,  a  pleasing  translation  of  his  favorite.  Besides  the 
classical  authors,  he  read  much  in  the  best  of  French  and  Eng- 
lish books,  and  was  conversant  with  periodical  criticism.  In 
other  respects,  too,  he  was  refined  and  cultivated,  had  a  more 
than  common  susceptibility  to  music,  and  was  in  early  life  an  ad- 
mired vocalist.  He  died  on  the  9th  of  March,  1869,  in  his  sev- 
enty-seventh year.    Hisfirst  wife  was  Miss  Mary  Clark,  adopted 


398  THE   PIONEERS  OF  UTICA. 

daughter  of  Major  Satterlee  Clark.  By  her  he  had  a  numerous 
family,  of  whom  two  daughters  are  still  living  in  IJtica.  George 
is  living  in  Auburn  and  William  in  Brewerton.  His  second 
wife  was  Miss  Bogart. 

Dr.  Thomas  Goodsell  had  Ijeen  alread}^  some  3'ears  in  the 
county,  and  when  he  fixed  his  residence  at  Utica  he  was  not 
altogether  a  stranger.  He  was  born  in  Washington,  Litchfield 
county,  Conn.,  in  June  1775,  engaged  in  the  study  of  medicine 
with  Dr.  Sheldon  of  Litchfield,  and  settled  in  Woodbridge, 
Xew  Haven  county.  After  some  3'ears  of  practice,  he  repaired 
to  Philadelphia,  attended  a  course  of  lectures  at  the  University 
of  Pensylvania,  and  received  there  his  licentiate  in  1809.  On 
his  return  he  passed  a  brief  period  in  New  Haven,  and  in  1810 
removed  to  Whitesboro  where  he  engaged  m  practice  with  Dr. 
Seth  Capron.  It  was  not  long  before  he  became  satisfied  that 
Utica  would  give  him  a  better  field,  and  he  moved  thither,  mak- 
ing it  his  home  so  long  as  he  lived.  He  soon  acquired  an  exten- 
sive business.  Affable  and  courteous,  guided  by  high  and  hon- 
orable motives,  with  fair  intellectual  endowments,  and  a  degree 
of  medical  education  which  was  not  usually  attained  by  his  breth- 
ren of  the  time,  he  was  not  long  in  acquiring  the  confidence  of 
many  of  the  best  families  of  the  place.  He  was  a  genial  and 
witty  companion,  full  of  anecdote  and  storj^,  and  had  a  suavity 
of  manner  which  gave  him  a  ready  access  to  the  heart,  and 
secured  him  a  welcome  reception ;  while  his  honorable  deport- 
ment, and  his  free  and  often  gratuitous  exercise  of  the  benevo- 
lent gifts  of  his  profession,  gained  him  uni\'ersal  respect.  But 
his  temperament  was  indolent,  and  his  habits  easy  going  and 
unsA'stematic.  He  lacked  that  undivided  application  to  the  de- 
mands of  a  jealous  calling  so  essential  to  reach  and  maintain 
the  widest  success ;  this  caused  him  to  relax  his  energies,  and 
prevented  him  from  rising  to  the  full  measure  of  his  early 
promise.  Haj)py  in  his  domestic  relations,  possessed  of  an 
equable  and  quiet  temper,  and  moderate  in  his  ambition,  he 
was  content  with  the  prosecution  of  such  business  as  came  in 
his  way,  looked  pnmoved  upon  the  struggle  about  him,  and, 
as  years  wore  on,  glided  by  degrees  from  the  active  employ- 
ments of  his  profession.  For  one  year  (1827)  he  was  professor 
of  Materia  Medica  in  the  Medical  College  of  Pittsfield,  and  was 
at  a  later  })eriod  a  fellow  of  that  of  Albany.     He  received  the 


THE  SECOND  CHARTER.  399 

honorary  degree  of  doctor  of  medicine  from  the  medical  depart 
ment  of  Yale  College,  and  was  a  permanent  member  of  the 
State  Medical  Society.  For  some  years  he  was  much  interested 
in  agricultural  pursuits,  was  secretary  of  the  earlier  society  of 
the  county  devised  to  foster  such  pursuits,  and  had  himself 
a  farm  in  Clinton.  It  is  said  that  Dr.  Goodsell  was  the  first  to 
introduce  merino  sheep  west  of  the  Hudson  river.  By  his 
brethren  he  will  be  remembered  for  his  uniformly  kind  and 
gentlemanly  bearing,  and  for  his  just  appreciation  of  the  dig- 
nity and  usefulness  of  their  vocation,  bj^  all  for  his  pure  and 
upright  life,  and  his  intelligent  interest  in  matters  that  con- 
cerned the  general  welfare.  He  lived  until  his  eighty-ninth 
year,  and  died  January  11,  1864.  His  wife  was  a  Miss  Living- 
ston, niece  of  Mrs.  Jonas  Piatt.  She  survived  him  but  a  few 
weeks.  He  had  three  sons  and  two  daughters,  of  whom  the 
latter  and  one  only  of  the  former  are  still  living.  J.  Piatt 
ranked  high  in  his  department,  and  was  once  Engineer  of  the' 
State. 

A  physician,  wh'o,  coming  in  1815,  was  for  a  short  time  a 
partner  of  Dr.  Alexander  Coventry,  was  his  nephew,  William 
M.  Coventry.     He  soon  removed  to  the  south-western  part  of 

the  State.  * 

The  local  papers  contained  in  September  1815,  a  fresh  an- 
nouncement, which  emanated  from  one  William  Clarke,  and 
which  was  to  the  intent  that  in  pursuance  with  the  advice  of 
his  friends  he  had  determined  to  open  a  lottery  and  exchange 
office  at  No.  2-4  Grenesee  street.  William  Clarke  was  born 
in  Danvers,  Mass.,  in  June  1776,  and  before  the  war  was 
a  carriage  maker  in  Pittsfield.  He  was  a  lieutenant  in  the 
army  of  1812,  and  was  wounded  and  taken  prisoner  at 
the  battle  of  Queenston,  subsequently  taking  rank  as  cap- 
tain. At  the  time  he  came  to  Utica,  lotteries  enjoyed  a  fair 
reputation,  and  were  extensively  employed  throughout  the 
countiy,  for  many  important  and  beneficial  purposes.  Colleges 
were  founded,  roads  made,  bridges  built,  ferries  improved  and 
hospitals  erected  by  their  aid.  The  lottery  business  which  he 
established,  in  connection  with  Yates  &  Mclntyre  of  Albany, 
he  continued  to  prosecute  so  long  as  it  was  a  business  that  was 
countenanced  by  the  State.     At  first  below  Broad   street,  he 


400  THE  PIONEERS  OF  UTICA. 

moved  before  many  years  to  the  site  of  the  Second  National 
Bank.  He  was  a  man  of  much  stir  and  enterprise,  and  kept 
the  communit}^  fwlly  acquainted  with  him  and  his  dealings. 
He  furnished  the  papers  with  co})ious,  hope-inspiring  announce- 
ments of  prospective  drawings  b}^  lottery  wherein  he  was  the 
agent,  and  garnished  his  front  windows  with  still  more  alluring 
temptations  to  those  who  would  wait  the  turn  of  Fortune's 
wheel ;  for  here  sat  the  goddess  herself,  giving  motion  to  her 
golden  circle,  and  pouring  thence  a  stream  of  newly-minted 
coin,  while  bestrewed  around  were  cornucopias  bursting  with 
the  like  precious  store.  His  was  the  only  lucky  ofhce,  the 
place  where  wealth  flowed  abundantly  foi-  every  seeker.  Its 
back  part  was  fitted  up  as  a  reading  room.  But  this  not  prov- 
ing remunerative,  it  was  closed  to  such  a  purpose ;  and  in  the 
course  of  time,  when  the  State  rejected  the  use  of  lotteries  for 
itself,  and  forbade  them  altogether  to  others,  his  whole  building 
was  converted  into  a  hotel  that  he  leased  for  a  Temperance 
house. 

Captain  Clarke  was  possessed,  as  we  have  said,  of  much 
enterprise,  and  was  never  idle.  Being  also  kind  and  generous 
in  spirit,  earnest,  forward  and  useful  in  public  undertakings,  as 
well  as  intelligent,  independent  and  honorable,  he  had  a  lead- 
ing place  among  the  men  of  his  time,  and  received  from  them 
repeated  testimonials  of  their  confidence.  He  was  president  of 
the  village,  and  as  such  gave  the  address  of  welcome  to  La  Fay- 
ette on  his  visit  to  Utica,  in  1825.  He  was  one  of  the  State's 
directors  in  the  Bank  of  Utica;  and  by  State  authority  was 
appointed,  in  1837,  one  of  the  commissioners  who  ^^lanned  the 
building  of  the  Asylum  for  the  insane.  The  planning,  it  is 
true,  was  done  on  a  scale  of  princely  grandeur,  that  far  out- 
ran the  public  requirements  of  the  time,  or  even  the  compass 
of  feasible  use,  for  it  contemplated  four  buildings  similar  to  the 
front  one,  each  five  hundi-ed  and  fifty  feet  in  length,  connected 
by  verandahs  of  glass,  and  forming  a  hollow  square,  or  rather 
octagon,  that  enclosed  some  sixteen  acres  of  ground ;  and 
which,  once  filled,  would  have  made  a  township  of  lunatics  that 
no  single  })hysician  could  well  have  superintended.  And  yet 
by  a  laborious  comparison  of  similar  buildings  in  various  parts 
of  the  country,  he  was  able  to  introduce  into  his  designs  what,  for 
those  days,  were  valuable  improvements  in  ventilation  and  struc- 


z 


THE  SECOND  CHARTER.  401 

ture.  And,  unaccountable  as  it  may  now  seem,  the  leading 
managers  of  asylums  for  the  insane  at  that  time,  cordially  ap- 
proved his  whole  plan.  But  though  he  realized  fully  the 
magnitude  of  his  undertaking,  and  knew  that  he  carried  the 
State  at  his  back,  yet  his  plans  were  too  extensive  for  practical 
purposes.  Much  to  his  grief,  the  Legislature  withheld  its  sup- 
plies, and  so  put  a  stop  to  proceedings,  after  seventy-five  thou- 
sand dollars  had  been  expended  on  the  foundations.  Captain 
Clarke  likewise  superintended,  in  behalf  of  the  owners,  the  erec- 
tion of  the  Bleecker  House,  afterwards  a  part  of  Bagg's  Hotel. 
And  for  himself  he  erected  the  brick  buildings  Nos.  42  and  44 
Genesee  street,  which  he  designed  and  for  some  time  kept  as  a 
hotel.  Beside  the  energy  to  do,  he  had  also  the  ability  to 
command.  Yet  he  manifested,  at  times,  a  little  of  the  fondness 
for  ruling  which  military  elevation  is  apt  to  engender ;  at  least, 
so  thought  village  firemen,  unused  to  the  discipline  of  war,  who 
could  not  brook  the  somewhat  pompous  bearing  of  their  presi- 
dent, and  excuse  his  stern  dictation  for  the  sake  of  his  under- 
lying kindness,  and  his  acknowledged  zeal  in  the  public  good. 
Nor  with  all  his  energy  and  his  execution,  did  his  projects 
result,  in  general,  to  his  own  advantage ;  though  he  planned 
much,  and  built  much,  he  never  grew  rich,  and  was  better 
toward  the  town  than  he  was  toward  himself.  As  with  the- 
town  and  with  the  State,  so  with  the  Church — he  was  always, 
responsive  to  its  claims,  and  as  unselfish  and  vigilant  a  trustee 
as  he  was  while  head  of  the  village,  or  purveyor  to  a  noble- 
State  charity.  During  the  memorable  visit  of  the  Rev.  Charles 
G.  Finney  to  Utica,  in  1826,  Captain  Clarke  made  a  profession 
of  his  faith  in  Christ,  and  carried  into  the  church  the  same 
useful  qualities  that  distinguished  him  in  concerns  of  secular 
interest.  Although  of  New  England  origin,  for  the  sake  of 
greater  usefulness  in  a  new  organization,  he  united  with  others 
in  the  formation  of  the  Reformed  Dutch  Church,  and  soon  after 
was  elected  a  member  of  its  consistory.  Not  without  cause 
did  his  townsmen  value  him,  and  take  just  pride  in  his  open,, 
benevolent  and  impressive  face,  his  stout  manly  frame,  and  the 
venerable  gray  hair  that  covered  so  much  of  capacity  and  dis- 
position to  do  for  them.    He  died  August  3,  1841. 

His  wife  was  Beulah  Allen,  daughter  of  Rev.  Solomon  Allen 
of  Pittsfield,  Mass.,  who,  as  an  officer  signalized  himself  during 
B-1 


402  'J'HE    FJONEEKS  OF  UTICA. 

the  war  of  the  Revohition,  as  a  bold  defender  of  the  rights  of 
the  people,  and  afterwards  was  as  bold  and  brave  a  preacher. 
She  was  a  woman  of  remarkable  l)eanty  of  ])erson  and  character. 
To  a  gentleness  of  temper  tliat  responded  well  with  the  winning 
sweetness  of  her  face,  she  added  an  aptness  in  the  practice  of 
man}^  domestic  virtues,  and  a  pure  and  controlling  piety.  Her 
death  took  place  February  10,  1827. 

The\^  had  two  daughters  and  two  sons, — Mary  Fairbanks,  wife 
of  Dana  J.  Upson,  of  Philadelphia,  and  afterwards  of  James 
Dean,  of  Utica ;  Elizabeth  Allen,  wife  of  Rev.  A.  D.  Edd}^,  D.  D., 
of  Lansingburgh  ;  William  and  Thomas  A. ;  of  whom  the  last, 
now  of  New  Orleans,  alone  survives.  Captain  Clarke,  married 
in  second  nuptials,  Mrs.  Sarah  K.  Gridley,  widow  of  Amos 
Gridley.  She  had  been  for  several  years  the  esteemed  head 
of  a  youthful  school. 

Together  with  the  above,  there  came  to  reside  in  Utica,  Mrs. 
Sarah  K  Clarke,  the  widow  of  his  brother,  Hobart  Clarke,  a  lady 
who  was  distinguished  for  her  clear,  calm  sense  and  vigorous 
understanding,  her  warm  heart  and  enlightened  conscience,  and 
a  Christian  devotion  that  is  rarely  equalled.  She  kept  a  pop- 
ular day  school  for  children,  but  is  more  widely  remembered 
as  the  female  superintendent  of  the  early  Sunday  school  of 
Utica.  In  this  she  labored  while  she  lived  with  unflagging 
faithfulness,  and  was  mourned  when  she  died  by  all  her  associ- 
ates and  scholars.  Though  this  event  occurred  so  long  ago  as 
1827,  her  memory  is  still  green  with  all  who  retain  a  recollec- 
tion of  the  early  period  of  this  now  noted  school.  She  left  a 
son  and  dauglitei',  Hovey  K.,  and  Hannah,  who  both  reside  in 
Detroit. 

A  merchant  who  was  a  marked  one  among  his  fellows,  was 
Ephraim  Hart, — shrewd,  self-reliant  and  diligent,  original,  out- 
spoken and  witty,  capital  in  the  management  of  his  own  afl'airs 
and  much  trusted  in  those  of  others.  He  was  one  of  a  family 
of  several  sons,  all  moi-e  or  less  distinguished  for  their  ability 
and  by  the  positions  of  prominence  they  attained.  They  came 
with  their  father,  Thomas  Hart,  to  Clinton  in  Oneida  county, 
from  Farmington,  Conn.,  where  E])hraim  was  born,  December 
27,  1774.  Succeeding  his  father  in  business  in  1801,  he  carried 
it  on  for  some  years  in  Clinton.     His  success,  and  the  wise 


THE  SECOND  CHARTER.  403 

conduct  of  affairs  be  evinc.ed,  were  generally  recognized,  and 
he  was  already  a  director  of  tlie  Bank  of  Utica,  and  of  the 
Mount  Vernon  Glass  Company,  and  a  trustee  of  Hamilton  Col- 
lege, when  he  moved  to  Utica  in  1815.  He  took  the  store  just 
vacated  by  Abraham  Van  Santvoort,  and  at  the  outset  dealt 
largely,  though  not  exclusively,  in  hollow  ware.  Later  he  was 
at  No.  58  Genesee  street,  and  in  partnership  with  Seth  Gridley. 
They  sold  out  in  1824  or  '25,  to  Haynes  Lord  and  Truman  Eob- 
erts.  In  after  years  he  was  engaged  in  ii'on  manufacture  at  the 
lower  end  of  Cornelia  street,  in  association  with  A.  S.  Pond,  and 
then  with  his  son,  Henry  Remsen  Hart.  He  gained  a  handsome 
property,  and  toward  the  end  of  his  life  lived  in  the  house  on 
the  corner  of  Fayette  and  Cornelia  streets,  now  occupied  by  Dr. 
William  Russell.  This  house,  when  he  built  it,  in  1829,  was 
deemed  as  fine  a  mansion  as  any  in  the  place. 

The  personal  influence  and  the  superior  business  qualifications 
of  Mr.  Hart  were  not  suffered  to  go  unimproved  by  the  com- 
munity among  which  he  lived,  and  in  1815  he  was  elected  State 
Senator  from  the  Western  District.  This  office  he  continued 
to  fill  during  the  five  last  sessions  held  under  the  first  State 
Constitution,  1816-1822,  and  during  a  part  of  this  time  he  was 
also  a  member  of  the  Council  of  Appointment.  An  ai'dent  friend 
of  De  Witt  Clinton,  he  gave  a  determined  support  to  the  Erie 
canal.  Against  the  Federalists  his  prejudices  were  deep  and 
bitter.  Though  not  especially  skilled  in  debate,  and  without 
training  as  a  speaker,  his  opinion  carried  weight,  but  "as  a 
party  man,  he  was  wanting  in  tact,  caution  and  system."* 
In  his  comments  on  men  and  measures,  he  was,  as  has  been 
said,  free,  pointed  and  unsparing.  His  pithy  strictures  have 
now,  for  the  most  part,  fallen  into  oblivion,  but  not  so  the 
impress  on  his  acquaintances  of  this  vigorous  and  intrepid 
man.  The  passion  for  music,  which  had  solaced  his  youth, 
he  continued  to  exercise  in  his  family,  and  the  bass  viol  that  he 
played  on  in  the  choir  at  Clinton,  accompanied  the  voices  of  his 
daughters  when  they  were  grown  to  maturity.  If,  as  hinted  by 
the  historian  of  Clinton,  he  was  then  but  "half  regenerate,"  we 
can  hardly  with  safety  affirm  that,  in  a  scriptural  sense,  he  was 
ever  much  further  advanced,  though  it  is  undeniably  true  that 
he  was  correct  in  his  habits  and  straightforward  in  his  dealings. 
*Hammoud's  Political  History. 


4U4  THE  PIONEERS  OF  UTICA. 

Mr.  Hart  died  at  St.  Augustine,  Florida,  where  lie  had  gone  for 
the  sake  of  his  health.  February  14,  1839.  His  first  wife,  and  the 
mother  of  several  of  his  children,  was  Miss  Wealthy  Kellogg^ 
whom  he  married  in  1800,  and  who  died  July  19, 1819.  Twoyears 
later  he  was  united  to  Miss  Martha  Seymour  of  Hartford,  Conn.^ 
who  survived  him  more  than  thirty  3''ears,  and  died  February 
16,  1871.  Possessed  of  uncommon  energy  and  intelligence,  she 
managed  successfully  her  large  family,  consisting  of  her  own 
and  her  husband's  earlier  children,  and  maintained  in  society  a 
position  of  respect  and  consideration.  These  children  w^ere 
eleven  in  num])er,  of  whom  Miss  Louise  Hart  is  the  only  one 
now  living  in  Utica.  Two  of  the  sons  who  wei'e  recent  residents 
of  the  place  were  Henr}^  Eemsen,  who  died  at  Whitesboro, 
December  18,  1868,  and  James  S.,  who  died  at  New  Mexico, 
March  9,  1865.     George  lives  in  New  Jersey. 

Another  merchant,  likewise  born  in  Connecticut  and  begin- 
ning his  business  career  in  this  county,  but  outside  of  Utica,. 
was  John  Hervey  Handy.  A  clerk  in  New  Hartford,  and  then 
in  trade  there,  he  was,  in  November  1815,  selling  cotton  goods 
at  No.  87  Genesee  street,  and  had  a  house  on  Catherine  street. 
He  bought  of  Moses  Eggleston,  the  cooper,  the  property  nearly 
opposite  the  entrance  of  Liberty  street,  and  put  himself  up  a 
store,  and  after  a  time  a  hotel  beside  it.  The  store  is  now  the 
crockery  store  of  Hopson  &  Shepard ;  the  hotel  occupied  the  site 
of  the  store  of  Charles  Millar  &  Son  and  the  adjoining  one.  This 
was  then  a  good  way  removed  from  most  of  the  other  merchants 
of  the  place,  but  Mr.  Haiidj-  lived  to  see  them  jostling  him  on 
either  side,  and  crowding  past  to  reach  the  neighborhood  of  the 
newly  opened  canal.  His  hotel,  known  for  the  most  part  as  the 
National,  has  been  occupied  by  successive  tenants  down  to  a 
comparatively  recent  date.  Mr.  Handy  was  a  director  in  the 
Manhattan  Bank,  a  successful  merchant  and  a  social  and  jocu- 
lar man.  When  he  died,  July  12,  1823,  he  was  in  his  thirty- 
eighth  year.  His  widow,  Abigail  P.,  who  reached  her  eighty- 
seventh  year,  died  February  18,  1863.  Two  sons  departed 
when  recently  out  of  college.  One  daughter,  Jane,  widow  of 
J.  Sidney  Henshaw,  still  survives. 

The  leading  merchants  (jf  New  llai'tt'oi'd  at  this  time,- — -as  for 
some  years  previous, — were  Messrs.    Willx)!'  &  Stanton,   and 


THE  SECOND  CHARTER.  405 

their  trade  was  as  extensive  as  that  of  any  of  their  rivals  on  the 
Mohawk.  On  the  loth  of  July,  1815,  they  announce  that  in 
addition  to  their  store  in  that  place,  they  had  opened  one  in 
Utica.  But  finding  competition  strong  in  their  new  situation, 
and  business  declining  in  their  own  abode,  they  soon  made  a 
push  for  a  more  untrammelled  market.  Being  courageous  men 
and  dextrous  as  managers,  they  found  in  the  city  of  New  York 
a  more  congenial  place,  where  Mr.  Stanton,  at  least,  amassed  a 
large  fortune. 

Another  short-lived  firm  was  that  of  Ellery  &  Yernon,  for  the 
former  made  but  a  transient  stay  in  the  place.  Edward  Yernon 
had  afterwards  Timothy  C.  Dwight  as  a  partner,  and  was  suc- 
cessively a  trader  in  dry  goods  at  ISTo.  66  ( "  don't  forget  the 
number,")  and  a  dealer  in  books  nearly  opposite.  Here,  also, 
he  kept  a  depositor}^  for  the  publications  of  the  American  Tract 
Societ}'  and  the  Sunday  School  Union.  Of  unusually  good 
family  connections,  amiable  in  disposition,  irreproachable  and 
strongly  religious  in  character,  he  was  yet  not  remarkable  as  a 
man  of  business  ;  he  was  chiefl}^  conspicuous  as  an  elder  in  the 
Presbyterian  Church.  The  three  stores  between  the  Carton 
block  and  the  Grannis  Bank  were  put  up  by  him.  About 
1845-50,  he  moved  to  New  York,  and  is  now  deceased.  So 
also  is  his  wife,  who  was  Anna  Clark  of  Windham,  niece  of 
Erastus  Clark.  His  sons  were  Edward  and  Harwood ;  his 
daughters  Anna  and  Mary.     Harwood  is  the  only  survivor. 

Eobert  Shearman,  brother  of  Ebenezer  B.  and  William  P., 
and  some  seven  years  the  junior  of  the  former,  now  migrated 
from  Rhode  Island,  and  joined  the  latter  brother  in  business. 
They  were  long  together  at  No.  64  Genesee,  and  kept  up  a 
union  in  trade  after  William  P.  had  settled  in  Rochester.  Fee- 
ble in  health  during  the  latter  years  of  his  life,  Robert  lived 
rather  retii-ed,  withdrew  from  business  before  his  death,  and 
made  his  home  in  Westmoreland.  He  died  at  the  age  of  forty- 
eight,  on  the  6th  of  September,  1838,  with  the  repute  of  a  kind- 
hearted,  amiable  person.  The  wives  he  successively  had  were 
both  related  to  early  citizens  of  Utica,  the  one  being  Ann 
Maria,  daughter  of  Watts  Shearman,  and  the  other  a  sister  of 
Seymour  Tracy. 


4:06  THE  PIONEERS  OF  UTICA. 

The  Harry  Camp,  who,  as  has  been  stated  above,  was  deputed 
to  redeem  the  village  cm'reiicy,  had  come  with  his  father,  Tal- 
cott  Camp,  from  Connnecticut  to  Old  Fort  Schuyler  in  1797, 
when  he  was  just  turned  of  ten  years  of  age.  He  had  been 
trained  b}-  the  earliest  schoolmaster  of  the  place,  had  served 
some  years  as  clerk  for  Daniel  Thomas,  and  some  time  longer 
for  Abraham  Van  Santvoort,  and  was  then  received  into  part- 
nership by  the  latter.  Mr.  V.  S.,  it  will  be  recollected,  was 
both  forwarder  and  merchant,  and  during  the  war  held  also  the 
office  of  sub-contractor  of  supplies  for  the  counties  of  Oneida 
and  Madison.  While  in  his  service,  besides  his  ordinary  duties 
of  superintending  the  transportation  of  goods  between  Schenec- 
tady and  the  West,  Mr.  Camp  was  often  deputed  to  go  out  and 
meet  companies  of  soldiers  destined  to  or  from  the  seat  of  hos- 
tilities, and  provide  them  with  the  necessaries  of  subsistence. 
He  once  made  a  journey  on  horseback  to  Buffalo  in  order  to 
carry  $2,200,  with  which  to  cancel  orders  for  goods  supplied  to 
the  troops.  Not  long  after  the  close  of  the  war,  occurred  the 
failure  of  the  important  transporting  firm  which  was  represented 
in  Utica  by  Mr.  Van  Santvoort  as  its  head,  when  this  gentle- 
man moved  away  from  the  village,  and  it  fell  to  Mr,  Camp  to 
close  up  its  concerns.  The  latter  then  joined  his  brothers  John 
and  Charles  in  general  trade,  and  formed  an  important  factor 
in  the  good  name  of  the  honorable  house  of  John  Camp  &  Bros. 
After  its  dissolution,  in  1834,  Harry  remained  at  the  old  stand 
and  transacted  a  moderate  business  for  some  years  longer.  But, 
in  time,  advancing  age  chilled  his  early  enterprise  ;  he  could 
not  keep  pace  with  the  requirements  and  the  tastes  of  newer 
generations  of  customers ;  and  the  push  of  younger  rivals  forced 
him  from  the  field.  For  a  while  before  his  death  he  lived  re- 
tired and  free  of  all  pursuits.  Yet  though  retired,  and  even 
personally  unknown  to  some  later  citizens,  he  was  respected  by 
all  for  his  exemplary  and  useful  career,  venerated  for  his  age, 
and  still  more  as  a  link  between  the  present  and  the  past,  for 
during  many  years  he  was  the  last  male  survivor  of  Old  Fort 
Schuyler.  Modest  and  unassuming,  kind  and  obliging,  judi- 
cious in  his  opinions  and  discreet  in  the  utterance  of  them,  ex- 
act in  all  his  dealings  and  scrupulously  faithful  in  the  discharge 
of  his  obligations,  pure  in  his  morals,  an  upright  man  and  a 
tender   relative, — such  was  the  verdict  which  a  residence  of 


THE  SECOND  CHARTER.  407 

nearly  eighty  years  had  procured  him  among  hi,s  fellows.  He 
died  October,  1875,  in  his  eighty-ninth  year.  He  was  never 
married,  and  with  much  of  the  shyness,  had  none  of  the  crusti- 
ness of  an  old  bachelor. 

The  first  hint  I  have  of  William  Geere,  tanner  and  leather 
dealei',  is  contained  in  an  advertisement  of  May  1808,  at  which 
time  he  was  living  in  Paris.  In  1815  he  entered  into  partner- 
ship in  the  shoe  and  leather  trade  with  E.  S.  Barnum.  The 
same  year  he  was  made  a  village  trustee.  With  Mr.  Barnum 
he  was  not  more  than  a  year  in  company,  but  as  a  dealer  in 
leather,  his  name  is  met  with  as  late  as  1833,  though  he  finally 
removed  from  the  phice.  A  daughter  and  a  son-in-law — Reu- 
ben Irons — still  represent  him.  Major  Geere  was  large  and 
impressive  in  appearance  and  in  manner,  intelligent  and  re- 
spected both  at  Utica  and  at  Paris. 

Collings  Locke  came  hither  from  Schuyler  in  the  fall  of  1815, 
and  opened  a  store  for  the  sale  of  leather  on  Whitesboro  street, 
next  door  to  Mr.  Geere,  the  same  which  had  just  been  vacated 
by  Hinman  &  Mesick.  In  1817  he  joined  David  P.  Hoj't  at 
No.  64  Genesee,  and  when  they  dissolved,  two  years  later,  Mr. 
Locke  was  left  in  the  store.  He  moved  to  Middle  Settlement, 
thence  to  Sherburne,  where  he  died.  Two  of  his  grandchildren 
are  still  resident. 

Yet  another  tradesman  in  the  same  line  was  Zenas  Wright, 
who  is  set  down  in  the  directory  of  1817  as  a  farmer,  though  in 
1818  he  formed  a  connection,  for  the  purpose  of  selling  leather, 
with  William  Alverson.  After  its  close  he  was  a  tanner  and 
leather  dealer  some  years  longer.  But  about  1845  he  was 
elected  justice  of  the  peace  and  continued  to  perform  the  duties 
of  this  office  for  the  remainder  of  his  life,  which  life  was  ter- 
minated May  9,  1856,  at  the  age  of  seventy-four.  He  was  un- 
obtrusive, quiet  and  correct.  His  son  E.  Z.  Wright,  and  his 
daughter,  Mrs.  George  S.  Dana,  are  resident. 

Truman  Smith,  clerk  for  Mr.  Van  Santvoort  in  1811,  was 
four  years  later  partner  of  Nathaniel  Butler.  By  1817-18,  he 
had  gone  to  New  York  to  be  in  company  with  Roswell  Keeler. 
He  was  afterwards  mayor  of  Jersey  City. 


408  THE  PIONEERS  OF  UTICA. 

Elisha  Lovett,  grocer,  on  the  cornei-  of  Water  street,  illustrated 
in  his  death  a  characteristic  of  the  past  which  seems  strange 
enough  at  present,  for  death  itself  did  not  absolve  the  body  of 
this  debtor  from  his  indebtedness,  and  so  his  corpse  could  not 
be  carried  out  for  burial  until  the  claim  of  the  creditor  was  sat- 
isfied ;  such  was  then  the  cruelty  of  the  law  of  New  York.  It 
was  Dr.  Hull  who  advanced  the  money  and  comforted  the 
afflicted  widow.  Another  grocer  of  the  time  was  Alexander 
Quin. 

A  fourth  Merrell,  son  of  the  Bildad  Merrell  before  mentioned 
as  moving  into  the  county  in  1798,  came  in  1812  to  the  village 
of  Utica,  to  learn  the  trade  of  bookbinding.  This  was  Andrew. 
Three  years  latter  he  is  ready  to  practice  it  over  the  bookstore  of 
Camp,  Merrell  &  Camp.  Taking  their  place  in  1817,  he  himself 
begins  to  sell  books  in  company  with  Charles  Hastings,  and  also 
opens  a  circulating  library.  The  firm  published  likewise,  and 
among  other  works,  the  following :  McDowell's  Bif)le  Questions 
(1820),  the  third  edition  of  Thomas  Hastings'  Musica  Sacra,  and 
the  religious  paper  entitled  the  Western  Recorder.  Mr,  Merrell 
had  excellent  business  and  personal  qualities,  and  was  deemed 
by  every  one  so  good  a  man,  as  to  merit  and  receive  at  his  death, 
Avhat  was  once  so  rare  in  the  newspaper  issues  of  Utica,  an 
ample  obituary  notice.  This  event  occurred  January  26,  1826. 
From  the  notice,  we  extract  the  following :  "  Few  men,  in 
the  ordinary  walks  of  life,  have  been  more  distinguished  for 
piet}^  His  zeal,  which  was  according  to  knowledge,  never 
tired ;  he  was  instant  in  season  and  out  of  season,  doing  the 
work  of  his  Master.  The  friendly  admonitions  and  Christian 
counsels  which  dropped  from  his  lips  will  not  soon  be  forgotten. 
He  was  amiable  in  disposition,  fj^ank  and  kind  in  his  manners — 
a,  peacemaker — probabl}"  without  an  enemy."  As  an  elder  in 
the  church  to  which  he  belonged,  he  was  a  pattern  of  faithful- 
ness. Like  his  brother  Ira,  he  married  a  daughter  of  Talcott 
Camp,  Harriet.  She  is  still  living  and  makes  her  home  in 
Sacketts  Harbor.  Their  children  were  Henry,  who  managed  a 
cotton  factory  in  Georgia,  before  the  late  war,  and  is  now  in 
Arkansas ;  Samuel,  a  Presbyterian  minister ;  and  two  daughters, 
DOW  deceased,  Lucretia  (Mrs.  George  Camp),  and  Harriet, 


THE  SECOND  CHARTER.  409 

Among  those  of  the  mercantile  and  banking  class  now  serv- 
ing in  subordinate  posts,  were  Eurotas  P.  Hastings,  Hun  C. 
Beach,  William  B.  Welles,  Nathan  D.  Smith,  John  B.  Marchisi, 
Harmon  Pease.  The  two  last  named  are  still  living  in  Utica,  or 
its  vicinity,  and  were  I  to  enlarge  u})on  their  career,  the  proper 
place  for  snch  discourse  would  be  after  they  became  indepen- 
dent in  their  business  affairs.  Of  the  two  former,  whose  resi- 
dence in  Utica  was  transient,  and  who  were  known  here  only 
as  clerks,  a  few  incidents  may  be  noted.  Eurotas  P.  Hastings 
came  with  Ephraim  Hart,  and  into  his  service,  from  Clinton. 
Remaining  but  a  short  time,  he  then  accompanied  Pev.  Henrv 
Dwight,  when  the  latter  withdrew  from  his  spiritual  charge  to 
assume  the  management  of  the  Bank  of  Greneva.  From  this 
bank,  where  Mr.  Hastings  was  cashier,  he  went  into  that  of 
Michigan,  at  Detroit,  and  was  afterwards  its  president  until  it  was 
closed.  He  was  also  auditor  general  of  the  State  of  Michigan, 
and  a  conspicuous  and  useful  man.  He  died  June  1st,  1866. 
Hun  C.  Beach,  at  first  a  clerk  of  James  Van  Rensselaer,  was 
next,  for  a  short  time,  teller  of  the  Ontario  Branch  Bank. 
Thence  he  moved  to  New  York,  and  became  a  merchant. 
Subsequently  an  auctioneer  and  an  insurance  agent,  he  was 
never  very  successful,  though  amiable  and  accomplished.  He 
died  about  1870.  The  place,  in  our  chronological  order,  for  an 
ample  notice  of  William  B.  Welles,  would  naturally  be  deferred 
many  years  longer.  For  it  was  not  until  1835,  that  he  entered 
upon  his  long  and  honorable  career  as  cashier  of  the  Bank  of 
Utica.  But  as  he  had  already  been  some  years  a  denizen  of  the 
place,  it  is  befitting  to  record  liim  here  among  the  pioneers  of 
Utica.  Joining  Asahel  Seward  as  clerk  about  1811,  he  remained 
with  him  three  years,  and  then  served  Jesse  Doolitt]e  nearly  a  year 
in  the  same  capacity.  In  1814  he  became  teller  in  the  Bank  of 
Utica,  at  which  time  he  was  regarded  as  the  best  judge  of  monej- 
of  any  in  the  village.  In  1 824  he  succeeded  Orson  Seymour  as 
cashier  of  the  branch  of  this  bank  at  Canandaigua,  and  in  1835 
was  called  back  to  take  the  place  of  Montgomery  Hunt,  as 
cashier  of  the  parent  institution.  For  some  years  Mr.  Welles 
has  been  living  in  Brooklyn. 

Nathan  D.  Smith  was  baptized  and  received  into  the  com- 
munion of  Trinity  Church,  April  23,  1815  ;  he  was  received 
into  the  fellowship  of  the  Utica   Lodge  of  Masons  in  June 


410  THE   PIONEERS  OF  UTICA. 

1816;  and,  in  the  directory  of  1817,  he  is  set  down  as  an 
instructor  of  the  Qtica  Sunday  School.  I  have  seen  also 
one  of  his  receipts  for  the  government  tax  on  a  silver  watch^ 
dated  November  27,  1815,  and  signed  l)y  him  as  deput}^  collec- 
tor for  the  sixteenth  collection  district  of  New  York.  And 
this  is  the  most  I  have  been  able  to  glean  of  his  history  from 
local  sources.  But  from  a  correspondent,  a  native  of  Utica 
who  has  lived  many  years  in  the  South,  and  who  met  Mr.  Smitli 
in  after  years,  we  have  received  the  following  interesting  par- 
ticulars of  his  subsequent  experience.  He  writes  from  a  sense 
of  duty,  and  from  a  desire  to  rescue  from  oblivion  the  memory 
of  a  man  who,  while  in  Utica,  wasjprobably  misunderstood  and 
may  now  be  forgotten.  "  When  I  first  went  to  Arkansas^ 
almost  the  first  prominent  person  who  called  on  me  to  encour- 
age me  in  my  enterprise,  was  a  Dr.  Nathan  Smith,  a  ridic- 
nlously  small  man,  but  fat.  We  shortly  discovered  that  he 
had  once  lived  in  Utica.  He  was  aged  and  decrepid,  and  died 
ere  long.  But  so  long  as  he  lived  he  was  my  fast  friend,  and 
that  at  a  time  and  in  a  region  where  friends  had  to  stand  by 
each  other.  He  was  literally  the  oldest  resident  of  Southwest 
Arkansas,  having  gone  there  fifty  j'ears  ago,  when  what  is  now 
Texas  was  the  territory  of  Mexico.  Settling  down  within  a 
day's  ride  of  the  frontier,  and  close  up  to  the  Indians,  he 
remained,  a  sterling  good  man  in  the  midst  of  a  wild  popula- 
tion, and  a  man  of  influence ;  riding  every  trail  and  bridle-path, 
with  his  saddle  bags  and  suigical  implements,  respected  and 
unmolested,  and  growing  rich  in  lands  and  cattle,  while  those 
around  him  were  wasting  their  lives  in  raiding  u])on  the  Mexi- 
cans, counterfeiting  their  silver  dollars,  and  doing  mischief 
generally.  There  he  stayed,  however,  doing  good  in  his  way,, 
when  Colonel  Austin  rallied  around  him  almost  the  entire  pop- 
ulation to  follow  his  fortunes  and  aid  him  in  taking  possession 
and  holding  his  Spanish  grants ;  all  of  which  ended  in  Texan 
independence,  but  nearly  depopulated  Southwest  Arkansas. 
This  stout-hearted  man  was  in  stature  scarcely  more  than  four 
feet,  six  inches.  Yet  he  enforced  respect  for  his  person  by  his 
gentlemanly  deportment,  qualified  by  a  fierce  temper,  ready  to 
blaze  up  at  the  slightest  liberty  or  suspicion  of  insult.  Al- 
though the  first  bowie  knife  ever  made  was  forged  at  the  black- 
smith shop  that  was  nearest  to  him,  he  never  was  intimidated 


THE  SECOND  CHARTER.  411 

b}'  a  bullv.  He  was  especially  a  terror  to  all  patients  wlio 
dared  to  neglect  or  change  bis  prescriptions,  and  in  tbis  being- 
no  respecter  of  persons,  some  queer  incidents  arose  in  bis  prac- 
tice. I  was  told  tbat  once  an  armed  bully  and  a  stronger  man 
tban  be,  but  wlio  did  not  know  bim,  insulted  bim  in  the  public 
square,  expecting  to  escape  the  consequences  by  ait'ecting  con 
tempt  at  tb£  doctor  s  diminutive  stature,  "Nevermind  that"  said 
the  doctor,  "  I  am  heavy  enough.  When  I'm  angry,  sir,  I 
weigh  a  thousand  pounds."  Of  course  the  "  Eounders'"  never 
suffered  their  little  medicine  man  to  be  run  over  by  ruffians. 
A  visit  to  his  home  amused  and  biterested  me  in  the  highest 
degree.  He  had  never  rebuilt,  but  bad  added  on  to  bis  home- 
stead as  be  increased  in  family  and  in  worldly  goods.  A  tum- 
ble-down castle  it  was,  and  yet  there  were  evidences  of  good 
taste,  and  no  sparing  of  pains  or  expense  to  have  the  best  pos- 
sible floors,  and  doors  and  furniture.  The  fun  was  in  bis  mani- 
fest passion  for  size  and  grandeur  in  everything.  His  riding 
horse  was  the  very  largest  to  be  had,  and  to  see  bim  mount 
and  ride  never  failed  to  remind  me  of  the  pony  and  the  monkey 
in  the  circus.  His  rifle,  which  he  told  me  he  made  himself, 
was  a  foot  longer  tban  others.  His  wife  was  evidently  selected 
for  her  tallness.  The  bedstead,  tbat  was  most  elaborate,  was 
wider  and  longer  than  any  other  bedstead,  and  be  could  not 
possibly  have  got  into  it  without  climbing.  So  with  the 
bureau,  very  fine,  but  so  tall  tbat  his  head  scarcely  reached 
the  top  drawer.  Chairs,  tables,  all  were  on  a  scale  fit  for  a  race 
of  giants.  He  was  an  accurate  scholar,  especially  in  certain 
departments  of  science ;  had  made  known  to  the  scientific  world 
facts  not  known  before,  and  bad  drawn  visits  of  scientific  men 
sent  to  verify  them.  And  be  was  the  sole  correspondent  of 
bis  region  with  the  Smithsonian  Institute. 

'•  This  Dr.  Nathan  Smith  told  me  that  he  came  to  Utica  on 
foot  from  Poughkeepsie,  being  then  very  young  and  needing 
employment.  Judge  Nathan  Williaitis  took  him  into  bis  office 
and  set  bim  assessing  the  "  War  Tax,"  for  the  war  was  then 
progressing,  and  money  was  raised  by  direct  taxation.  The 
war  over,  be  was  teller  in  the  Manhattan  Bank,  until  one  day 
his  cash  was  short  one  hundred  dollars.  It  was  an  accident  of 
course,  but  high  words  ensued,  which  knowing  his  tempera- 
ment, I  can    quite  understand.     I  think  he   said    Mr.   Bryan 


412  THE  PIONEERS  OF  UTICA. 

Johnson  was  particularly  hard  on  him.  So  he  went  away  in  a 
rage,  and  turned  up  at  the  outmost  verge  of  civilization,  as  far  as 
he  could  go  without  losing  his  scalp.  There  he  lived  to  a  very 
old  age  an  exemplary  Christian,  under  circumstances  to  carry 
away  by  temptation  any  but  a  man  of  the  most  determined 
principles.  So  that  if  he  left  Utica  as  a  defaulter,  it  is  due  to 
his  memory  that  his  subsequent  career  should  be  told  to  his 
credit." 

To  the  details  of  our  correspondent  an  incident  may  be 
added  from  the  fading  memor}'  of  an  aged  citizen.  She  remem- 
bers something  about  a  very  little  man  of  the  same  name  desir- 
ing to  take  orders  in  the  Episcopal  Church,  but  that  though 
otherwise  unexceptionable,  the  bishop,  when  he  came  to  set 
eyes  upon  him,  could  not  bring  himself  to  ordain  so  little  a 
man.  Another  venerable  relic  of  1815  remembers  that  a  little 
Mr.  Smith,  who  had  been  in  the  employ  of  Bryan  Johnson, 
studied  medicine  afterward  with  Dr.  Hull,  and  was  much  con- 
fided in  by  his  preceptor  who  often  availed  himself  of  his 
•counsel.  Courageous  little  Dr.  Nathan  Smith,  driven  out  from 
the  civilized  and  the  religious,  3^ou  did  valiantlj''  among  the 
aliens !  Self-respecting  and  dignified  as  you  were,  is  it  any 
wonder  that,  "  cheated  of  stature  by  dissembling  nature,"  you 
came  to  worship  it  in  all  things  around  you !  Despite  your 
want  of  it,  your  townsmen  shall  reverence  you  at  the  last! 

Josejoh  Bunce  and  Horace  Wadsworth  began,  in  April,  to 
mahe  looking  glasses  on  Genesee,  opposite  Catherine,  and  were 
also  gold  beaters.  The  latter  I  soon  lose  trace  of,  but  Bunce 
was  something  later  a  partner  in  the  same  business  with  Flavel 
Gaylord.  This  Caylord,  at  first  independent,  and  then  asso- 
ciated with  Bunce,  continued  the  making  of  mirrors  until  his 
death,  about  1885,  and  was  an  amiable  man  and  a  commendable 
officer  of  the  Presbyterian  Church.  His  brother  William,  has 
already  been  mentioned,  as  a  temjiorary  pai'tner  of  Dr.  Solomon 
Wolcott,  in  selling  crockerj^  William  Blackwood,  brass  founder, 
had  a  shop  at  134  Genesee,  a  few  dooi's  below  the  corner  of 
Liberty,  and  after  the  opening  of  Fayette  street,  a  little  west  of 
Washington,  where  also  he  lived.  His  final  home  he  made  in 
Buffalo,  and  died  December  14,  1838.  His  wife  was  a  daughter 
of  William  Rowe.     A  son  worked  with  him.  and  another  who 


THE  SECOND  CHARTEE,  41S 

studied  medicine,  settled  in  New  York.  George  K.  Anderson, 
followed  a  trade  that  is  now  obsolete,  tin  planishing  being  done 
bj  machinery.  William  Bell  was  a  plater,  and  Abraham  H. 
Stephens,  a  gunsmith.  Nathan  Stephens,  carpenter  and  joiner, 
lived  in  Utica  until  August  1875,  and  contributed  many  a  build- 
ing that  went  to  increase  the  dimensions  of  the  place.  His  son, 
John  T.,  his  daughters,  Mrs.  Downer  and  Mrs.  Woodland,  and 
his  grand-children,  themselves  heads  of  families,  are  still  here. 
And  so  too  are  the  children  of  his  brother- in-law,  Thomas  Wilev, 
also  a  carpenter,  who  died  before  1828.  These  are  Mrs.  Thomas 
Sharpe  and  Mrs.  Mary  Taylor.  Seth  Case  and  John  Hewitt 
were  likewise  carpenters.  Alexander  Yates  it  is  believed  was  a 
tailor ;  John  Whitney  was  a  shoemaker ;  Deratha  Edgerton,  a 
wheel-wright,  Azor  Brown,  a  hatter ;  John  Brown,  post-office 
clerk ;  John  Flint,  a  baker ;  Eleazer  Tilden,  butcher ;  Newell 
Bostwuck,  police  officer ;  Theodore  Wilcox,  boatman ;  Ziba 
Tuttle,  liquor  dealer :  John  B.  Smith,  suspenders  maker  ;  Miss 
White,  teacher;  Henry  B.  Clark,  Gilbert  Waters,  Israel  Williams, 
Pomp  Tucker  (colored),  had  pursuits  not  now  known. 


1816. 

The  freeholders  met  as  usual  in  May  1816,  and  at  the  usual 
place,  the  school  house  on  Genesee  street,  which  was  at  this 
time  occupied  by  Eev.  Mr.  Townshend.  As  before,  the  sum  of 
one  thousand  dollars  was  voted  to  be  raised  by  taxation  to  de- 
fray the  annual  expenses.  It  was  voted  likewise  to  continue  to 
issue  small  bills,  but  not  to  exceed  the  amount  of  those  already 
issued.  For  trustees  they  chose  Rudolph  Snyder,  Ezra  S. 
Cozier,  Augustus  Hickox.  Gurdon  Burchard  and  Willim  Geere, 
of  whom  Mr.  Snyder  was  afterwards,  by  action  of  the  board, 
made  the  president.  The  trustees  in  the  course  of  the  year 
ordered  that  the  buildings  on  Genesee  street  should  be  num- 
bered, and  that  the  names  of  tbe  streets  should  be  affixed  to  the 
corners.  They  likewise  indulged  in  further  legislation  about  the 
market  and  tiie  vending  of  meat — selling  six  stalls  of  the  former 
at  auction,  and  forbidding  the  sale  of  meat  outside  of  the  market 
before  nine  o'clock  a.  m.  in  quantities  less  than  a  quarter  of  the 
animal.     And  this  is  all  the  record  of  the  year.     Indeed,  it  com- 


414  THE   PIONEEKS  OF  UTIGA. 

pletes  the  record  of  proceedings  had  nndei"  the  then  existing 
charter.  For  in  November,  we  read  of  a  call  for  a  public  meet- 
ing of  the  inhabitants,  at  the  school  house  of  Mr.  Bliss,  to  re- 
ceive the  new  charter. 

In  tlie  year  1816,  there  was  started  an  institution  which  has 
l:»een  of  inestimable  beneht  to  the  inhabitants  of  Utica,  past  and 
present.  This  was  the  Utica  Sunda_y  School,  already  more 
than  once  adverted  to.  Its  liistory  is  of  interest  not  only  by 
reason  of  the  good  it  effected,  bringing  into  haiTnonious  coop- 
eration the  membei'S  of  all  the  churches  of  the  place  in  a  pur- 
pose so  useful  as  tliat  of  imparting  religious  instruction  to  the 
young,  and  diffusing  its  happy  influence  upon  benefactors  as 
well  as  beneficiaries,  but  because  also  it  was  a  novel  under- 
taking and  almost  without  precedent  in  America.  Or  if,  as 
w^as  doubtless  true,  a  verj^  few  such  schools  were  alread}^  in 
operation,  they  were  so  little  known  as  to  have  no  copyists,  nor 
was  there  one  that  from  the  outset  was  carried  on  with  so  much 
fidelity  and  system,  or  was  attended  throughout  its  course  with 
such  fruitful  results  as  this  one. 

The  w^ork  of  Sunday  teaching  in  Utica  is  said  to  have  grown 
out  of  the  suggestion  of  a  young  lady  from  Troy,  then  tempo- 
rarih'  visiting  in  the  village.  This  lady,  the  daughter  of  a 
clergjauan  of  that  place,  became  afterward  the  wife  of  one  of 
the  members  of  the  firm  of  Brown  Brothers  &  Co.  of  New  York. 
Or,  according  to  another  tradition,  it  was  two  daughters  of 
Divie  Bethune  of  New  York,  then  on  a  visit  in  the  village,  by 
whom  the  suggestion  was  first  made.  By  the  influence  of  one 
or  other  of  these  parties,  five  young  ladies  of  Utica  became  in- 
terested in  the  project.  These  five  were  Alida  M.  Van  Eens- 
selaer,  Mary  E.  Walker,  Sarah  M.  Malcom,  Elizabeth  Blood- 
good  and  Cathai'ine  W.  Breese,  daughters  respectively  of  Jere- 
iniah  Van  Eensselaer,  Thomas  Walker,  Richard  M.  Malcom, 
Francis  A.  Bloodgood  and  Arthur  Breese.  And  yet  these  were 
not  absolutely  the  first  of  the  village  to  engage  in  this  good 
work,  for  in  the  S])]"ing  of  1815,  moi'C  than  a  year  previous, 
Miss  Eunice  Camp,  daughter  of  ,Talcott  Camp,  gathered  a  few 
children,  mostly  colored,  in  order  to  give  them  Sunday  instruc- 
tion. Carrying  this  on  for  a  while  alone,  she  was  afterwards, 
when  the  young  ladies  above  mentioned  liad  succeeded  in  estab- 


THE  SECOND  CHARTER.    .  415 

lisbing  their  school  for  white  children,  joined  b_y  them  in  the 
management  of  an  evening  school  for  people  of  color.  Their 
own  school  they  began  in  the  wing  of  a  frame  building  that  still 
stands  in  Hotel  street  adjoining  Mechanics  Hall ;  and  here,  on 
the  16th  of  October,  1816,  thej  assembled  a  group  of  twentj^- 
iive  or  thirty  girls  and  boys.  They  sought  at  first  only  the 
children  of  the  poor,  providing  them  with  clothing  to  encourage 
them  to  attend.  In  the  course  of  time,  a  few  gentlemen  came 
to  their  aid,  and  a  separate  department  was  formed  for  boys. 
At  the  outset  the  propriety  of  employing  the  hours  of  the  Sab- 
bath in  teaching  ignorant  cliildren  to  read,  even  the  Bible,  was 
much  questioned,  and  many  were  disposed  to  regard  it  as  a 
desecration  of  the  holy  day.  Even  Rev.  Mr.  Dwight,  pastor  of 
the  church  to  which  these  ladies,  with  one  exception,  all  be- 
longed, as  well  as  some  of  the  officer's  of  this  church,  while  not 
openly  opposing  the  enterprise,  gave  it  at  first  no  encouragement. 
It  was,  however,  after  much  discussion,  finallj^  decided  that  relig- 
ious teaching  was  proper  work  for  the  Sabbath,  and  that  all  the 
children  of  tlie  village  of  suitable  age,  should  be  invited  and 
urged  to  attend.  From  this  time,  professing  Christians,  gener- 
ally, began  to  give  it  their  cordial  sjmipathy,  and  to  feel  a  re- 
sponsibility resting  upon  them  to  labor  therein,  directly  or  in- 
directly. A  regular  organization,  made  up  of  representatives 
from  the  Presbyterian,  Episcopal,  Methodist  and  Baptist  Soci- 
eties, was  formed  to  watch  over  and  care-  for  the  interests  of 
the  school.  It  consisted  of  a  president,  vice  president,  secretary, 
treasurer,  four  directors,  and  four  instructors  of  the  male  de- 
partment, two  directresses,  a  superintendent  and  four  teachers 
of  the  female  department,  and  a  superintendent  and  three  teachers 
of  the  colored  school.  This  formal  redundancy  of  officers  was 
ere  long  done  away  with,  and  the  duties  and  responsibilities, 
in  name  as  in  fact,  were  left  with  the  superintendents  and  their 
assistants,  and  the  teachers.  For  some  years  the  ruhng  spirit 
of  the  whole  was  the  superintendent.  Colonel  William  Williams, 
the  bookseller  and  publisher;  and  his  influence  continued  to  be 
felt  long  after  the  pressure  of  other  duties  required  him  to  jneld 
the  conduct  to  younger  men. 

A  few  months  after  its  inception,  the  school,  now  consid- 
erably increased  in  numbers,  was  removed  to  a  room  known  as 
Minerva  Hall,  in  the  second  story  of  a  building  situate  on  the 


416  THE  PIONEERS  OF  UTICA. 

east  side  of  Genesee  street  below  the  corner  of  Broad.  In  the- 
year  1821  or  '22,  it  was  again  removed  into  a  brick  building  on  - 
the  south  side  of  Catherine  street,  nearly  opposite  the  mouth  of 
Franklin,  and  three  years  later  to  the  west  side  of  Hotel  street, 
about  midway  of  its  extent,  into  a  building  then  occupied  as  the- 
Presbyterian  session  room.  And  here  it  continued  to  be  held 
until  1826,  when  it  ceased  to  exist  as  the  Union  Sunday  School 
of  the  different  religious  societies,  and  was  broken  up  into  three 
or  four  distinct  ones.  During  the  few  first  years  the  time  of 
the  teachers  was  principally  taken  up  in  teaching  the  children 
fi'om  lessons  on  cards  and  in  the  spelling  book.  Then  for  some 
years  the  exercises  consisted  in  recitations  by  the  scholars  of 
passages  of  Scripture  which  they  had  committed  to  memory 
daring  the  preceding  week.  Stimulated  by  promises  of  reward 
to  increase  the  number  of  verses  to  the  greatest  possible  extent, 
their  ambition  was  excited,  and  it  was  no  uncommon  thing  for 
them  to  learn  and  recite  as  many  as  one  hundred  verses,  and 
these  not  of  oft-quoted  passages,  but  of  chapters  and  books  con- 
secutivel}^  Ten  of  them  committed  the  whole  of  the  New 
Testament.  The  result  was  inevitable,  that  so  far  as  the  exer- 
cises of  the  school  were  concerned,  they  consisted  entirely  of 
recitations,  with  no  time  for  explanations  or  further  instruction. 
The  idea  seemed  to  have  been  to  incorporate  bodily  into  the 
heads  of  the  pupils  the  whole  canon  of  the  divine  law,  which 
they  might  draw  upon  for  the  regulation  of  all  after  life.  But 
the  work  of  Sunday  teaching  was  new,  and  the  teachers  with- 
out chart  or  compass.  Their  good  sense  soon  showed  them  the 
objections  and  difficulties  attendant  upon  their  then  mode  of 
teaching,  and  better  ones  were  gradually  introduced.  In  1823 
the  scholars  were  required  to  commit  fifteen  verses  which  were 
explained  to  them  by  the  teachers.  In  the  year  1824,  Truman 
Parmelee,  who  was  about  tliis  time  made  the  superintendent, 
prepared  a  series  of  questions  on  the  historical  parts  of  the 
New  Testament,  which  were  printed  and  introduced  into  use  in 
the  school.  This  was  the  first  book  of  Scripture  questions, 
ever  compiled  for  Sunday  schools  ;  it  was  adopted  by  the  Amer- 
ican Sunday  School  Union,  and  almost  universally  introduced 
into  the  schools  under  its  care.  Its  introduction  here  was 
attended  with  the  happiest  effect,  and  the  attention  of  teachers 
and  scholars  was  now  especiall}^  directed  to  the  careful  study 


THE  SECOND  CHAKTER.  417 

of  tlie  Scriptures,  in  order  to  understand  their  real  import  and 
connection,  and  the  whole  circuit  of  instruction  thej  include. 
Mr.  Parraelee,  who  was  afterward  a  merchant,  had  but  just 
completed  his  apprenticeship  as  a  book-binder  when  he  entered 
upon  the  office  of  superintendent.  He  possessed  qualities 
wdiich  admirably  fitted  him  for  the  position.  He  had  energy, 
unfailing  patience  and  abundant  resource,  a  pleasant  counte- 
nance and  winning  persuasiveness  of  address,  and  above  all, 
ardent  piet}^  and  an  enthusiastic  consecration  to  the  work  of 
Sunday  School  teaching.  His  lessons  were  full  of  interest  and 
never  failed  of  engagmg  attention.  His  manner  w^as  gentle 
and  forbearing,  so  that  he  drew  towards  him  the  affection  of 
the  scholars,  and  maintained  over  them  an  influence  of  the 
purest  and  strongest  kind.  Moreover  there  were  several  teach- 
ers, male  and  female,  who  had  excellencies  scarcely  inferior  to- 
his  own.  Some  of  these  have  already  or  will  hereafter  be 
noticed  in  connection  with  other  relations  they  sustained  to  the- 
village.  We  can  name  only  George  S.  Wilson, — at  this  time  a 
printer's  apprentice,,  but  afterwards  a  Presbyterian  minister,, 
conspicuous  for  piety,  intelligence  and  aptness  as  well  as  zeal 
in  teaching ;  Frederick  S.  Winston,  then  a  clerk,  now  presi- 
dent of  the  New  York  Mutual  Life  Insurance  Company,  an 
instructive  teacher,  of  tender  influence  and  a  quiet  enthusiast 
in  the  work ;  Captain  Charles  Stuart,  a  retired  half  pay  officer 
of  the  British  army,  but  then  pi'incipal  of  the  Utica  Academy, 
who  "had  all  the  virtues  of  humanity  seemingly  in  excess;" 
and  who,  notwithstanding  his  eccentricity  and  his  rigidness  of 
discipline,  won  all  hearts ;  Charles  Bartlett,  another  secular 
teacher,  afterwards  well  known  in  this  capacity,  and  whose  skill 
in  expounding  the  Scriptures  was  admirable ;  and  among  the 
ladies,  not  already  mentioned  as  the  founders,  there  was  ISIrs. 
Sarah  K.  Clarke,  heretofore  sketched,  Miss  Betsey  Barker,  Miss. 
Susan  Burchard  and  others.  In  singing,  the  school  had  the 
benefit  of  the  tuition  of  Thomas  Hastings,  eminent  as  a  teacher 
and  composer  of  sacred  music,  and  some  of  whose  earlier  and 
popular  pieces  were  prepared  expressly  for  the  anniversaries  of 
the  school.  For  there  were  annual  exhibitions  held  in  the 
Presbj^terian  church  when  the  progress  made  by  the  scholars  in 
religious  t?uth  was  shown  to  the  satisfaction  of  crowded  audi- 
c-1 


418  THE   PIONEERS  OF  UTICA. 

ences,  and  the  interest  in  the  school  on  the  part  of  the  latter  was 
fostered  and  increased. 

The  earlier  records  of  the  school  are  unfortunately  lost,  so 
that  it  is  now  impossible  to  relate  the  successive  improvements 
that  were  developed,  to  recount  the  number  of  scholars  in 
attendance,  or  present  anything  like  a  perfect  list  of  the  work- 
ing force  of  the  school.  It  attained,  in  the  course  of  a  few 
3^ears  a  high  degree  of  prosperity  and  elevation,  so  as  to  attract 
attention  abroad,  and  to  be  looked  upon  as  a  model  for  imita- 
tion. Missionaries  were  sent  forth  from  it  to  christianize  the 
the  heathen,  and  others  were  led  by  it  to  enter  on  ministerial 
labor  at  home ;  many  were  trained  under  its  purifying  influ- 
ences for  the  posts  of  honor  or  usefulness  they  now  fill,  and 
many  more  were  prepared  for  death.  In  1826,  as  we  have  said, 
the  school  closed  its  existence  as  the  Utica  Sunday  School,  for 
the  town  had  now  become  too  large  to  admit  of  assembling  all 
its  children  in  one  apartment  or  under  a  single  corps  of  instructors, 
and  moreover  each  society  was  desirous  of  directing  the  nurture 
of  its  own.  From  its  dismembered  parts  three  or  four  other 
schools  sprang  into  a  healthy  life,  of  which  the  most  continue 
to  be  promoters  of  blessing  to  the  present  generation  of  the 
young,  and  though  these  joined  hands  to  form  a  Sunday  School 
Union,  the  organization  of  each  was  separate  and  independent, 
and  their  history  is  that  of  the  church  to  which  they  belonged. 

On  the  25th  of  December,  1816,  another  Bible  society  was 
organized  under  the  title  of  The  Welsh  Bible  Society  of  Steuben 
and  Utica  with  their  vicinities.  Its  intention  was  to  aid  and 
cooperate  with  the  American  Bible  Society  in  translating, 
printing  and  circulating  the  Holy  Scriptures,  without  note  or 
comment,  at  home  and  in  foreign  countries.  Its  annual  meeting 
was,  in  1829,  held  in  January,  alternately  in  Steuben  and  Utica. 
Its  president  was  Rev.  Robert  Everett,  and  he  was  still  president 
in  1833.  About  this  time  William  Williams  imported  for  them 
a  Duoglott  Bible — Welsli  and  English.  By  the  year  1843,  the 
society  had  received  about  $6,000,  and  that  year  made  a  dona- 
tion of  two  hundred  dollars  to  the  American  Bible  Societ}^  It 
is  in  existence  still. 

First  among  the  persons  now  admitted  to  a  residence  comes 
one  who  was  confessedly  primus  inter  pares,  eminent  not  here 


THE  SECOND  CHARTER.  419 

alone,  but  throughout  the  country,  whose  transcendent  abilities 
gave  him  a  repute  that  was  national,  and  a  celebrity  that  is 
enduring.  Samuel  Austin  Talcott  was  the  son  of  Samuel  Tal-  ^ 
cott  of  Hartford,  Conn.,  and  Abigail,  daughter  of  John  Led- 
yard  of  Bristol,  England,  and  sister  of  Colonel  Ledyard,  who 
so  gallantly  defended  Fort  Groton  in  the  war  of  the  Revolu 
tion.  This  Samuel  Talcott  was  son  of  Colonel  Samuel  Talcott, 
who  was  sheriff,  colonel  &c.,  and  grandson  of  Governor  Joseph 
Talcott,  the  first  governor  of  Connecticut  born  within  its  lim- 
its, and  who  occupied  the  chair  seventeen  years. 

Samuel  Austin,  who  was  born  at  Hartford,  December  31, 
1789,  lost  his  father  while  yet  a  boy.  At  the  age  of  four  years 
he  was  sent  to  a  school  kept  by  a  Mrs.  Peterson,  where  he 
remained  three  years,  and  was  then  put  under  the  care  of  Dr. 
McClure,  of  East  Windsor.  He  continued  with  him  until  he 
was  fourteen,  when  he  went  to  Colchester  Academy,  and  after 
a  residence  of  two  years  entered  the  Sophomore  class  of  Wil- 
liams College,  in  1806,  and  was  graduated  in  1809,  at  the  age 
of  nineteen.  Shortly  after,  he  married  Miss  Rachel  Skinner, 
daughter  of  Deacon  Benjamin  Skinner  of  Williamstown,  and 
immediately  began  the  stud}^  of  law  with  Thomas  R.  Gold  of 
Whitesboro.  His  course  of  study  ended,  he  practiced  in  Low- 
ville,  Lewis  county,  at  first  in  j)artnership  with  Isaac  W.  Bost- 
wick.  About  1816  he  removed  to  Utica,  and  entered  into  a 
like  connection  with  William  H.  Maynard,  the  contemporary 
of  his  college  days.  A  vacancy  having  been  created  at  New 
Hartford  by  the  removal  from  that  place  to  Utica  of  General  ^ 
Joseph  Kirkland,  Mr.  Talcott  took  up  his  residence  in  the  < 
former  village,  and  by  the  aid  of  his  associate  in  Utica,  main-) 
tained  an  office  in  both  places.  On  the  12th  of  February,  1821, 
he  received  the  appointment  of  Attorney  General  of  the  State, 
when  he  made  his  home  in  Albany,  and  continued  to  live  there 
during  his  administration  of  this  office.  From  Albany  he 
repaired  to  New  York,  and  carried  on  practice  until  his  death, 
March  19,  1836,  in  his  forty-seventh  year. 

Such  in  brief  terms  are  the  main  incidents  in  the  life  of  one 
of  the  marked  men  of  the  county  and  of  the  State.  Indeed,  a 
friend  of  his  youth,  and  who  was  competent  to  judge,  has  pro- 
nounced him  one  of  the  most  extraordinary  men  of  the  age. 
The  characteristics  of  Mr.  Talcott,  as  they  were  seen  in  college, 


•i20  THE  PIONEERS  OF  UTICA. 

tliis  writer*  thus  describes:  "At  this  early  age,  all  those  ex- 
traordinar}'  qualities  were  developed  which  marked  his  career, 
and  so  greatly  distinguished  him  in  after  life, — towering  genius 
and  profound  investigation ;  astonishing  facility  in  acquiring 
knowledge,  and  a  memory  which  never  lost  what  it  had  once 
acquired ;  surpassing  eloquence  as  a  writer  and  speaker;  a  mind 
which  could  grasp  and  master  whatever  was  most  difficult  in 
the  abstruse  sciences,  and  at  the  same  time  exhibiting  powers 
of  the  imagination,  wit,  Immoi",  raillery  and  sarcasm  which 
have  rarely  been  equalled.  To  all  these  were  added  the  advan- 
tages of  a  commanding  person,  unri\-a]led  address,  a  head,  eye 
and  countenance  '  the  pattern  of  a  man.'  He  was  in  all  respects 
most  truly  one  of  nature's  noblemen.  His  heart  was  generous 
to  a  fault,  and  he  had  a  soul  which  knew  not  fear." 

Eulogium  so  lavish  one  might  impute  to  the  partiality  of  a 
friend  did  it  not  accord  with  the  written  testimony  of  a  few  co- 
temporaries  of  his  manhood,  as  well  as  with  the  traditionary 
report  of  all  his  generation.  As  a  lawyer,  all  admit  that  he  was 
born  to  the  calling ;  they  join  in  praising  the  acuteness  of  his 
intellect  and  the  cogency  of  his  logic,  his  abundant  learning  and 
close  and  critical  research,  to  which  they  add  an  eloquence  of 
oratory  seldom  witnessed.  Though  from  an  early  period  in  his 
professional  life,  Mr.  Talcott  was  engaged  in  nearly  every  im- 
portant case  that  was  tried  at  the  Circuit,  and  often  argued  at 
the  bar  of  the  Supreme  Court,  yet  scarce  an  impress  of  his 
commanding  power  is  now  to  be  traced.  A  few  skeletons  of 
argument  are  preserved  in  the  Reports  of  the  Couit,  but  this  is 
all.  In  his  day  there  was  no  reporting  of  the  particular  char- 
acter that  we  now  have,  and  the  public  efforts  of  this  great 
lawyer  have  perished  with  the  occasion.  In  respect  to  his  style 
of  oratory,  his  sentences,  we  are  told,  were,  for  the  most  part, 
short  and  pithy  ;  he  did  not  practice  high  wa-ought  illustration 
or  nicely  balanced  periods,  nor  call  on  Shakespeare  or  some 
other  poet  to  assist  him  in  his  flight,  and  make  good  his  own 
deficiencies ;  graced  with  a  fancy  all  his  own,  spoken  in  a  deep- 
toned,  resounding  voice,  and  in  a  manner  that  was  most  impres- 
sive, his  utterances  were  forceful  and  direct ;  weighty  with  rea- 
son, they  captivated  the  understanding  while  they  charmed  the 

*Hon.  William  H.  Dillingham,  in  Durfee's  Biographical  Annals  of  Wil- 
liams College. 


THE  SECOND  CHARTER.  421 

sense;  or  changing  with  magical  transition,  from  the  subtlest 
argument,  they  melted  the  hearer  to  the  deepest  pathos.  He 
produced  in  the  minds  of  his  audience,  says  Proctor,*  all  the 
sympathy  and  emotion  of  which  the  mind  is  capable,- — all 
which  the  argumentative  can  produce — all  which  solidity,  pathos 
or  splendor,  whether  derived  from  original  or  assisted  powers, 
can  convey  of  pleasure  or  conviction.  "  But  with  all  his  ability, 
he  had  striking  weaknesses  and  some  lamentable  vices.  Among 
the  former  was  a  foolish  vanity  of  having  it  thought  that  all 
his  gifts  and  resources  came  by  inspiration,  and  were  not  the 
fruit  of  careful  study  and  laborious  preparation. "f  This  led  him 
to  conceal  every  evidence  of  toil,  and  to  pass  his  days  in  idle- 
ness or  worse,  while  his  nights  were  often  consumed  in  diligent 
reading  and  laborious  thought.  He  spurned  the  labor  of  others, 
and  refused  to  appear  in  court  with  a  brief  that  had  been 
wholly  or  in  part  prepared  by  an  associate.  No  'cause  was 
worthy  of  his  handling  that  had  not  been  subjected  to  his  mid- 
night crucible,  and  worked  up  to  the  standard  of  his  own  con- 
ception. He  never  sought  business,  was  not  anxious  for  the 
pecuniary  gains  he  might  so  easily  have  grasped,  but,  solicitous 
onl}^  for  professional  fame,  he  strove  in  what  he  did  do,  therein 
Mnthout  seeming  effort  and  as  it  were  by  sheer  force  of  genius, 
to  excel. 

In  proof  of  some  of  these  traits,  and  more  especially  of  his 
simulated  idleness,  his  accurate  learning  and  its  covert  acquisi- / 
tion,  is  the  narrative  of  the  venerable  Charles  Dayan  of  Low-( 
ville,  who,  at  the  same  time  witli  the  late  Kussel  Parrish,  was  a  \ 
student  in  the  office  of  Messrs.  Bostwick  &  Talcott.     He  says :  1 
"Mr.  Talcott  was,  I  think,  the  laziest  man  I  ever  knew.     He 
would  lie  in  bed  till  ten  oclock,  and  would  lounge  for  hours. 
In  fact,  I  seldom  or  ever  saw  him  read  a  book ;  and  we  began 
to  set  him  down  as  an  ignorant,  clownish  fellow.     So  Parrish 
and  I  one  day  laid  a  plan  to  trap  and  expose  him,  by  asking 
about  some  principle  of  law  on  which  we  had  been  posting  our- 
selves from  the  books.     Mr.  Talcott  replied  that  the  principle 
had  been  discussed  some  years  ago,  and  referred  us  to  a  case  in 
the  English  term  reports,  mentioning  the  judge,  the  year,  vol- 
ume and  page.     Turning  to  the  authority  we  found  the  matter 
fully  stated  and  decision  given.      "Now,"  said  he,  "are you  sat- 

*  Bench  and  Bar  of  New  York,     f  Bacon's  Early  Bar  of  Oneida  County. 


422  THE   PIONEERS  OF  UTICA. 

isfied?"  "Yes,  of  course;  it  is  quite  plain."  "But,"  said  lie^ 
"in  a  case  reported  some  3^ears  later,  this  same  principle  arose 
and  was  settled  in  a  different  way."  Having  recourse  to  tlie 
volume,  page  and  name  of  parties  indicated,  we  found  the  de- 
cision (this  time  by  Lord  Mansfield)  as  he  had  informed  us.  We 
again  declared  ourselves  fully  satisfied.  But,  remarking  that 
the  law  was  very  uncertain,  he  cited  another  case  some  years 
later,  in  which  a  third  decision  had  been  rendered,  differing 
from  either  of  the  former  ones.  We  never  again  undertook  to 
cross  examine  Mr.  Talcott  upon  principles  of  law,  but  found 
him  always  ready  to  cite  from  memory  upon  any  point  on  which 
we  needed  information."  "  In  trying  causes,"  says  Judge  Pom- 
roy  Jones,  "he  seemed  to  take  pride  in  making  it  appear  that 
he  was  paying  no  attention  to  the  testimony  or  the  summing 
up  of  opposing  counsel.  I  have  seen  him  during  the  progress 
of  a  trial  making  pictures  and  passing  them  to  members  of  the 
bar, — but  when  he  came  to  sum  up,  all  of  the  testimony,  even 
tlie  very  words  of  the  witnesses,  as  well  as  of  the  lawyer  in  op- 
position, seemed  to  have  been  photographed  on  his  memory." 
His  appointment  by  the  Council  to  the  high  position  of  Attorney 
General,  in  place  of  Thomas  J.  Oakley,  when  he  was  but  thirty- 
one  years  of  age,  is  evidence  of  the  estimate  that  was  placed 
upon  his  talents.  This  appointment,  remarks  Mr.  Hammond,* 
was  considered  peculiarly  Mr.  Van  Buren's.  "  Mr.  Talcott  had 
been  a  federalist,  but  with  many  others  of  that  party,  had  op- 
posed the  election  of  Mr.  Clinton ;  and  Mr.  Van  Buren  no  doubt 
felt  that  good  policy  required  that  some  distinguished  mark  of 
attention  and  respect  should  be  bestowed  on  some  of  the  indi- 
viduals who  had  been  ranked  among  the  Federalists.  Mr.  Tal- 
cott, too,  was  a  young  man,  and  it  was  said  to  be  a  part  of  Mr. 
Van  Buren's  policy  to  appear  as  the  patron  (^f  young  men 
whose  abilities  and  situation  in  life  afforded  a  promise  that 
they  would  become  influential  in  society."  But  though  the 
acuteness  of  this  "sage"  leader  may  have  led  to  the  selection 
of  Mr.  Talcott  for  this  honor,  it  is  also  true  that  he  was  twice 
reelected  to  the  office — once  by  the  unanimous  vote  of  the  Leg- 
islature— that  he  held  it  during  the  greater  part  of  nine  years, 
and  that  he  has  been  adjudged  by  competent  authority  as  sec- 
ond in  talent  and  ability  to  no  former  incumbent,  unless  it  be 
Alexander  Hamilton. 

*  Hammond's  Political  History  of  New  York. 


THE  SECOND  CHARTER.  423 

Deeply  pitiable  it  is  to  record  that  his  own  vices  required  his 
resignation  :  that  habits  of  intemperance,  which  had  fixed  them- 
selves in  his  youth,  became  so  strengthened  by  long  years  of 
indulgence,  and  were  so  gross  in  their  manifestations  as  to  dis- 
grace him  in  the  eyes  of  the  public,  and  disqualify  him  to 
retain  so  responsible  an  office.  For  a  time  he  continued  to 
practice  in  New  York,  and  "  such  was  his  elasticity  of  body 
and  mind  that  when  he  came  out  of  his  revels  he  would  stand 
up  and  measure  his  strength  with  the  ablest  and  best  in  the 
land."  Its  last  and  most  memorable  display  we  relate  in  the 
language  of  Judge  Bacon.  *  "  One  of  the  last  occasions  on 
which  he  appeared  was  before  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  Uni-^ 
ted  States  in  what  was  known  as  the  "  Sailor's  Snug  Harbor  " 
case.  This  had  been  preceded  b}''  a  week  of  indulgence,  so 
that  his  friends  began  to  fear  that  he  would  be  utterly  nnfit 
to  stand  in  the  presence  of  that  high  tribunal.  But  on  the 
day  assigned  for  the  argument,  he  strode  into  the  court  room 
attired  with  scrupulous  neatness,  fresh  as  a  bridegroom,  and 
his  imperial  intellect  untouched  and  unobscured.  Beginning 
in  a  low  and  measured  tone,  he  gathered  strength  and  power  as 
he  proceeded  in  his  masterly  discourse,  and  for  five  hours  or 
more  held  the  breathless  attention  of  bench,  and  bar  and  audi- 
ence, in  an  argument  which  the  illustrious  Marshall  declared 
had  not  been  equalled  in  that  court,  since  the  days  of  the 
renowned  lawyer,  William  Pinkney.  It  w^as  an  argument  that 
Daniel  Webster,  his  great  antagonist,  found  it  impossible,  with 
his  profound  learning  and  colossal  intellect,  to  overcome  or 
even  successfull}^  to  meet."  Mr.  Dayan,  who  was  present  and 
heard  this  speech,  tells  us  in  reference  to  its  effect  on  the  Chief 
Justice,  that  forgetting  the  staid  dignity  which  he  usually  car 
ried,  his  head  from  bolt  upright  began  to  lean  forward  as  the 
argument  advanced,  until  it  bent  quite  down  to  the  desk,  as  he 
earnestly  gazed  and  listened.  The  impassioned  fervor  of  Rob- 
ert Hall  brought  men,  it  is  said,  from  their  seats  to  their  feet, 
the  splendidl}"  flowing  logic  of  Talcott  bowed  the  chief  court 
of  the  nation  in  rapt  and  passive  deference.  This,  continues 
Judge  Bacon,  "  was  his  last  great  effort,  and  from  that  altitude 
he  rapidly  sank  ;  like  the  sun  even  at  high  noon,  in  the  meri- 
dian of  a  day  that  should  have  been  flooded  with  light,  his  orb 
went  out  in  dismal  darkness." 

*  Bacon's  Early  Bar  of  Oneida  County. 


424  THE    PIONEERS  OF   UTICA. 

Immediately  on  the  opening  of  the  Supreme  Court,  which 
was  in  session  in  tlie  city  of  New  York,  at  the  time  of  the 
death  of  Mr.  Talcott,  his  decease  w^as  announced  b}'  Henry  R 
Storrs,  whereupon  the  court  after  a  feeHng  and  eloquent  address 
by  Chief  Justice  Jones,  at  once  adjourned.  And  at  a  meeting 
of  the  members  of  the  New  York  bar,  held  on  the  same  day, 
it  was  "  Resolved.,  That  this  meeting  have  heard  with  deep  regret 
and  s\"mpathy  of  the  death  of  Samuel  A.  Talcott,  late  Attorney 
General  of  the  State,  that  in  the  brilliant  course  of  his  profes- 
sional life  they  find  much  to  shed  honor  not  only  upon  his  own 
name  but  upon  the  State  to  which  he  belonged  and  the  bar 
whose  reputation  he  elevated  ;  that  his  distinguished  talent, 
profound  learning  and  finished  scholarship  have  rarel}^  been 
equalled  "and  never  been  surpassed  at  the  bar  of  this  State.'' 
To  their  opinion  thus  expressed  may  be  joined  the  verdict  of 
Daniel  Webster,  given  in  1838,  and  which  was  concurred  in  b}' 
Martin  Yan  Buren,  that  Mr.  Talcott  was  the  ablest  living  law- 
yer of  America. 

By  his  first  wife,  who  died  in  1819,  Mr.  Talcott  had  one  son, 
John  Ledyard,  now  ji^^dge  of  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  eighth 
district,  and  residing  at  Bufiialo,  and  one  daughter  who  died 
in  infanc}^  By  his  second  wife,.  Miss  Mary  Eliza  Stanley  of 
New  Hartford,  he  had  one  son,  Thomas  Grrosvenor,  a  lawyer  of 
much  native  capacity,  who  was  settled  in  Hartford,  Conn.,  but 
died  in  1870. 

A  brother  of  the  foregoing,  and  also  a  lawj^er,  was  Matthew 
Talcott,  but  inferior  in  ability  to  Samuel,  and  relatively  of 
much  less  importance.  He  was  nearl}^  eight  years  his  senior, 
and  in  early  life  had  been  a  midshipman.  How  or  where  he 
acquired  a  legal  education,  or  when  he  came  hither  to  practice, 
the  writer  is  uninformed.  He  was  appointed  the  first  cashier 
of  the  Bank  of  Chenango,  which  was  incorporated  in  1818, 
and  his  exercise  of  the  function  was  antecedent,  no  doubt,  to 
his  settlement  in  Utica,  since  he  was  living  here  before  1821,  the 
date  of  his  brother's  departure.  His  office  was  in  the  same 
building  with  that  of  Maynard  &  Talcott,  and  with  them  he 
had  jjrobably  some  business  connection.  Tiiough  well  informed 
in  the  law,  he  never  s})oke  in  the  courts,  but,  as  Master  in  Chan- 
cery,  evinced   skill  in  the  drawing  of   chanceiy  })a2)ers.      A 


THE  SECOND  CHARTER.  425 

leader  in  the  masonic  fraternity,  he  was  appointed,  in  1823, 
when  the  Templars  were  instituted,  the  master  of  the  order. 
In  person  he  was  tall  and  observable,  in  manners  reserved  and 
self-centred,  priding  himself  on  his  superior  gentility.  He  was 
never  married  and  boarded  at  hotels,  chiefly  at  Bagg's,  but  died 
at  the  National,  on  the  3d  of  November,  1837. 

One  of  the  tavern-keeping  Gays  has  already  been  noticed. 
A  brother  of  his  was  Samuel  Gay,  a  bustling,  talkative  and 
very  polite  man,  but  not  i-ated  by  the  public  as  highly  as  Amos. 
After  an  experience  at  Hampton,  at  Whitesboro,  at  Clinton  and 
at  Yernon,  he  now  took  charge  of  the  tavern  of  Hedges  on 
Genesee  opposite  Catherine.  From  this  he  went,  in  May  1820, 
into  the  York  House,  and  later  to  Union  Hall,  the  house  that 
had  been  kept  by  his  brother  on  the  corner  of  John  and  Main. 
In  1828  he  and  Amos  were  together  in  the  Fayette  Street 
House,  and  in  1832  he  was  proprietor  of  the  Canal  Hotel.  He 
remained  in  Utica  until  1840,  but  died  in  December,  1844,  at 
the  house  of  his  daughter,  in  Brooklyn.  This  daughter,  Mrs. 
Henry  S.  Storms,  is  the  only  survivor  of  his  children ;  Mrs. 
Peter  Ballon  of  this  city  having  but  recently  deceased.  James 
Thompson,  another  inn-kee])er,  was  in  July,  at  the  head  of  a 
house  on  Main  street,  but  w^as  gone  within  three  or  four  years. 

A  new  merchant  of  the  year  was  George  L.,  son  of  George 
Tisdale.  He  had  been  clerk  for  Nicholas  Devereux,  and  now 
became  his  partner.  The  connection  was  dissolved  in  1819, 
soon  after  which  time  Tisdale  removed  to  Sacketts  Harbor, 
having  first  married  Amelia  M.  Graham,  of  Deerfield.  He  died 
in  1838.  A  provision  dealer  named  John  Adams,  began  in 
October  1816,  at  the  lower  end  of  Genesee  street,  and  kept  on  in 
business  until  his  death,  about  1850.  His  brother  Charles,  who 
served  six  months  in  the  army,  afterwards  drove  stages  for  Mr. 
Parker,  and  in  later  years  was  the  railroad  agent  who  carried 
the  mails  to  and  from  the  post  office.  He  died  about  1865,  aged 
seventy-three.  Both,  have  children  still  in  Utica.  Thomas 
Stevenson,  grocer  and  also  a  carman,  lived  until  1845,  although 
at  the  time  of  the  cholera,  he  was  attacked  with  the  disease,  and 
became  so  nearly  exanimate  that  a  coffin  was  put  by  his  bedside 
to  receive  him.  Still  another  grocer  was  Ira  Cummins,  at  the 
corner  of  Genesee  and  Water,  where  a  Sumner  was  at  one  time 
his  partner. 


426  THE  PIONEERS  OF  UTICA. 

Samuel  M.  Todd,  kept  an  evening  school,  and  the  circum- 
stances attending  his  death,  in  May  1822,  were  as  follows  :  He 
lived  in  a  house  that  stood  where  is  now  the  Catherine  Street 
House,  on  the  west  side  of  the  slip  which  extended  from  this 
street  to  the  canal.  While  in  bed  one  dark  night  he  was  awak- 
ened by  a  splash  as  of  some  one  falling  into  it.  He  rushed  out 
in  his  night  dress,  and  perceiving,  as  he  thought,  a  person  strug- 
gling in  the  water,  he  reached  in  and  grasped  what  he  took  to 
be  the  hair  of  a  human  head,  but  which  was  in  fact  the  mane 
of  a  colt.  The  superior  strength  of  the  anuimal  dragged  in 
his  rescuer.  And  though  the  latter  succeeded  in  getting  out  of 
the  water,  he  was  so  chilled  as  to  be  taken  with  lockjaw,  which 
in  a  few  days  carried  him  off.  His  widow  afterwards  married 
Thomas  Midlam,  and  lived  many  years  in  Utica.  A  son  of  his 
was  former  mayor  of  Mobile,  and  now  resides  in  New  Orleans. 

Oliver  Harris  and  Henry  I.  Guest,  chairmakers,  set  up  a  shop 
about  where  the  Devei'eux  block  now  is,  while  continuing  to 
make  and  sell  at  Sangerfield.  They  were  men  of  some  stir, 
and  important  rivals  of  Mr.  Snyder.  Mr.  Harris  moved  to 
Batavia  and  married,  for  his  second  wife,  the  widow  of  William 
Morgan  of  anti-masonic  celebrity.  His  partner  went  to  Buffalo, 
became  captain  of  a  boat  on  Lake  Erie,  and  was  lost  in  1820. 
His  son,  Rev.  William  H.  Gruest,was  for  twenty-two  years  a 
teacher  in  the  Watts  and  Leake  Orjolian  Asylum  of  New  York, 
and  much  lamented  at  his  death.  John  Osborn,  glover,  made 
his  first  appearance  in  Utica  about  1812,  but  withdrew  for  a 
short  time.  Coming  again,  he  remained  until  about  1865,  carry- 
ing on  his  glove  making  nearly  all  the  time.  He  is  now  living 
at  Sodus  Bay.  Richard  Marshall,  tailor,  who  had  been  living 
in  Clinton,  began  the  practice  of  his  trade  in  Utica.  After 
having  two  or  three  partners  in  succession,  he  gave  up  his  shop 
in  May  1821,  to  a  new-coming  shoemaker. 

George  Peckham  was  another  tailor;  Benjamin  Watson  a 
mason ;  Walter  Smith  a  packet  captain  ;  Smith  &  Bates,  painters ; 
James  G.  Lundegreen,  shoemaker,  church  sexton,  boarding 
house  keeper,  police  officer;  Samuel  Parks,  laborer,  had  a  large 
family,  consisting  chiefly  of  daughters,  w^ho  were  straw  braiders, 
and  these  were  their  names :  Celia,  Melissa,  Zenobia,  Rosalind, 
Cassandra,  Violetta,  Antoinette.     The  four  boys  were  Harrison, 


THE  SECOND  CHARTER.  4:27 

Milo,  Nazro  and  James ;  John  T.  Roberts  made  himself  notori- 
ous by  a  quixotic  expedition  to  the  Southwest  in  search  of  a 
reported  tribe  of  Welsh  Indians,  influenced  doubtless  by  the 
teachings  of  certain  profound  antiquaries  of  Wales,  that  the 
Madogwys,  or  descendants  of  Madoc's  colonists  of  the  12  th 
century  still  hnger  on  the  banks  of  the  Missouri, — an  opinion 
which  was  afterwards  strengthened  by  the  conviction  of  George 
Catlin  that  the  Mandans  w^ere  identical  with  Madogwys.  Mr. 
Roberts  solicited  and  obtained  funds  to  aid  him  in  his  purpose. 
Failing  of  his  object,  he  returned  to  the  old  country,  but  is  now^ 
in  California. 

A  deputy  clerk  in  the  ofhce  of  the  Supreme  Court  was  Abra- 
ham Dixon,  brother  of  Rev.  David  R.  He  had  graduated  at  Yale 
in  1813,  and  was  now  pursuing  his  law  studies.  After  his  ad- 
mission, he  settled  in  Westfield,  Chautauqua  county,  where  he 
represented  his  district  in  the  State  Senate  in  1840,  "41,  '42,  and 
'43,  and  is  presumed  to  be  living. 

The  ultimate  fate  of  another  young  man  of  the  time  is  pain- 
ful indeed.  Henrj^  T.  Barto,  assistant  teller  of  the  Bank  of 
Utica,  and  in  1824  its  teller,  was,  later,  cashier  of  the  Commer- 
cial Bank  of  Albany.  He  was  an  agreeable  person  and  a  popu- 
lar teller,  with  a  good  reputation,  until  he  lost  it  by  an  act 
which  has  had  many  imitators  in  these  latter  days,  but  w^hich 
was  once  rare  enough  to  be  noteworthy.  Going  to  jSTew  York, 
he  called  at  the  bank  wdth  which  his  own  was  in  correspondence, 
drew  $20,000,  and  disappeared.  It  was  some  days  before  he 
was  missed,  and  years  before  the  news  came  that  a  man  answer- 
ing to  his  description  had  been  seen  in  Texas.  A  messenger 
was  sent  thither,  who  learned  that  some  one  like  him,  the  owner 
of  a  plantation,  had  recently  died.  The  body  was  disinten-ed 
and  found  to  be  that  of  Henry  T.  Barto.  One  of  his  sureties, 
Michael  Hoffman  of  Herkimer,  was  nearly  ruined  by  the  trans- 
action. Barto  was  from  Herkimer  county,  and  son  of  Dr.  Barto 
of  Newport. 

The  first  directory  of  Utica  was  published  in  the  year  1817, 
and  is  a  thm  duodecimo  pamphlet  of  twenty-four  pages.  It 
contains,  besides  a  list  of  the  inhabitants  with  their  occupations 
and  residence,  which  occupies  eighteen  pages,  a  census  of  the 
population.     This   census,  the  compiler  informs  us,  was  taken 


428  THE  PIONEEES  OF  UTICA. 

in  the  fall  of  1816.  and  doubtless  the  catalogue  of  names  was 
made  out  at  the  same  time.  That  we  may  show  Utica  in  its 
entirety  up  to  the  3'ear  1816,  such  of  the  names  as  have  not 
alread}^  been  given  are  collected  in  the  note  below.*  Many  of 
the  names  are  of  parties  who  w^ould  not  be  likely  to  appear  in 
print,  except  in  the  pages  of  a  director}^,  and  hence  these  parties 
may  have  had  some  years  silent  residence  in  the  village.  The 
majority,  how^ever,  were  probably  only  temporarj^  in  such  resi- 
dence, as  they  are  not  remembei'ed  by  the  few  survivors  of  the 
era.     No  further  director}^  of  Utica  appeared  until  the  year  1828. 

As  we  are  about  to  enter  ujDon  a  fresh  chapter  of  the  village 
history,  and  to  consider  the  proceedings  had  under  the  third 
charter  of  this  now  independent  town,  it  may  be  well  to  again 
survey  the  place  as  a  whole  and  seek  to  picture  to  ourselves  the 
Utica  of  sixty  years  ago.  In  order  to  form  some  conception  of 
it  and  its  surroundings,  let  ns  approach  it  from  the  north. 
Standing  on  the  Deeriield  hill  four  or  live  miles  away,  tlie 
country  below  you  seems  like  a  level  swamp  covered  with  for- 
est, the  clearings  being  scarcely  discernible.     Beyond  the  river 

*Jee8e  AdamB,  laborer,  Eleazar  Hovey,  John  Pennington,  shoemaker, 

Joseph  Abbott,    do.  William  Hoberton.  Alexander  Parker. 

Thomas  Arthur,  do.  Joshua  Herrin,  laboi-er,  Adam  Reece.  wood  eawjer, 

Matthias  Austin,  do.  Hunt  &  Oppell,  whipmakers,  Isaac  Kodraan.  do. 

Dolly  Amerstone,  widow,  Elisha  Johnson,  laborer,  Richard  Richards,  laborer, 

John  Blackmore.  laborer  and  Francis  Johnson,  do.  Jarish  Root,  do. 

mover  of  buildings,  Samuel  Jones,  coppersmith,  Martin  Rosenburg,    cio. 

Edward  Butler,    laborer,  Eleazar  Kellogg,  grocer,  Christopher  Roberts, 

William  Butler,       do.  Mary  Lyster.  milliner,  David  Roberts. 

Robert  Barnes,         do.  James  L.  Lawson,  laborer,  Lewis  Slocomb,  shoemaker, 

Richard  Bishar,       do.  James  Lisbert,  do.  Waitstill  Smith,  joiner, 

Samuel  Brisrgs,        do.  Lovett  &Whittemore,  bakers,  Isaac  Smith,  do. 

Francis  Barker,        do.  Dinah  Lewis  (colored),  Storrs  &  Sanford,  grocers, 

James  Bartlett,  James  Long,  farmer  and  tan-  William  Sook,  boatman, 

Daniel  Baker,  mason.  ner,  David  Sardis,  carpenter, 

W.  B.  Clark,  silversmith,  Daniel  Lewis,  Matthias  Spencer,  blacksmith, 

James  Clark,  laborer.  David  Lewis,  carpenter,  Jesse  Streeter,  grocer, 

William  Crozier, wheelwright,  EliasjLyman,  carpenter,  Jonathan  Schooner  (colored), 

Henry  Catlin,  shoemaker,  Adam  Leninger,  Reuben  Stodard.  joiner, 

Isaac  P.  Campbell,  miller,  Joseph  Mitchell  grocer,  John  Strong,  (colored), 

William  Crab,  farmer,  Henry  Morse,  coppersmith,  Asher  Smith,  carpenter, 

Hiram  Drake,  grocer,  Jesse  Minor,  laborer.  Benoni  Smith,  teamster, 

Joseph  L.  Donaldson,  shoe-  Chailes  Moine,  shoemaker,  ]>aniel  Sill,  laborer, 

maker,  Isaac  Molineaux.  grocer,  James  Seram, 

Thomas  Entwissel,  clerk,  Henry  Myers,  laborer,  Samuel  Tucker,  shoemaker, 

William  Evans,  clerk,  John  Major,  carpenter.  Jeremiah  Thomas,  laborer. 

John  Eaton,  cooper,  Elijah  Norton,  ship  carpenter,  Jehiel  Tyler,  teamster. 

Widow  Eastermory.  William  Newkirk, blacksmith, James  \  aun. 

Charles  Francis,  baker,  David  Nevillaes,  cooper,  Amarilluss  Vi;n  Kleeck, 

Asa  Fitch,  stage  driver,  John  Owens,  shoemaker,  Caleb  Wliii)plc.  laborer 

Moses  Freeman,  mason,  Joseph  Odling  shoemaker,  Sylvester  Wright,  furrier 

David  French,  wood  sawyer,  W^illiam  Owe,  carpenter,  James  Wills,  laborer 

Benjamin  Gray,  laborer,  Josiah   B.    Prescott,   cabinet  Kiiistu;-  Warner,  shoemaker, 

Mary  (jrifllths,  maker,  Riilus  Wliceler.        do. 

George  Graham,  boatman,  John  Palmer,  shoemaker,  Samuel  W  ixidworlh,  laborer, 

John  Houston,  grocer.  Gilbert  Palmer,     do.  John  W'lielmorc,  do 

Ezekiel  Hawley,  saddler,  Cyprian  Palmer,  carman,  Fanny  Walker,  milliner, 

Henry  Hammond,  shoemaker,  William  Penry,  grocer,  Joseph  Whitney,  laborer, 

Henry  Homefield,  hatter,  Philo  Powell,  Jr.  Benjamin  Yates,  coppersmith. 


THE  SECOND  CHARTER.  429 

you  perceive  the  bouses  on  the  hill  at  Utica,  and  an  extensive 
opening  in  the  vicinity,  one  strip  ascending  southerly  to  the  height 
of  land  in  Freemason's  Patent.    Directly  south  and  west  nearly 
one-third  of  the  country  is  denuded  of  wood.     To  the  southeast 
there  are  only  small  patches  of  clearing.     Coming  down  towards 
the  plain,  you  discern  the  more  conspicuous  features  of  the  vil- 
lage.    Two  church  steeples  enliven  the  scene,  the  Presbyterian 
and  the  Episcopal,  which  stand  like  sentinels  guarding  the  ap- 
proaches on  the  west  and  the  east,  the  latter  rejoicing  in  a  pointed 
spire,  the  former  equally  happy  in  its  rounded  cupola.      As  you 
cross  the  dyke  you  see  plainly  before  you,  and  towering  above 
their  fellows,  the  imposing  York  House  on  the  right,  and  its 
closely  contesting  rival,  Bagg's  Hotel,  directly  in  front.     Having 
passed   over   the  bridge,  you  are  at  once   within   the   heart 
of  the  settlement,  the  very  focus  of  the  town.     For  the  limits 
of   Utica,   at  the  time  I  treat  of,   were  mostly  confined   be- 
tween the  river  and  the  Liberty  street  road  to  Whitesboro  ; 
from  the  square  as  a  centre  they  sj^read  westward  along  Whites- 
boro street  to  Potter's  bridge,  and  eastward  along  Main  and 
Broad  to  Third  street.     The  course  of  Grenesee  street  was  pretty 
thickly  lined  with  stores, — a  few  residences  only  being  here  and 
there  interspersed — as  far  upwards  as  Catheiine  street,  beyond 
which  private  houses  predominated  over  places  of  business,  and 
these  were  scattered  in  a  straggling  way  even  to  Cottage  street. 
The  roadway  was  guiltless  of  pavement,  and  the  mud  at  times 
.profound.      The   sidewalks  were  paved,   if  such  it  might  be 
called,  but  the  pavement, — of  flagging,  of  cobble,  of  gravel,  or 
of  tan  bark,  as  suited  the  convenience  or  the  taste  of  the  house 
holder, — bore  little  resemblance  to  the  modern   conventional 
sand  stone.     "  Stately  but  graceless  poplars,  the  common  badge 
and  sole  ornament  of  all  new  villages  in  the  North,  stood  in 
unbroken   row  from  Bleecker  street  to  the  hill-top."     On  the 
west,  Genesee  had  no  outlet  higher  tlian  Liberty  street,  and  on 
the  east,  none  above  Catherine,  for  though  Bleecker  was  known 
by  authority,  it  was  neither  fenced  nor  housed,  and  was  only  a 
path  to  pastures  beyond.     The  buildings  on  its  business  part 
were  mostly  wooden  and  of  moderate  size  and  pretension.     A 
few  were  of  brick,  and  of  these  an  idea  may  be  formed  from  the 
block  that  adjoins  Taylor's,  on  the  north.     On  the  hill  were  the 
spacious    grounds  and  beautiful  houses,  already  described,  of 


430  THE  PIONEERS  OF  UTICA. 

Jeremiah  Van  Reusselaei',  Arthur  Breese  and  Alexander  B. 
Johnson.     In  Whitesboro  street  were  the  Bank  of  Utica,  the 
Manhattan  Branch  Bank,  and  the  York  House,  as  well  as  the 
inns  of  Burchard  and  Bellinger.     This  was  the  Wall  street  of 
the  village ;  it  harbored  several  stores,  and  was  more  populous 
than  any  other,  except  Main,   containing  probably  nearly  as 
many  inhabitants  as  it  now  does.     Hotel,  in  proportion  to  its 
length,  was  quite  as  thickly  peopled.     Seneca,  Washington  and 
Broadway  reached  only  to  the  Liberty  street  road ;  Broadway 
bringing  up  at  the  elegant  stone  mansion  of  James  S.  Kip,  while 
Washington  conducted  passengers  no  further  than  the  Presby- 
terian meeting  house.     The  public  square  contained  the  town 
pump  and  the  market  house.     Main  street  had  apparently  more 
buildings  than  it  now  has.     It  was  lined  with  the  comely  resi- 
dences of  prosperous  citizens,  and  was  terminated  by  the  Meth- 
odist  chapel   and  the  pleasant   home   and  grounds  of  Judge 
Miller.     Broad  street  was  occupied  as  far  as  the  line  of  Third 
street ;  but  it  did  not  contain  the  half  of  its  present  number  of 
buildings.    Between  it,  Whitesboro  and  upper  Grenesee,  the  best 
dwelling  houses   of   the   village   were   unequally   distributed, 
John  street  had  here  and  there  a  residence,  which  in  all  reached 
a  little  higher  than  Jay,  while  beyond  were  the  rising  walls  of 
the  academy,  and  in  the  rear  of  this,  two  tenements  on  Chancel- 
lor square.     The  faint  attempts  of  Catherine  to  rival  its  fellow 
below  were  effectually  crushed  when  stakes  were  planted  along 
side  of  it  to  mark  the  course  of  the  future  canal.     This  settled 
its  fate,  and  consigned  it  the  rank  it  has  held  ever  since.    Water 
street,  now  robbed  of  its  former  importance,  was  nearest  of  all 
to  the  then  channel  of  commerce,  and  besides  its  houses  for 
storage  and  forwarding,  was  also  the  home  of  a  few  well-tO;do 
folks.     Thus,  as  it  appears  from  the  directory,  while  the  build- 
ings of  Grenesee  were  in  number  157,  of  Whitesboro  84,  of  Main 
67,  of  Broad  59,  of  Hotel  34,  of  Catherine  20,  and  Water  as 
many,  Seneca  had  15,  no  other  street  more  than  ten,  and  the 
rest  but  half  or  less  than  half  of  that  number.     Of  those  run- 
ning eastward  not  one  is  named  above  Catherine,  save  only 
Rebecca,  and  this  we  are  puzzled  to  see  has  already  a  name 
with  two  houses  upon  it.     "  Cornhill  was  a  forest  from  South 
street  to  the  New  Hartford  line.     Another  forest  covered  the 
sand  bank,  and  skirting  the  gardens  on  the  west  side  of  Genesee, 


THE  SECOND  CHARTER.  431 

came  down  the  slope  to  tlie  present  Fayette  and  extended  west 
to  the  Asylum  hill."  When  the  commissioners,  in  the  following 
year,  ran  the  line  between  Whitesboro  and  Utica,  from  Jewett's 
farm  to  the  county  line  on  the  east,  and  to  the  river  on  the 
north,  they  were  obliged  to  fell  the  trees  so  as  to  see  their  flag. 
Such  was  the  "  pent  up  Utica  "  of  1816,  with  its  four  hun- 
dred and  twenty  dwellings  and  stores,  with  its  churches,  banks, 
taverns,  printing  offices  and  other  appendages  of  a  flourishing 
country  town,  and  which,  according  to  the  enumeration  made 
by  the  compiler  of  its  directory,  contained  two  thousand  eight 
hundred  and  sixty-one  inhabitants. 


CHAPTER      Y. 


THIRD  CHARTER. 


A  new  charter  of  Utica  was  enacted  April  7,  1817.  By  its 
terms  Utica  was  set  ofE  from  Whitestown  and  erected  into  a 
separate  town,  its  boundaries  remaining  the  same  as  before.  It 
was  divided  into  three  wards,  as  follows :  The  First  ward  in- 
cluded that  portion  of  territory  Ij^ng  east  of  a  line  running  from 
the  river  bridge  through  the  middle  of  lower  Genesee,  parts  of 
John,  Broad  and  First  streets  to  the  southern  boundary;  the 
Second  ward,  next  west  of  the  First,  was  limited  by  a  line  trav- 
ersing Hotel  and  upper  Genesee  streets  ;  and  the  Third  embraced 
all  west  of  the  pi-eceding.  The  president  of  the  village  was  to 
be  appointed  annually  by  the  Governor  and  Council  of  the  State. 
Besides  presiding  at  the  meetings  of  the  board  of  trustees,  he, 
by  and  with  their  advice,  granted  permits  to  retailers,  tavern 
keepers  and  butchers,  and  was  ex-officio  a,  justice  of  the  peace. 
As  a  compensation  for  his  services,  he  received  fees  for  the  per- 
mits that  were  given,  or  in  lieu  of  them  a  salary  of  two  hundred 
and  fifty  dollars.  At  the  annual  meeting,  held  on  the  second 
Monday  of  May,  there  were  to  be  chosen,  by  ballot,  six  trustees, 
two  from  each  ward,  a  supervisor,  three  assessors,  and  two  con- 
stables. The  trustees  appointed  a  clerk,  a  treasurer,  collectors, 
an  overseer  of  the  poor,  and  several  other  subordinate  officers. 
They  were  empowered  to  levy  a  tax  not  exceeding  in  am.ount 
fifteen  hundred  dollars,  to  defray  the  expense  of  lighting  the 
streets,  supporting  a  night  watch,  the  making  of  local  improve- 
ments, and  for  contingent  expenses ;  and  likewise  a  tax  not  ex- 
ceeding one  hundred  dollars  to  keep  in  repair  the  building 
erected  for  a  free  school  house,  and  to  pui-chase  fuel  and  other 
appendages  for  such  school.  They  were  made  commissioners 
of  highways ;  could  open,  alter,  pave  or  improve  streets,  and 
cause  the  construction  of  sewers,  as  they  might  deem  the  public 
good  required ;  and,  after  the  expense  of  the  same  had  been 
estimated  by  five  disinterested  persons  appointed  by  them,  they 
could  enforce  its  collection  from  the  parties  chiefly  benefited. 


THE  THIRD  CHARTER.  .  483 

They  had,  moreover,  full  authority  "to  make  all  sach  rules  and 
regulations,  by-laws  and  ordinances  for  the  good  government 
and  order  of  the  village  as  they  might  deem  expedient,  not  re- 
pugnant to  the  constitution  and  laws  of  this  State,"  and  to  en- 
force the  due  observance  of  them  by  line  or  imprisonment.  In 
this  authority  are  enumerated  many  particulars,  though  all  are 
included  in  the  general  terms  above  quoted.  The  share  of  the 
school  moneys  appropriated  to  the  county,  which  these  trustees 
received  from  the  county  treasurer,  they  were  obliged  to  devote 
to  the  maintenance  of  a  free  school  for  the  education  of  such 
poor  children,  residing  in  the  village,  as  they  might  think  en- 
titled to  gratuitous  instruction.  Such  is  a  very  brief  summary 
of  the  thirty-one  sections  of  the  charter.  The  annual  meeting 
of  freeholders  was  done  away,  the  government  of  affairs  became 
wholly  representative,  and  to  the  trustees  was  entrusted  much 
more  power  than  they  bad  before  exercised. 

The  first  president  appointed  under  this  charter  was  Nathan 
Williams,  and,  at  the  first  election  held  under  it,  there  were 
chosen  as  trustees  Ezra  S.  Cozier  and  William  Williams  from' 
the  first  ward,  Jeremiah  Yan  Rensselaer  and  Abraham  Van 
Santvoort  from  the  second  ward,  and  Ei-astus  Clark  and  John 
C.  Hoyt  from  the  third  ward.  The  assessoi's  elected  were  Moses 
Bagg,  David  P.  Hoyt  and  Thomas  Walker.  Benjamin  Walker 
w^as  chosen  supervisor,  and  Ezra  S.  Barnum  and  Joshua  Ostrom 
constables.  The  first  business  of  the  board  of  trustees  was 
to  enact  rules  for  their  own  guidance,  to  employ  a  surveyor  to 
ascertain  the  bounds  of  the  village  and  designate  them  by 
boundary  stones,  to  adopt  a  corporate  seal,  and  to  elect  addi- 
tional officers.  These  officers  were  the  following :  John  H. 
Ostrom,  clerk ;  E.  S.  Barnum  and  Benjamin  Ballon,  collectors ; 
Jeremiah  Yan  Rensselaer,  overseer  of  the  poor ;  Judah  Wil- 
liams, treasurer;  Frederick  W.  Potter,  pound  master;  Benja- 
min Hinman,  Aaron  Eggleston  and  Jason  Parker,  fence  viewers ; 
James  Hooker,  gauger ;  Benjamin  Ballou,  superintendent  of 
highways.  The  ordinances  passed  by  the  board  in  the  course 
of  the  year  were  the  following :  A  law  concerning  officers  of 
the  village  and  town ;  an  act  for  the  regulation  of  groceries 
and  victualling  houses  ;  an  act  to  prevent  the  digging  of  earth 
or  stone  in  the  streets  and  highways ;  a  law  to  prevent  nui- 
sances and  to  regulate  the  streets ;  a  law  relative  to  fences  and 
D-1 


43-1  THE  nONEERS  OF  UTICA. 

foi'  the  establishment  of  a  pound ;  a  law  for  establisliing  the 
assize  and  regulating  the  inspection  of  bread ;  a  law  for  pre- 
venting and  extinguishing  of  fires;  an  additional  act  for  regu- 
lating groceries  and  victualling  houses ;  a  law  for  the  appoint- 
ment of  a  village  supernitendent  (of  streets)  and  prescribing 
his  duties ;  an  ordinance  in  relation  to  a  watch :  a  law  regu- 
lating the  streets  and  sidewalks.  Some  few  of  the  provisions 
contained  in  these  several  ordinances  it  may  be  of  interest  to 
note,  for  the  sake  of  their  relation  to  the  state  of  things  which 
had  preceded  them  as  well  as  to  that  which  has  followed,  as 
showing  both  the  advance  made  and  the  short  comings  in  view 
of  the  j^resent. 

The  act  to  regulate  groceries  and  victualling  houses,  which 
was  passed  in  May,  required  those  keeping  such  establishments 
to  acknowledge  a  recognizance  to  the  trustees  in  the  penalty  of 
one  hundred  and  twent3'-five  dollars,  conditioned  that  they 
would  not  sell  spirituous  liquors  to  be  drank  on  the  premises, 
nor  sell  to  an  apprentice,  servant  or  slave  without  permit  from 
the  master,  nor  harl3or  noisy  persons  or  gamblers,  nor  keep 
open  on  Sunday,  nor  after  ten  o'clock  at  night.  But  the  addi- 
tional act  passed  in  December,  allowed  pett}'  grocers  who 
had  obtained  a  license,  to  retail  liquors  to  be  drank  on  the 
])remises,  restricting  them  only  from  selling  to  apprentices,  ser- 
vants and  slaves,  and  for  this  license  they  were  to  pay  five  dol. 
lars,  and  also  a  fee  of  two  dollars  to  the  president.  The  law  to 
prevent  nuisances  and  regulate  the  streets,  while  forbidding 
the  deposit  of  rubbish,  filth  or  nuisances  of  an}'"  kind  in  the 
streets,  or  of  heaps  of  manure  within  one  hundred  feet  of  the 
principal  streets,  required  the  owners  or  occupants  of  houses 
and  stores  on  Genesee  street  from  the  bridge  to  Liberty  street, 
and  on  Main  and  Whitesboro  from  Second  street  to  Broadway, 
to  clean  the  street  in  front  of  their  premises  and  remove  the 
dirt  every  Saturday  forenoon.  It  allowed  the  deposit  of  build- 
ing material,  on  certain  defined  streets,  only  on  the  written  per- 
mission of  the  president  and  for  a  term  not  exceeding  six 
months,  which '  permission  might  be  revoked  or  prolonged  by 
the  trustees.  It  granted  another  permission,  which  has  since 
been  a  source  of  niucli  detriment  to  the  general  good,  viz:  the 
right  to  build  open  sto(^|)s  sLx;  feet  into  the  street ;  on  the  other 
hand  it  forbade  billiard  tables,   shuffle  boards,  E.   O.    tables, 


THE  THIRD  CHARTER.  435 

pliaro  banks  and  all  other  implements  of  gaming:  it  restrained 
cows,  oxen,  sheep  and  swine  from  running  at  large  under  pen- 
alty of  being  impounded, — whence  there  M^as  no  release  but  by 
the  pa3^ment,  besides  the  pound-keeper's  fee,  of  a  fine,  one  half 
of  which  was  to  go  to  the  beneiit  of  the  poor  of  the  town  and 
the  other  to  the  person  delivering  the  animal  to  the  pound- 
keeper,  but  it  made  exceptions  in  the  case  of  cows  belonging 
to  any  inhabitant  of  the  village,  and  also  in  the  case  of  working 
horses  the  property  of  any  such  inhabitant,  who  had  first  ob- 
tained the  consent  of  the  president.  The  law  relating  to  the 
assize  and  inspection  of  bread  was  much  fuller  in  detail  than 
the  one  that  had  been  before  in  force.  Bakers  were  to  have  a 
license;  they  were  to  mark  their  loaves  with  their  initials,  and 
in  addition,  with  the  letters  S.  or  C.  in  order  to  indicate 
whether  these  loaves  were  made  of  superfine  or  common  flour ; 
the}'  were  required  under  penalty  to  keep  on  hand  a  sufficient 
supply ;  there  was  to  be  appointed  an  inspector  of  bread  who 
at  least  once  a  month  was  to  examine  the  bread  baked  and  on 
sale  in  the  village,  with  power  to  enter  any  baker}- ,  or  stop  and 
examine  any  baker's  cart  and  to  seize  such  bread  as  was  not 
conformable  to  law,  which,  if  fit  for  use.  was  to  go  to  the  over- 
seer of  the  poor ;  none  was  to  be  forfeited  for  want  of  weight 
only,  unless  the  weight  had  been  ascertained  within  eight  hours 
after  baking,  and  if  more  than  eight  hours  had  elapsed  the 
inspector  was  to  "  make  just  allowance."  The  law  prescribed 
also  how  the  assize  of  bread  should  be  regulated,  and  contained 
a  mathematical  formula  to  be  used  in  determining  what  should 
be  the  weight  of  a  shilling  or  a  sixpenny  loaf  that  it  might  accord 
with  the  varying  price  of  flour.  But  as  this  whole  ordinance 
was  so  inconvenient  and  difficult  of  execution  as  to  be  almost  com- 
pletely  nugatory,  we  will  not  further  enlarge  upon  its  provisions. 
With  respect  to  the  law  for  the  prevention  and  extinguishing 
of  fires  the  following  is  new :  A  fire  warden  and  a  fire  engi- 
neer were  to  be  appointed  for  each  ward.  The  wardens  were 
to  examine,  at  least  once  a  month,  chimneys,  hearths,  stoves, 
stove  pipes,  ash  houses,  &c.,  and  if  these  were  found  insufficient 
or  insecure,  they  were  to  order  their  repair  or  alteration,  or 
cause  the  same  to  be  done  at  the  expense  of  the  owner;  they 
were  to  examine  into  the  sufficiency  of  fire  buckets  in  the  pos- 
session of  individuals,  and  report  monthly  to  the  trustees;  to 


436  THE  PIONEERS  OF  UTICA, 

report  also  what  chimneys  take  iire,  to  remove  or  abate  any 
thing  which  might  be  dangerous ;  to  attend  all  fires,   bearing 
staves  as  badges  of  office,  and  there,  under  the  direction  of  the 
engineei's  to  pursue  such  measures  and  give  such  orders  to  the 
citizens  as  they  might  judge  necessary  and  proper.      The  fire 
eneineers  were  to  attend  all  fires  with  the  crown  of  their  hats 
covered   with    white,  for  purpose  of   distinction,   and   there  to 
have  control  of   the  fire  companies  and  engines,  and  to  have 
power,  also,  to  pull  down  buildings  if  necessary  to  arrest  the  fire. 
Th]-ee  conservators  of  propert}^  were  likewise  appointed,  who 
were  to  attend  fires  with  pieces  of  cloth  around  the  left  arm, 
and  they  were  to  exercise  such  functions  as  are  intimated  b_y 
their  appellation,  viz :    to  take  the  charge  of  goods  and  fur- 
niture, to  direct  their  removal  and  the  place  of  deposit,  and 
securp  them  from  theft.     Citizens,  with  their  buckets,  were  to 
go  to  all  fires  and  there  be  subject  to  the  orders  of  the  three 
above  mentioned  classes  of  officials ;  and,  if  the  fire  occurred 
in  the  night  time,  they  were  to  place  a  lighted  candle  in  the 
front  door  or  front  wnndow  of  their  houses,  and  keep  it  burning 
throuo-h  the  nio;ht,  or  until  the  fire  was  extinsraished.     From 
the  fire  companies  there  were  set  off  ten  men  to  act  as  a  hook 
and  ladder  company.     Chimneys  blazing  out  at  the  top  at  any 
other  time  than  on  the  forenoon  of  a  day   when   the  roof  was 
wet  or  covered  with  snow,   subjected  the  owner  to    a  fine  of 
three  dollars.     Every  person  was  to  have  a  scuttle  on  his  roof, 
with  stairs  leading  thereto,  or  a  ladder  standingf  against  or  near 
his  house ;  other  provisions  related  to  the  burning  of  combus- 
tibles, to  the  use  of  uncovered  candles  in  barns  and  stables,  to 
the  firing  of  squibs  and  crackers,  and  to  the  keeping  of  gun- 
powder in  quantity  in  any  other  place  than  Van  Santvoort's 
warehouse.     Four  watchmen  were  to  be  appointed  by  the  trus- 
tees, in  obedience  to  the  ordinance  relating  thereto,  of  whom 
two  were  to  patrol  the  streets  by  night  in  the  compact  part  of 
the  village,  while  their   companions  remained  in  the  watch- 
house  ;  they  were  to  cry  the  hour  once  at  least  in  every  hour, 
were  to  look  after  and  arrest  suspicious  persons  ;  in  case  of  fire 
were  to  give  the  alarm  to  the  inhabitants  and  more  particularly 
to  the  trustees  and  the  bell-man ;  at  the  fire  were  to  cooperate 
with  the  conservators  in  the  protection  of  exposed   property, 
and,  after  its  extinguishment,  were  to  collect  the  buckets  that 


THE  THIRD  CHARTER.  437 

had  been  in  use  and  remove  tliem  to  the  Market  house.  One 
law,  which  was  substantially  a  repetition  of  one  passed  in  181 -i, 
declared  the  streets  on  which  owners  of  property  should  make 
side-walks  and  how  the  same  should  be  constructed,  and  an- 
other created  a  village  superintendent  whose  duty  it  was  to  see 
that  this  ordinance  and  that  relating  to  nuisances  were  faith- 
fully executed,  and  to  report  all  violations  thereof  to  the  board 
of  trustees.  To  each  of  the  foregoing  there  were  aflfixed  fines 
and  penalties  sufficient,  as  it  would  seem,  to  secure  a  proper 
observance. 

The  board  resolved  to  raise  by  tax  one  thousand  dollars  for 
the  expenses  of  the  year,  and  fifty  dollars  additional  for  the  re- 
pair and  fuel  of  the  free  school.  In  pursuance  of  the  intention 
to  establish  such  free  public  school,  they  erected  a  building  and 
engaged  I.  Thompson,  "  a  teacher  in  Utica,"  to  keep  the  school 
for  three  months,  from  the  first  Monday  in  December,  at  forty 
dollai's  per  month.  Public  notice  was  given,  and  children  were 
admitted  on  the  presentation  of  a  ticket,  signed  by  one  of  the 
trustees.  Shortly  after  the  expiration  of  this  engagement,  it 
was  resolved,  at  a  special  meeting,  that  Mr.  Thompson  have  the 
use  of  the  school  house  for  two  quarters,  free  of  rent,  provided 
he  teach  the  scholars  for  two  dollars  per  quarter,  each.  But 
two  days  later,  at  a  regular  and  fuller  meeting  of  the  board, 
it  was  determined,  without  any  cause  that  appears  on  the  record, 
hat  the  school  house  be  shut  up,  and  not  opened,  either  for 
school  keeping  or  religious  meetings,  until  further  order  of  the 
board.  The  meetings  of  the  trustees  in  the  course  of  the  year 
were  numerous,  well  attended  and  apparently  harmonious. 
The  board  organized  two  companies  of  firemen,  of  fifteen  and 
of  twenty-five  members  respectively ;  they  granted  several 
licenses  to  grocers  and  retail  liquor  dealers,  and  a  few  to  keepers 
of  taverns,  refusing  also  some  applicants  for  the  latter.  They 
ordered  a  special  election  in  February,  for  a  supervisor  in  place 
of  Colonel  Benjamin  "Walker,  deceased,  on  which  occasion  the 
place  was  filled  by  the  election  of  Charles  C.  Brodhead,  and 
they  appointed  E.  S.  Cozier  overseer  of  the  poor,  in  place  of 
Jeremiah  Van  Eensselaer,  whose  financial  embarrassment,  as  is 
probable,  made  it  inconvenient  for  him  to  continue  in  the  dis- 
charge of  the  office. 


438  THE   PIONEERS  OF  UTICA. 

The  year  1817  is  the  era  of  the  commencement,  by  State 
authority,  of  the  long  projected  undertaking,  the  Erie  Canal,  so 
important  to  the  whole  State  not  only,  but  especially  to  the 
towns  along  its  line,  and  which  gave  to  the  life  of  Utica  a  new 
impetus  and  a  new  phase.  The  commissioners,  Stephen  Van 
Eensselaer  and  De  Witt  Clinton,  were  in  the  village  two  or  three 
times  during  the  summer,  and  on  the  5th  of  Jane,  were  honored 
with  a  public  dinner  by  its  citizens.  Excavation  was  begun  at 
Rome  on  the  4th  of  July,  and  by  the  middle  of  the  month  fifteen 
miles  were  let  out  on  contract.  The  work  was  found  to  be  easier 
than  had  been  expected,  and  contracts  at  from  twelve  to  four- 
teen cents  the  cubic  yard  were  in  mau}^  instances  sub-let  at  nine 
cents.  Scrapers,  shovels  and  wheelbarrows  were  busy  through 
the  season  at  various  places  between  Eorae  and  Utica.  By  the 
middle  of  October,  laborers  were  at  work  near  Nail  creek,  fill- 
ing up  its  hollow,  and  fifty-eight  miles  of  the  middle  section  of 
the  canal  were  already  under  contract. 

Much  financial  embarrassment  existed  throughout  the  coun- 
tr}''  at  this  time  and  for  two  years  longer,  and  in  this  distress 
the  inhabitants  of  Utica  suffered  likewise.  In  June,  money  was 
so  scarce  that  the  banks  were  drawing  in  their  discounts,  and 
many  merchants  failed.  By  December,  money  commanded  three 
per  cent,  a  month.  Provisions  of  all  kind  were  dear.  The 
summer  of  1816  had  been  unusually  cold,  frost  having  occurred 
during  every  month  in  the  year.  The  spring  of  1817  was  back- 
ward, and  on  the  first  of  June  there  came  a  severe  frost  which 
destroyed  all  tender  vegetables.  Hay  was  selling  for  twenty 
dollars  a  ton,  wheat  at  eighteen  shillings,  and  it  rose,  in  July,  to 
twenty-four  shillings,  and  corn  the  same,  at  which  time  flour 
was  worth  twelve  dollars  a  barrel.  By  October  hay  had  fallen 
to  eight  dollars  the  ton,  and  other  commodities  also  diminished 
in  piice.  But  the  scarcity  of  money  prevailed  some  time  longer, 
and  the  failures  continued. 

On  the  26th  of  July,  in  this  year,  occurred  the  first  capital  ex- 
ecution that  had  taken  place  in  the  village,  and  the  second  one 
in  the  county.  The  criminal  was  an  Indian  of  the  Brotherton 
tribe,  named  John  Tuhi,  who  was  tried  at  Rome  in  the  })revious 
month  and  convicted  of  having  killed  his  cousin,  Joseph  Tuhi, 


THE  THIRD  CHARTER,  439 

in  a  quarrel  when  intoxicated.  The  execution  took  place  a 
little  east  of  the  present  intersection  of  John  and  Rntger  streets, 
then  a  lone  and  distant  suburb.  It  drew  together  an  immense 
concourse  of  people,  many  coming  twenty,  thirty  and  even  forty 
miles  to  witness  it,  and  was  probably  the  largest  assembly  that 
had  as  yet  been  gathered  in  the  county.  Among  them  were 
many  Indians,  who  were  admitted  within  the  guard.  This 
guard  consisted  of  a  troop  of  light  horse  and  one  compan}^  of 
infantry.  The  prisoner  was  dressed  in  white,  with  a  cap,  and 
having  his  arms  pinioned.  He  was  attended  in  the  wagon  and 
at  the  gallows  by  two  Baptist  clergymen,  who  addressed  the 
crowd.  He  seemed  passive  and  insensible,  and  stood  like  a 
statue  till  he  fell,  after  which  there  was  one  slight  struggle. 
The  sheriff  was  Apollos  Cooper  assisted  by  the  under  sherilf, 
John  B.  Pease  of  Whitesboro.  The  sheriff's  duties  were  fitly 
performed,  and  with  an  amount  of  feeling  that  greatly  exceeded 
that  of  the  criminal.  He  wore  on  the  occasion  a  military  chapeau 
and  a  short  heavy  sword  with  which  he  struck  twice  the  rope 
that  suspended  the  trap,  when  it  fell,  and  he  wheeled  his  horse 
and  rode  off  the  ground.  -The  spectators  were  careless  and  un- 
feeling. Men,  women  and  children  seemed  to  make  a  frolic  of 
the  occurrence,  and  there  was  laughing  and  swearing  under  the 
gallows,  but  not  much  drunkenness,  except  among  the  Indians, 
of  whom  a  number  got  intoxicated.  The  execution  formed  a 
memorable  day  in  the  calendars  of  the  men  of  that  generation, 
an  epoch  not  easily  forgotten,  and  people  dated  events  as  hap- 
pening before  or  after  the  Indian  was  hung. 

Among  the  accessions  during  the  present  year  to  the  happily 
associated  society  of  Utica  are  to  be  reckoned  the  brothers 
James  and  Walter  L.  Cochrane.  They  were  now  in  the  prime 
of  life,  and  through  their  ancestry,  as  well  as  in  their  own  per- 
sons, had  established  a  claim  upon  the  public  regard  and  a  name 
in  the  history  of  the  country.  For  the  facts  concerning  them, 
I  am  chiefly  indebted  to  the  son  of  the  latter,  Hon.  John  Coch- 
rane, of  New  York.  They  were  the  only  sons  of  Dr.  John 
Cochrane,  director  general  of  the  hospitals  in  the  continental 
army  in  the  war  of  the  Eevolution,  and  his  wife,  Gertrude 
Schuyler,  sister  of  Major- Greneral  Philip  Schuyler.  Dr.  Coch- 
rane, who  had  been  a  surgeon  in  the  old  French  war,  afterward 


440  THE  PIONEERS  OF  UTICA. 

married  and  lived  in  Albany,  until  the  breaking  out  of  the  Eev- 
olution.  Intent  during  this  struggle  upon  his  responsible  and 
absorbing  duties,  the  residence  of  his  family  was  sliifted  as  his 
conyenieuce  required.  After  its  close  he  settled  in  Albany, 
•whence  he  came  at  a  later  period  to  Palatine,  Montgomery 
count}'.  One,  or  both  of  liis  sons  (Walter  L.,  certainly),  was 
born  at  New^  Brunswick,  N.  J.,  and  their  early  lives  were  sub- 
jected to  the  vicissitudes  of  the  war,  whereby  their  homes  were 
broken  up  and  their  education  suspended.  Both  were  gradu- 
ated at  Columbia  College,  N.  Y.,  and  both  were  admitted  to  the 
practice  of  the  law. 

James,  the  elder,  attained  some  proficiency  in  his  profession, 
and  creditably  conducted  a  respectable  country  practice  at  his 
residence  near  Palatine  Church.  In  the  fifth  Congress  of  the 
United  States,  that  of  1797-"99,  he  represented  the  Western 
District,  wliich  then  included  the  entire  central  and  western 
part  of  tlje  State.  His  competitor  for  the  place  was  Judge 
Cooper  of  Cooperstown,  the  father  of  J.  Fennimore  Cooper,  the 
novelist.  Mr.  Lossing,  in  his  Field  Book  of  the  Revolution,  is 
authority  for  the  story  that  Mr.  Cochrane  used  to  say  he  fiddled 
himself  into  Congress.  "A  short  time  previous  to  his  election, 
a  vessel  was  to  be  launched  in  Seneca  lake,  at  Geneva,  and  it 
being  an  unusual  event,  people  came  from  afar  to  see  it.  The 
young  folks  gathered  there  determined  to  have  a  dance  at  night. 
A  fiddle  was  procured,  but  a  fiddler  was  M^anting.  Major  Coch- 
rane was  quite  an  amateur  performer,  and  his  services  were  de- 
manded on  the  occasion.  He  gratified  the  joyous  company,  and 
at  the  supper  table  one  of  the  gentlemen  remarked  in  commend- 
ation of  his  talents,  that  he  was  'fit  for  Congress.'  The  hint 
was  favorably  received  by  the  company,  the  matter  was  talked 
up,  and  he  was  nominated  and  elected."  Levi  Beardsley,  in  his 
Personal  Reminiscences,  gives  us  the  following  sequel  to  the  in- 
cident :  "  It  was  alleged  that  Judge  Cooper  had  either  published 
or  remarked  that  Cochrane  had  gone  through  the  district  with 
his  violin,  and  had  fiddled  himself  into  ofiice.  This  came  to 
Cochranes  ear  and  l)r()Ught  him  from  Montgomery  to  Coopers- 
town.  He  started  on  horseback,  as  I  have  heard  him  say,  and 
went  there,  where  Judge  Cooper  was  ])residing  as  first  judge  of 
the  Court  of  Common  Pleas.  On  his  coming  out  of  court, 
Cochrane  met  him,  and  after  alluding  to  the  election  and  what 


THE  THIRD  CHARTER.  441 

had  taken  place,  informed  the  Judge  that  he  had  come  from 
the  Mohawk  to  chastise  him  for  the  insult.  Judge  Cooper 
treated  it  lightly,  and  remarked  that  Cochrane  could  not  be  in 
earnest,  who  answei'ed  with  a  cut  of  his  cowskin.  Cooper  closed 
in  with  his  adversary,  but  Cochrane  being  a  large,  strong  man^ 
they  were  pretty  well  matched,  and  the  Judge  did  not  throw 
him  down  as  he  intended.  The  bystanders  interposed,  and  the 
parties  were  separated.  Cochrane  was  indicted  for  the  assault 
and  battery,  but  removed  the  indictment  to  the  Oyer  and  Term- 
iner, where  he  pleaded  guilty,  and  was  fined  a  small  amount." 
After  his  removal  to  Utica,  Major  Cochrane  filled  respectabl}^ 
the  office  of  justice  of  the  peace  under  the  council  of  appoint- 
ment, and  to  this  was  added  that  of  notary  public,  an  office  of 
much  greater  significance  than  it  is  at  present.  He  was  a  man 
of  much  intelligence,  as  well  as  high  social  culture,  and  his 
society  was  sought  for  his  general  information,  especially  in  re- 
gard to  the  early  history  of  the  country.  His  first  wife,  Eleanor 
Barclay  of  Philadelphia,  having  died  early,  he  remained  many 
years  single,  but  in  1822  he  intermarried  with  his  cousin,  Cath- 
arine Van  Eensselaer  Schuyler,  widow  of  Colonel  Samuel  Mal- 
com,  whom,  with  his  remarkably  excellent  wife,  I  have  already 
sketched.  The  only  issue  of  this  marriage,  a  daughter,  died 
young,  and  before  her  parents  removed  to  Oswego,  whither  they 
went  about  the  year  1S27.  There  they  both  died  at  a  ripe  old 
age. 

Walter  Livingston  Cochrane  soon  abandoned  the  law,  and 
following  his  predilections  for  a  military  life,  obtained  a  captaincy 
in  the  United  States  army.  But  the  dullness  of  the  peace  es- 
tablishment, not  suiting  his  active  temperament,  prompted  him 
to  resign  his  commission.  He  continued  to  live  with  his  father's 
family  at  their  various  al)odes  in  New  York,  Schenectady,  Pal- 
atine, &c.,  and  came  with  his  brother  to  Utica.  In  the  year 
1812  he  married  Cornelia,  only  daughter  of  Judge  Peter  Smith 
of  Peterboro,  and  sister  of  Gerrit  and  Peter  Sken  Smith.  The 
match  was  a  clandestine  and  a  hurried  one.  The  family  of  Judge 
Miller,  at  Utica,  were  startled  one  day  by  the  arrival  of  the  fly- 
ing couple  on  their  way  from  Peterboro  to  Palatine.  They  had 
made  the  journey  in  a  gig  and  tandem,  with  one  portmanteau 
to  hold  the  total  trousseau  of  the  bride,  and  this,  in  their  haste, 
they  had  fastened  so  loosely  that,  coming  open,  its  contents 


•14:2  THE  PIONEERS  OF  UTICA. 

were  lost  along  the  way,  and  a  black  boy  was  despatched  u})on 
their  traces  to  gather  up  the  scattered  articles.  This  marriage 
was  so  displeasing  to  Judge  Smith,  a  man  of  strong  feeling  and 
prejudice,  that  it  aroused  in  his  breast  a  bitterness  of  resent- 
ment, which  was  not  appeased  until  the  death  of  his  wife  in 
Utica,  after  Mrs.  Cochrane  had  come  hither  to  live.  A  contem-  , 
porary  says  of  Major  Cochrane,  that  "  he  was  one  of  the  most 
polished  gentlemen  he  ever  saw  in  his  social  education.  His 
after-dinner  songs  were  'music's  own,'  and  I  have  seen  a  party 
at  one  time  melted  to  tears,  and  at  another  roaring  with  laugh- 
ter, as  he  chose  to  impress  them  with  grief  or  joy."  And  of 
his  wife  :  "  Mrs.  Cochrane  was  a  lady  of  marked  character,  dis- 
tinguished as  much  for  her  conversational  power  and  impressive 
manners,  as  her  brothers  Peter  and  Gerrit  were  for  their  elo- 
C|uence  in  public  speaking.  The  ladies  of  Utica  loved  to  hear 
her  conversation  as  much  as  the  gentlemen  loved  to  hear  the 
songs  of  her  husband.  Boy  as  I  was  at  this  period,  I  loved  to 
listen  to  her  as  she  passed  an  afternoon  and  evening  with  my 
mother,  whose  fireside  was  cheered  '  many  a  time  and  oft '  by 
the  unceremonious  visits  of  this  magnificent  lady."  On  their 
first  coming  to  Utica  they  lived  in  Mr.  Varick's  house  on  the 
hill,  of  late  the  liome  of  A.  B.  Johnson,  and  now  of  Judge 
Johnson.  But  they  soon  removed  to  the  lower  end  of  Broad 
street,  to  the  house  on  the  Peter  Smith  farm,  next  west  of  J.  H. 
Read's,  and  of  late  occupied  by  Mr.  Ellison. 

About  1825,  having  procured  a  command  in  the  North  River 
line  of  steamboats.  Captain  Cochrane  removed  to  Albany.  But 
after  tlie  death  of  his  wife  in  that  year,  he  established  his  fam- 
ily at  Oswego,  where,  and  for  a  short  period  at  Schenectady, 
and  now  in  New  York,  the  major  part  of  tliem  have  since  con- 
tinued to  reside.  He  himself  died  in  August  1857,  at  the  ad- 
vanced age  of  eighty  seven.  This  family  consisted  of  eight 
cliildren,  as  follows :  John,  brigadier-general  in  the  late  war,  and 
member  of  Congress,  of  New  York;  James  W.,  of  Oswego; 
and  Ellen  (widow  of  Rev.  William  Walters  of  Schenectady),  of 
New  York, — all  of  whom  were  born  in  Palatine ;  Peter  Smith, 
died  about  the  year  1843  ;  Gertrude  E.,  died  in  1844;  and  Mary 
Livingston  (Mrs.  Chapman  Biddle),  of  Philadelphia, — all  three 
born  in  Utica ;  and  Cornelia  Smith  (widow  of  Henry  A.  W. 
Barclay),  of  New  York ;  and  Catherine  Schujder  (Mrs.  William 
Kemeys),  of  New  York, — born  in  Albany. 


THE  THIKD  CHARTER.  443 

These  brothers  Cochrane  were  types  of  an  order  of  gentlemen 
born  and  educated  in  the  later  colonial  period  of  the  State,  with 
all  the  amenities  and  polish  of  manners,  which  resulted  from 
aristocratic  associations,  and  with  not  a  few  of  their  accompany- 
ing prejudices.  Their  memory,  extending  quite  back  to  the 
Revolutionary  time,  was  stored  with  interesting  and  rare  per- 
sonal anecdotes  of  the  conspicuous  actors  upon  its  stage.  They 
witnessed  the  social  intercourse  of  Washington,  La  Fayette, 
Anthony  Wayne,  Paul  Jones  and  other  military  and  naval 
officers  at  frequent  rendezvous  in  their  father's  house  near  the 
Bowling  Green  m  New  York  City.  An  anecdote  that  used  to 
be  told  by  Major  James  Cochrane  is  worth  repeating  as  an  illus- 
tration of  Washington's  singular  dignity  of  character,  and  the 
awe  which  it  unconsciously  inspired.  He  was  sent  on  one  oc- 
casion toward  the  end  of  a  dinner  party,  on  a  mission  to  his 
father,  and  as  the  son  of  Dr.  Cochrane,  he  was  shown  into  the 
parlor.  There  were  assembled  many  of  the  general  officers  of 
the  army,  some  naval  officers,  and  a  number  of  distinguished 
citizens.  Among  them  were  Generals  Washington,  La  Fayette, 
Greene,  Steuben,  Wayne  and  Hamilton,  and  Robert  and  Gouv- 
erneur  Morris.  The  latter  was  seated  next  to  Washington^ 
and,  when  the  lad  entered,  was  engaged  in  lively  discussion. 
At  the  moment  he  stopped,  he  turned  towards  Washington, 
and  bringing  his  hand  down  with  a  thwack  on  the  general's 
shoulder,  exclaimed  :  "  Is'nt  it  so,  my  old  boy  ?"  Washington, 
without  speaking,  turned  a  composed  but  serious  look  full  upon 
Morris,  when  a  silence  as  of  death  fell  upon  the  whole  company. 
The  hilarity  of  the  dinner  table  could  not  be  recalled,  and  the 
party  soon  broke  up. 

The  two  brothers  Thomas  and  Charles  Hastings,  I  introduce 
here  together  though  the  residence  of  the  former  was  as  yet 
but  temporary,  and  Charles  alone  now  made  his  home  in  Utica. 
Their  father,  bringing  with  him  five  sons,  came  with  a  colony 
from  Washington,  Litchfield  county.  Conn.,  in  sleighs  and  ox 
sleds,  to  Clinton,  Oneida  county,  in  February  1797.  These 
sons,  with  one  born  afterward,  all  grew  up  to  occupy  posts  of 
usefulness  and  credit  in  professional  and  mercantile  life.  One 
we  have  already  noticed  as  a  clerk  in  Utica  and  a  banker  else- 
where. 


444  THE  PIONEERS  OF  UTICA. 

Thomas,  the  second  of  these  sons,  who  was  born  October  15, 
1784,  was  of  a  deeply  sensitive  nature,  with  a  pecuhar  and  im- 
perfect vision,  and  manifested  an  early  predilection  for  music. 
This  predilection  was  soon  developed  into  a  pursuit,  which  he 
followed  through  an  unusually  long  life,  and  in  church  psalm- 
ody, to  which  he  especially  devoted  himself,  he  became  the 
most  proficient  of  any  in  the  country.  "  Whatever  true  reforms 
were  made  in  the  spirit  of  praise  during  the  first  half  of  the 
present  centur}^,  were  largely  accomplished  by  and'  through 
him."  He  began  his  career  as  a  teacher  of  it  in  1805,  giving 
instruction  in  some  of  the  neighboring  parishes,  and  continued 
it  in  the  winter  of  1806-7.  His  course  of  instruction  was  thor- 
ough and  a  great  improvement  on  that  which  had  jjreceded  it. 
In  1816,  after  having  spent  one  year  in  business,  and  four  in 
managing  his  father's  farm,  he  became  again  a  teacher.  His  les- 
ions were  given  at  New  Hartford,  to  the  choir  of  Trinity  Church, 
ITtica,  in  1817,  to  that  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  in  1819, 
and  in  several  other  places.  There  had  been  a  county  musical 
societ}^  in  operation.  To  furnish  music  for  it  he  and  Professor 
Norton  of  Clinton,  became  composers.  This  was  the  origin  of 
the  collection  known  as  the  Musica  Sacra,  which  consisted  at 
first  of  two  numbers  of  pamphlet  size,  and  was,  afterwards 
enlarged  to  a  considerable  volume  and  subsequently  united 
with  Warriner's  Springfield  collection.  Several  successive  edi- 
tions were  published  at  Utica.  From  this  vicinit}^  Mr.-  Has- 
tings went  to  Troy  to  teach,  and  thence  to  Albany,  where  he 
sang  in  tlie  church  of  Rev.  Dr.  Chester.  In  1823,  he  was  invi- 
ted to  come  to  Utica  to  take  charge  of  a  religious  paper  about 
to  be  established,  and  in  January  of  the  following  year  there 
was  issued  the  first  number  of  this  semi-monthly  paper,  known 
■as  the  Western  Recorder.  His  editorial  labors  extended  to  the 
ninth  volume.  He  never  lost  sight  of  the  interests  of  religious 
music,  and  his  ai'ticles  on  the  subject  w^ere  widely  copied.  In 
addition  to  his  conduct  of  the  paper,  he  taught  singing  in  the 
Sunda}-  school  and  elsewhere,  and,  by  the  establishment  of  soci- 
eties for  the  purpose,  contributed  much  to  encourage  an  interest 
in  sacred  song.  He  held  that  every  one  could  learn  to  sing, 
and  that  it  was  a  duty  to  learn  and  to  join  audibl}''  in  divine 
praise  in  the  house  of  Grod,  that  "  religion  has  substantially  the 
same  claim  in  song  as  in  speech."  He  composed  hymns  and 
tunes  and  made  collections  of  music  adapting  tunes  to  words 


THE  THIRD  CHARTER.  445 

and  words  to  tunes,   and  thus  impressed  his  own  tastes  upon 
the  church  and  the  school,  and  inspired  them  with  his  own  zeal 
in  the  cause  of  reform  and  progress.     The  hymn  "  Now  be  the 
Gospel  Banner,"  which  had  a  wide  circulation  in  this  country 
and  in  England,   and  whose   stirring  notes  the   Utica  Sunday 
School  were  accustomed  to  roll  out  with  enthusiasm,  he  com- 
posed expressly  for  its  anniversary  exercises.     For  many  years 
he  was  the  chorister  of  the  Presbyterian   Church,   where  his 
presence  and  his  voice  seemed  as  essential  to  tlie  ministrations. 
of  the  sanctuary  as  were  those  of  any  occupant  of  its  pulpit. 
He  was  very  near-sighted,  and  his  hair  so  destitute  of  color  as 
to  make  him  appear  old  while  be  was  still  a  young  man,  in  fact 
he  was  a  complete  albino,  as  were  also  two  of  his  brothers. 
Many  will  recall  this  venerable  looking  head,  as  bowed  down 
with  painful  proximity  to  his  notes,  his  eyes  crept  too  and  fro 
across  the  page,  or,  as  raised  from  the  book,  it  wagged  vigor- 
ously in  unison  with  his  ivory-headed  cane,  to  mark  the  time 
for  his  lagging   class.      But  though  so  near-sighted,,  he  was 
never  at  fault  with  his  music,  and,  be  it  fresh  or  familiar,  could 
as  easily  read  it  upside  down  as  in  a  more  normal  way.     When 
he  and  two  of  his  brothers,  at  practice,  w^ere  singing  together 
from  the  same  book,  and  too  close  a  visual  following  by  one  of 
them  would  have  shut  off  the  view  of  the  others,  he  would 
take  a  place  to  confront  them,  and  follow  his  notes  from  over 
the  back  of  the  book  as  readily  as  they  from  a  forward  inspec- 
tion.     In  reference  to  his  shortness  of    vision,   the  following 
incident  used  to  be  current.     It  caused  him  to  stumble  one 
evening  at  dusk  against  a  cow  reclining  at  ease  on  the  side- 
walk, whose  pardon  he  was  overheard  to  beg  in  the  politest  of 
terms  for  the  rudeness  he  had  done  to  her  ladyship.     Like  other 
enthusiasts,  and  especiall}^  those  whose  blindness  to  the  world 
without  forces   their  thoughts  home  on  themselves  and  their 
cherished  pursuits,  he  was  absent-minded  and  forgetful ;  and 
so  coming  to  meet  his  class  one  evening,  he  tied  his  horse  to 
a  neighboring  post,  but  at  the  close  of  his  duties  went  home 
afoot,  and  left  the  horse  to  spend  the  night  where  he  had  tied 
him.     Mr.  Hastings'  now  extended  reputation  as  a  teacher,  his 
published  collections,   and  his  writings  on  music,  brought  him 
invitations  to  lecture  in  Brookhai,  Princeton,  Philadelphia,  &c. 
In  1832,  on  the  invitation  of  several  churches,  he  repaired  to 
New  York,  and  entered  upon  the  specific  work  of  elevating 


446  THE  PIONEERS  OF  UTICA. 

the  standard  of  congregational  singing.  He  taught  large  schools, 
gathered  assemblies  and  trained  them,  infusing  into  the  people 
interest  and  spirit  on  his  favorite  subject.  He  continued  his 
efforts  as  a  composer  and  wrote  much.  No  man  in  the  United 
States  has  been  so  long  and  so  intimately  associated  with  our 
church  music,  none  has  produced  more  of  the  hymns  and  tunes 
wliich  are  now  a  part  of  public  worship.  Between  the  years 
1819  and  1865,  he  published  upwards  of  twenty  collections  of 
sacred  music,  besides  editing  seven  or  eight  others.  Of  the 
six  hundred  hymns  and  versions  of  the  psalms  which  he  com- 
posed, two  hundred  are  current  in  this  country  and  Great 
Britain.  He  received  the  degree  of  Doctor  Musicae  from  New 
York  University. 

Service  of  praise  was  not  the  only  service  he  was  wont  to  ren- 
de]',  nor  whetlier  rendered  to  his  Maker  or  to  man  was  it  of  the 
lips  only.  While  in  Utica  he  inetructed  in  a  Bible  class  in  the 
First  and  afterwards  in  the  Second  Presb3^terian  Church,  and 
he  was  also  secretary  of  the  Bible  Societ}^  of  the  county.  "  His 
sweet  spirit,  as  full  of  poetry  as  David's,  and  of  love  as  John's, 
delighted  in  the  joy  of  the  Loi'd,  and  through  a  long,  humble, 
consistent  and  exemplary  walk  with  God,  he  was  an  illustra- 
tion of  that  Christian  life  which  adorns  the  profession  and 
attests  its  reality."  He  died  in  New  York,  May  15,  1872. 
His  funeral  was  attended  at  the  church  on  Forty-second  street 
of  which  his  son  (and  only  living  child)  Eev.  Thomas  S.  Has- 
tings, D.  D.,  is  pastor.  His  wife,  who  was  sister  of  Alexander 
Seymour,  and  who  in  Utica  was  an  efficient  person  in  matters 
of  the  church,  and  also  superintendent  of  the  maternal  associa- 
tion, still  survives.  One  of  their  daughters  married  Eev.  Wil- 
liam W.  Scudder,  missionary  in  India,  another  Rev.  George 
W.  Wood,  secretary  of  A.  B.  C.  F.  M. 

Cliarles  Hastings  and  Andi-ew  Merrell,  as  the  successors  of 
Camp,  Merrell  &  Camp,  began  a  new  book  store  in  Maj^  1817,  to 
w^hich  they  soon  added  a  circulating  library.  They  were  at  the 
sign  of  the  Bible,  No.  40  Genesee  street,  one  door  west  of  the 
j)ost  office.  They  published  a  few  books,  among  which  was  one 
wnth  the  singular  title,  "The  Missionary  Arithmetic,"  prepared 
by  Rev.  William  R.  Weeks,  D.  D.,  and  containing  problems 
based  on  missionary  or  religious  topics.  From  the  3'ear  1824 
thev  i)ul)lislicd  also  the  We^lern  Recorder.     As  agent  of  the  Sun 


THE  THIRD  CHAKTER.  447 

day  School  Union,  Mr.  Hastings  supplied  its  auxiliaries  with 
books,  and  he  acted  also  as  secretary  of  the  Western  Domestic 
Missionary  Society.  In  1826,  having  lost  his  partner,  he  found 
a  new  one  in  Gardiner  Tracy,  and  moved  to  94  Grenesee  street. 
This  partnership  lasted  until  1832,  the  period  when  Thomas 
Hastings  ceased  to  edit  the  Recorder,  at  which  time  Charles  gave 
up  business.  After  three  or  four  years  more  he  left  the  place. 
He  removed  to  Troy,  Michigan,  and  died  there  March  23,  1845. 
Like  his  brother,  he  was  a  teacher  in  the  Bible  class  of  the  First 
and  also  of  the  Second  Presbyterian  Church,  and  with  him  he  was 
concerned  in  certain  musical  enterprises.  Two  of  these  enter- 
prises, organized  about  1831,  in  which  both  of  them  were  man- 
agers, and  which  probably  died  on  their  departure  from  the  city, 
■were  named  respectively  "  The  New  York  State  Central  Musical 
Society,"  and  "  The  Bleecker  Street  Free  Mission  Musical  Asso- 
ciation." His  wife  was  Patty  Barker  of  Augusta,  and  after  her 
death  at  Tro}^,  he  married  again.  Miss  Trowbridge  of  Michigan. 
A  son  of  his.  Rev.  Albert  E.  Hastings,  is  now  living  in  Detroit. 

Two  druggists'  clerks  started  in  business  at  this  time,  in  the 
old  stand  of  Dr.  W.  H.  Wolcott.  These  were  Sylvan  us  Harvey 
and  Jared  E.  Warner.  The  former  came  to  Utica  from  the 
neighborhood  of  Norwich  Corners,  in  this  vicinity,  and  before 
entering  on  business  had  been  for  some  time  in  the  employ  of 
Dr.  Solomon  Wolcott.  He  was  an  intelligent,  active  man,  of 
unusually  fine  appearance,  social  in  taste  and  popular  in  manner. 
He  had  strong  military  proclivities,  and  was  among  the  foremost 
in  a  rifle  company.  Well  endowed  physically,  he  could,  without 
the  aid  of  stirrups,  easily  vault  into  his  saddle.  Falling  into 
loose  habits,  he  lost  his  standing,  and  died  in  1848. 

Jared  Eliot  Warner  was  born  in  Pomfret,  Conn.,  Mai-ch  31, 
1796.  His  mother  was  a  grand  daughter  of  Eliot,  the  Indian 
missionarjr,  and  (laughter  of  an  accomplished  and  exemplary 
minister.  His  father,  Dr.  Jared  Warner,  a  practicing  physician, 
w^ho  stood  six  feet  seven  inches,  is,  as  to  his  moral  worthiness, 
thus  described  on  his  monumental  stone : 

Stop  ye,  my  friend,  and  weep,  for  Warner's  gone;  ^ 

See,  here  his  glass  doth  cease  to  run. 

No  more  his  liberal  hand  shall  feed  the  poor, 

Relieve  distress  and  scatter  joy  no  more. 

While  he  from  death  did  others  seek  to  save, 

Death  threw  a  dart  and  plunged  him  in  the  grave. 


448  THE   PIONEERS  OF  UTICA. 

The  son,  after  his  father's  death,  was  sent  to  Clinton  in  this 
county,  to  stndy  medicine  under  the  tuition  of  his  uncle.  Dr. 
Fitch.  Getting  tired  of  the  pursuit,  he  came  to  Utica  and  en- 
tered himself  as  a  clerk  with  Dr.  AVolcott.  Here  he  remained 
"until  he  began  business  with  "  Dr."'  Harvey.  The  latter  was 
bis  partner  until  1829,  when  the  firm  became  Warner  &  South- 
mayd ;  from  1835  it  was  Warner  &  Eay,  until  the  retirement 
of  Mr.  Warner,  about  1857.  By  the  present  generation  the 
house  has  been  as  familiarh'  known  as  were  those  of  the  Wol- 
cotts,  Hitchcock  or  Williams  by  the  earlier  one.  An  heir- 
loom it  holds  direct  from  the  earliest  druggists  of  Utica,  is  a 
large  show  bottle  in  the  front  window  of  the  store,  which  con- 
tains the  identical  colored  fluid  that  was  poured  into  it  in  1812. 
Articles  in  which  Mr.  Warner  once  dealt  largely,  besides  his 
ordinary  trade,  were  the  essential  oils  of  peppermint,  spearmint, 
&c.,  which  were  distilled  for  him  in  the  northern  part  of  the 
county,  and  which  he  exported.  Mr.  Warner  has  always  been 
closely  attentive  to  his  concerns,  and  content  with  the  stead}' 
acquisitions  of  his  calling.  Being  treasurer  of  the  County  Bible 
Society,  agent  of  the  American  Board  of  Foreign  Missions,  of 
the  American  Tract  Society,  &c.,  his  store  was  made  the  place 
of  deposit  and  distribution  of  numerous  religious  publications. 
For  many  years  he  has  been  an  elder  in  the  First  Presby- 
terian Church,  and  is  also  president  of  the  Utica  City  National 
Bank.  He  has  likewise  served  as  alderman.  Mr.  Warner  has 
been  thrice  married,  and  of  living  children  he  has  one  son,  Sam- 
uel, now  in  the  Bible  House,  New  York,  and  two  unmarried 
daughters. 

The  time  of  which  we  treat  was  not  a  promising  one  in  which 
to  embark  in  trade,  and  many  of  those  who  set  out  in  it  during 
or  on  the  eve  of  the  war,  were  now  either  bankrupt  or  ready  to 
become  so ;  few  fresh  merchants,  therefore,  ventured  the  trial. 
William  Soulden  made  a  dashing  start  about  this  time  in  com- 
pany with  Peter  Sken  Smith,  but  by  the  middle  of  1818  they 
had  failed  for  the  large  amount,  as  is  reported,  of  $28,000.  Mr. 
Soulden  died  in  Albany.  Samuel  M.  Blatchford,  a  staid  and 
less  pretentious  person,  began  with  groceries  and  liquors,  then 
was  an  auctioneer,  from  which  he  worked  into  dry  goods,  and 
had,  besides,  a  manufactory  of  paper  hangings.     He  was  a  son 


THE  THIRD  CHARTER.  449 

of  Rev.  Dr.  Blatchford  of  Lansingburg,  a  strong  preacher  and  a 
dignified  man,  and  a  brother  of  Judge  Blatchford  of  New  York, 
and  of  Dr.  Blatchford  of  Troy.  Not  long  after  his  coming,  he 
married  an  excellent  woman,  Miss  Eliza  H.  Kellogg  of  Fairfield, 
Conn.  Both  were  highly  estimated,  and  their  departure  to 
New  York,  about  1825,  was  generally  regretted.  Captain 
O'Connor,  who,  during  the  war,  had  been  sailing  out  of  New 
York  under  Spanish  colors,  and  with  a  Spanish  crew  and  papers, 
now  settled  down  to  the  manufacture  and  sale  of  cigars  and 
tobacco  on  Division  street,  in  the  rear  of  the  store  of  J.  C.  Dev- 
ereux.  A  merchant  tailor,  named  K.  W.  Tryon,  set  up  a  busi- 
ness about  this  time,  in  which  he  was  joined,  a  year  or  two  later, 
by  Otis  Manchester.  And  thus  was  originated  a  house  which, 
though  it  underwent  some  changes,  has  had  its  representatives 
even  to  a  quite  recent  period.  The  former,  a  man  of  gentle- 
manly bearing,  had  learned  his  trade  in  Clinton,  and  gotten  his 
wife,  Miss  Laura  Hobby,  at  Whitesboro.  About  1826  he  went 
to  the  metropolis,  where  he  was  a  fashionable  tailor  and  an  im- 
porter of  cloths,  popular  and  prospered.  Mr.  Manchester,  with 
varying  partners,  remained,  in  the  concern  until  after  1845, 
when  he  gave  up  to  his  brother  Eli  and  Grove  Penn}^,  both  of 
whom  had  been  trained  in  the  shop  and  established  an  interest 
in  the  firm.  Otis,  after  being  a  little  while  with  Mr.  Kingsley, 
moved  to  Beloit.  The  house  was  alwaj^s  in  good  favor,  and  Mr. 
Manchester  too  obliging  and  honorable  ever  to  have  an  enemy. 

There  was  a  new  lawyer  in  1817,  in  the  person  of  Gr.  John 
Mills.  The  following  year  he  united  in  partnership  with  Rich- 
ard R.  Lansing,  but  by  1820  he  was  gone.  A  surveyor,  named 
Calvin  Guiteau,  brother  of  Dr.  Francis  Guiteau,  had  been  already 
long  in  the  county,  and  had  measured  not  a  few  of  its  farms. 
He  had  been  living  in  Deerfield,  bat  now  crossed  the  river  to 
pass  the  remainder  of  his  life.  A  carpenter  who  tarried  much 
longer  in  tlie  place  was  John  A.  Russ.  Beginning  humbly, 
but  always  industrious,  he  lived  long  enough  in  Utica  to  gain 
an  honorable  name  among  its  mechanics.  Trusted  as  a  citizen 
and  a  neighbor,  he  was  of  influence  in  the  affairs  of  Trinity 
Church ;  and  at  first  its  sexton,  he  became  a  leading  warden. 
Of  his  three  daughters,  Mrs.  Merrit  Peckham  and  Mrs.  John  J^ 
Francis  are  still  resident.     Owen  Owens,  baker,  was  likewise  a 

E-1 


450  THE   PIONEERS  OF  UTICA. 

worthy,  industrious  and  quiet  inhabitant.  He  lived  to  the  age 
of  seventy,  and  died  July  29,  1868.  A  daughter  and  son  are 
in  Utica,  Thomas  M.  in  the  business  of  father;  as  was  also 
David,  recently  deceased. 

A  bluff,  honest,  free  and  easy  fellow  was  William  Richards 
or  more  familiarly  "Bill  Dick."  A  native  of  Wales,  he  had 
been  a  drummer  boy  in  the  American  service  during  the  recent 
war  with  England,  but  quitting  the  arm}'-  at  its  close,  he  came 
to  Utica,  and  was  apprenticed  to  shoemaking.  This  he  left  off 
after  a  time,  and  finding  employment  under  government,  was  from 
1829  until  his  death,  in  1845,  the  sole  letter  carrier  of  the  place. 
vShort  and  dumpy,  he  was  yet  athletic  and  busy;  went  every- 
where, knew  everybody,  stood  in  awe  of  no  one,  and  was  hail 
fellow  with  all.  In  the  Utica  Band  he  beat  the  base  drum,  and, 
though  it  may  have  looked  an  unbefitting  instrument  for  so 
portly  a  performer,  it  was  handled  with  vigor,  and,  moreover, 
found  an  easy  resting  place  on  his  protuberant  front.  An 
attache  of  the  Observer  office,  or  at  any  rate,  of  the  party  which 
that  paper  represented,  he  was  a  most  serviceable  political  hack, 
ready,  fearless  and  free  spoken.  He  it  was  who  told  Daniel 
Webster,  after  the  latter  had  addressed  the  inhabitants  of  Utica, 
in  1837,  that  he  admired  his  talents,  though  he  detested  his 
politics.  It  was  he,  too,  who  was  a  foremost  actor  in  the  riot 
which  took  place  in  Utica  in  1835,  on  the  occasion  of  the  assem- 
bling of  the  Anti-Slavery  Convention.  Judge  Beardsley,  the 
chairman  of  a  numerous  committee  of  most  respectable  citizens, 
was  addressing  the  delegates  in  deprecation  of  their  design  to 
liold  the  assembly  in  Utica,  and  had  probiibl}^  spoken  longer 
than  was  agreeable  to  Mr.  Richards.  Suddenly  his  stentorian 
voice  was  heard,  demanding  "An't  it  about  time,  bo^^s,  to  begin  ?" 
At  the  word,  as  if  the  signal  had  been  pre-arranged,  the  rabble 
rushed  in  fi'om  without,  over})owered  both  convention  and  com- 
mittee, and  reduced  all  t(^  one  in-esponsible  melee.  But  rough 
as  he  was  through  a  ])art  of  his  life,  he  softened  towards  its 
close,  and  became  conspicuous  with  the  Rcchabites  and  the  Odd 
Fellows,  being  president  of  both.  Useful,  too,  he  was  as  a  fire- 
man and  served  out  his  time.  His  widow  is  living  still.  Six 
of  his  seven  sons  grew  up  to  manhood,  and  for  the  most  part, 
were,  while  they  lived  in  Utica,  bank  and  post  office  clerks. 


THE  THIRD  CHARTER.  451 

Other  dwellers  in  Utica  at  this  time  who  may  be  briefly 
enumerated,  were  Major  J.  W.  Albright,  United  States  pay- 
master, who  left  in  1821;  William  H.  Tisdale,  lawyer,  who 
went  to  Batavia ;  William  Spencer,  tavern-keeper  on  Main 
street,  who  removed  to  Vernon  to  conduct  the  same  business, 
and  thence  westward ;  J.  Bedford,  teacher ;  John  McKiggin, 
tailor ;  William  Jai'rett,  who  through  a  long  life  was  clerk  and 
packer  in  successive  crockery  stores,  and  has  but  lately  (1877) 
gone  to  his  rest ;  James  Gladden,  grocer ;  John  Ingersoll,  an- 
other grocer,  now  of  Ilion,  and  one  of  the  rich  men  of  his 
county ;  James  Weston,  carpenter,  who  built  the  row  of  tene- 
ment houses  on  Charlotte  street  extending  north  from  Post 
street ;  Thomas  Owens,  blacksmith,  and  brother  of  Owen 
Owens.  Dying  about  1822,  he  left  a  widow  who  lived  some 
years  in  the  place,  as  does  now  his  son  R  U.  Owens.  Samuel 
Bell,  Edward  Clark,  Benjamin  Northrup. 

1818. 

Party  spirit  seems  for  the  first  time  to  have  been  in  exercise 
at  the  village  election  .in  the  year  1818.  As  a  consequence, 
some  changes  were  effected  in  the  constituent  members  of  the 
board  of  trustees  ;  some  of  the  older  citizens  and  larger  property 
holders  of  the  federal  i^arty,  as  John  C.  Devereux  and  Jeremiah 
Van  Rensselaer,  who  had  been  held  up  as  candidates,  were  re- 
jected and  new  men  elected  in  their  stead.  This  new  board 
was  composed  as  follows:  the  president  remaining  the  same,  the 
trustees  elected  from  the  first  ward  were  Ezra  S.  Cozier  and 
John  E.  Hinrnan ;  from  the  second,  Abraham  Van  Santvoort 
and  Enos  Brown ;  from  the  third,  Rudolph  Snyder  and  Marcus 
Hitchcock.  The  assessors  were  Benjamin  Ballou,  Jr.,  Stalham 
Williams  and  Thomas  Walker.  The  board  reappointed  John 
H.  Ostrom  clerk,  and  made  Judah  Williams  treasurer.  The 
only  noticeable  fact  in  the  proceedings  of  the  year  was  the 
appropriation  of  three  hundred  dollars  to  aid  the  trustees  of  the 
academy  in  the  completion  of  the  court  room  in  the  academy 
building,  wdiich  room  they  would  appear  to  have  taken  from 
this  time  under  their  control.  The  amount  levied  upon  the  citi- 
zens for  the  annual  expenses  was  $1,422.25,  and  that  for  the 
school  expenses  $50.60.     It  was  also  voted  that  eight  hundred 


452  thp:  pioneers  of  utica, 

dollars  be  raised  by  dii-ection  of  the  supervisors  for  the  support 
of  the  poor.  The  public  school  was  continued  under  the  direc- 
tion of  Ignatius  Thompson. 

Two  public  organizations  which  date  from  this  period,  and 
which  merit  notice,  embraced,  it  is  true,  a  much  wider  field  than 
the  town  whose  history  I  narrate,  and  were  sustained  by  other 
than  the  people  of  Utica  only.  Still,  as  this  village  was  the 
starting  point  and  centre  of  operations  of  these  societies,  and  as 
their  working  officers  were  of  its  inhabitants,  some  notice  of 
them  should  find  a  place  in  its  annals. 

From  the  public  prints  I  learn  tliat  on  the  19th  of  Decem- 
ber, 1817,  a  meeting  was  held  in  Utica  for  the  purpose  of  form- 
ing an  education  society.  Two  eastern  divines  of  eminence 
had  visited  the  place  in  the  course  of  a  horseback  excursion,  made 
the  previous  season,  and,  as  the  writer  is  informed,  they  were 
the  persons  who,  impressed  with  the  need  of  spiritual  laborers 
in  this  new  and  destitute  country,  had  suggested  the  formation 
of  such  an  association,  and  had  put  in  train  the  measures  which 
led  to  the  call  for  the  meeting.  These  divines  were  Rev.  Drs. 
Porter  and  Stuart  of  Andover  Theological  Seminary.  Of  the 
proceedings  of  this  first  meeting  and  of  the  participants  therein, 
no  knowledge  survives.  The  Presbyterian  Church  of  Utica 
was  now  without  a  pastor,  the  actors,  therefore,  were  probably 
members  of  this  and  the  other  congregations,  in  cooperation 
with  ministers  of  other  churches  in  the  vicinity.  The  next  in- 
formation to  be  found  of  this  undertaking  is  contained  in  the 
report  of  the  first  annual  meeting,  which  was  held  in  Utica,  Decem- 
ber 80,  1818.  The  constitution,  which  accompanies  the  report, 
acquaints  us  that  tlie  object  of  this — the  Western  Education  Soci- 
ety— was  to  aid  indigent  young  men  of  talents  and  piety  in  acquir- 
ing a  competent  education  for  the  Gospel  ministry.  Any  person 
might  become  a  member  of  it  by  the  payment  of  one  dollar 
aimually,  or  obtain  a  life  membership  by  paying  twenty  dollars 
at  one  time.  Additional  funds  were,  however,  expected  from 
donations  and  bequests.  It  provided  for  officers  and  prescribed 
their  duties.  The  meetings  were  to  be  held  annually;  but  the 
directors  might  meet  as  often  as  was  deemed  necessary,  for  to 
them  it  was  committed  to  superintend  the  management  of  the 
funds  and  other  property  of  the  society,  and  to  effect  to  the  ut- 


THE  THIRD  CHARTEE.  453 

most  of  their  power  the  enlargement  of  the  same ;  to  examine 
and  approve  of  candidates  for  the  benefit  of  this  charity,  and  to 
appropriate  money  for  the  snpport  of  tlie  candidates  approved 
of.  At  this  meeting,  Hon.  Jonas  Piatt  of  Whitesboro,  was 
elected  president,  and  with  him  were  associated  twentv  vice 
presidents,  prominent  and  liberal-minded  men  from  various 
parts  of  the  State,  about  one-half  of  whom  were  clerg3'men. 
The  directors  who  were  elected,  consisted  of  the  following 
ministers,  all  from  Oneida  countv,  viz :  Kev.  Henry  Davis,  A. 
S.  Norton,  P.  V.  Bogue,  Isi-ael  Brainerd,  Moses  Gillet,  Noah 
Coe,  John  Frost,  Samuel  C.  Aikin.  The  other  officers  wei'e 
Rev.  John  Frost,  corresponding  secretar}^ ;  Walter  King, 
recording  clerk ;  Arthur  Breese,  treasurer ;  Erastus  Clark, 
auditor.  The  amount  of  funds  received  during  the  year  was 
$2,028,  and  these  were  collected  from  thirteen  of  the  central 
and  western  counties  of  the  State.  The  directors  say  .that 
forty  young  men  have  applied  for  assistance,  of  whom  t,wenty- 
eight  were  received;  three  of  them  were  members  of  the  Epis- 
copal Church,  and  the  remainder  Presbyterian,  Congregational 
or  Dutch  Reformed.  They  think  it  inexpedient,  in  most  instan- 
ces, to  allow  more  than  seventy  dollars  to  each  beneficiary, 
trusting  that  his  own  exertions  as  a  teacher  will  supplj^  him 
with  such  additional  funds  as  may  be  required.  An  address 
to  the  Christian  public  followed  the  report,  containing  an 
earnest  appeal  for  pecuniary  aid,  based  on  the  destitute  condi- 
tion of  the  whole  country,  in  respect  to  means  of  religious 
instruction  from  the  pulpit,  and  the  decreasing  number  of  min- 
isters when  compared  with  the  increase  of  population,  both  of 
these  positions  being  illustrated  by  abundant  statistical  state- 
ment. 

The  second  annual  meeting  of  this  society  was  held  in  Utica, 
December  29,  1819,  and  the  same  officers  were  re-appointed 
with  one  single  change  in  the  list  of  vice  presidents.  The 
directors  regret  to  announce  the  smallness  of  the  receipts,  due 
no  doubt,  as  they  declare,  to  the  scarcity  of  money  then  gene- 
rally felt.  These  receipts  amounted  to  $1,917.  In  consequence 
of  deficiency  of  means  they  were  under  the  necessity  of  turn- 
ing off  some  worthy  applicants,  nor  did  they  grant  as  much 
aid  to  those  to  whom  they  did  give  as,  in  the  judgment  of  the 
directors,   these   recipients  ought  to  have   had.     Tliey  regret 


454  THE  PIONEERS  OF  UTICA. 

also  the  failure  of  their  apphcation  for  an  act  of  incorporation. 
Arrangements  were  made  for  another  meeting  in  December  of 
the  ensuing  year.  The  first  subsequent  meeting,  of  whicli  the 
writer  has  seen  any  report,  was  holden  in  Utica,  December  23, 
1823,  it  being  the  sixth  anniversary.  Thomas  R.  Gold  of 
Whitesboro,  was  now  elected  president ;  Rev.  John  Frost,  cor- 
responding secretary  ;  Alexander  Seymour,  recording  clerk ; 
John  Bradish,  treasurer,  and  Erastus  Clark,  auditor;  a  few 
changes  also  taking  place  among  the  vice  presidents  and  direc- 
tors. These  directors  report  that  the  prospects  of  the  society 
are  peculiarly  interesting.  The  experience  of  six  years  had 
convinced  them  more  fully  of  the  importance  of  the  institu- 
tion, and  of  the  wisdom  of  the  plan  upon  which  it  was  sup- 
ported. Their  leading  object  the  preceding  year  had  been  to 
purchase  a  few  acres  of  land,  and  to  erect  a  suitable  house  for 
boarding  their  beneficiaries.  Upon  this  land  it  was  expected 
that  these  boarders  would  work  during  the  hours  usually  devo- 
ted by  students  to  physical  recreation.  They  so  far  succeeded 
in  accomplishing  their  object  that  fifteen  acres  of  land  were 
purchased,  and  a  house  erected  of  sufficient  dimensions  to 
accommodate  fifty  young  men  with  board.  The  house,  with 
four  acres  of  land  adjoining,  was  situated  about  seventy  rods 
north  of  Hamilton  College,  the  remaining  eleven  acres  being 
about. a  quarter  of  a  mile  north  of  the  boarding  house.  The 
efiicient  agent  who  superintended  the  erection  of  the  building 
and  the  management  of  this  charity  was  Rev.  James  Eells,  of 
Westmoreland,  who  was  at  this  time  one  of  the  directors.  The 
directors  report  twenty  four  beneficiaries  under  their  care,  and 
twenty  as  having  been  helped  during  the  year.  The  receipts 
were,  in  cash  $1,029,  and  in  lumber,  provisions,  &c.,  $2,212,  as 
estimated  by  the  givers.  The  house  was  still  unfinished,  and 
to  complete  it  and  provide  for  the  support  of  the  occupants, 
would  require  it  was  believed,  about  three  thousand  dollars  for 
the  ensuing  year. 

The  writer  has  obtained  an  account  of  one  more  anniversary 
meeting  only.  It  was  held  at  Clinton,  on  the  28th  of  Decem- 
ber, 1825.  The  officers  elected  were  substantially  the  same, 
a  few  changes  only  having  been  made.  The  number  of  young 
men  assisted  during  the  year  was  twenty-eight,  the  number 
then  in  the  establishment  twenty  four.     Since  the  organization 


THE  THIRD  CHARTER.  455 

of  the  society  it  had  aided  thirtj-foui-,  who  had  completed  their 
classical  education,  of  whom  seven  had  also  completed  their 
theological  course.  Donations  in  cash  had  been  $488,82  in 
provisions  $1,235.87,  making  a  total  of  $1,719.69.  Besides 
these  the  society  had  received  $167,42  for  boarding  beneficia- 
ries of  the  American  Education  Society.  The  directors  felt 
bound  to  express  their  particular  obligations, — as  they  had  like- 
wise done  in  a  previous  yearly  report — to  those  benevolent 
females  who  had  by  their  donations  rendered  aid  to  the  funds 
of  the  society.  The  indebtedness  of  the  association  was  now 
$1,764.95.  On  the  whole  the  directors  thought,  however,  that 
the  society  was  placed  on  such  a  foundati(jn  as  to  afford  every 
reasonable  prospect  of  its  permanence ;  and  that  when  the 
remaining  debts,  contracted  in  the  establishment  of  the  board- 
ing house,  should  be  liquidated,  the  charities  of  the  Christian 
public  would  enable  the  society  to  increase  the  number  of  its 
beneficiaries,  and  do  much  more  than  it  had  already  done 
towards  the  great  object  of  extending  the  knowledge  of  the 
Gospel  in  our  own  and  other  lands.  A  few  years  longer  the 
society  continued  its  useful  career,  but  not  many  particulars 
have  I  been  able  to  gather.  In  1829  it  had  given  up  the  board- 
ing house,  which  soon  after  was  bought  for  his  residence  by 
President  Davis,  and  is  now  the  home  of  Ex-President  North. 
A  word  or  two  as  to  the  general  character  of  the  society  will 
conclude  our  notice  of  it.  The  object  of  the  Western  Educa- 
tion Society,  at  the  time  of  its  institution,  was  to  be  the  same, 
as  to  its  liberal  character,  as  that  of  the  American  Education 
Society,  viz:  to  receive  young  men  of  piety,  talents  and  indi- 
gence, on  equal  grounds  and  to  grant  them  equal  privileges,  to 
whatever  denomination  of  Christians  they  might  belong ;  and 
it  uniformly  maintained  this  character.  The  fact  that  its  con- 
cerns were  chiefly  directed  by  Presbyterians  and  Congregation- 
alists  was  owing  entirely  to  this  consideration,  that  but  few 
comparatively  of  other  denominations  were  disposed  to  unite 
in  its  support.  Soon  after  its  organization  several  other  socie- 
ties were  formed,  for  a  similar  purpose,  which  were  exclusively 
sectarian  in  their  nature.  In  consequence  of  this  fact,  the  fol- 
lowing resolution  was  adopted  by  the  society  at  its  third  annual 
meeting,  viz :  "  Whereas^  Since  the  formation  of  the  Western 
Education  Society,  other  education  societies  have  been  estab- 


456  THE  PIONEERS  OF  UTICA. 

lished  by  different  denominations  of  Christians, — therefore  Re- 
solved, That  all  persons  who  have  sul)scribed  to  the  funds  of 
this  society,  with  the  exception  of  Presbyterians  and  Congre- 
gationalists,  be  absolved  from  their  subscriptions  by  paying  the 
sums  by  them  subscribed  and  to  become  due,  into  a  society  for 
the  like  ]3urpose  of  their  own  sect."  Acting  in  this  generous 
spirit,  the  vSociety  supported  beneficiaries  of  the  Presbyterian, 
Episcopal,  Congregational  and  Baptist  Churches.  These  received 
no  religious  instruction,  thev  were  assisted  only  in  obtaining 
their  collegiate  course. 

On  the  17th  of  October,  1817,  the  following  gentlemen  met 
at  Bagg's  tavern,  as  a  committee  to  arrange  for  the  formation  of 
a  County  Agricultural  Society,  viz :  Benjamin  Walker,  Morris 
S.  Miller,  Alexander  Coventry  of  Utica,  Thomas  R.  Gold  of 
Whitesboro,  Joel  Bristol  of  Clinton  and  Samuel  Dyer  of  Deer- 
field.  The  three  first  named  were  requested  to  draft  a  consti- 
tution, and  a  sketch  of  one  was  thereupon  submitted  by  Dr. 
Coventry.  The  committee  met  again  in  February  following, 
when  the  form  previously  offered,  after  having  been  remoulded 
and  curtailed  by  Judge  Miller,  was  approved.  On  the  follow- 
ing day,  February  14,  1818,  in  pursuance  of  a  published  call, 
a  meeting  was  convened  at  Whitesboro,  at  which  Judge  Dean 
of  Westmoreland,  was  chairman,  and  Dr.  Sewall  Hopkins  of 
Clinton,  secretary,  when,  after  being  addressed  by  Messrs.  Gold, 
Miller  and  Fortune  C.  White,  and  after  the  constitution  had 
been  adopted  and  signed  by  twenty  five  persons,  the  assembly 
proceeded  to  the  election  of  officers.  These  first  officers  were 
Colonel  Gerrit  G.  Lansing,  president ;  George  Brayton  of  West- 
ern and  Joel  Bristol  of  Clinton,  vice  presidents;  Alexander 
Coventry,  corresponding,  and  Thomas  Goodsell,  recording  sec- 
retaries ;  and  Fortune  C.  White,  treasurer.  Three  days  later 
these  officers  met  at  Bagg's  and  appointed  a  council,  consisting 
of  George  Huntington  of  Eome,  Samuel  Dyer  of  Deerfield,  John 
Townshend  of  Westmoreland,  Thomas  H.  Hamilton  of  Steuben, 

Smith  of  Vern(Mi,  and Smith  of  Paris.     On  the 

28th  of  September,  the  society  held  its  semi-annual  meeting, 
reelected,  without  material  change,  its  former  officers,  and  list- 
ened to  an  address  by  Dr.  Coventry.  And,  on  the  10th  of  Octo- 
ber, it  held   its  first  annual  exhibition.      This   took  place  at 


THE  THIRD  CHARTER.  457 

Whitesboro,  was  creditable  in  its  show  of  animals  and  of 
domestic  manufactures,  and  was  numerously  attended.  A  pro- 
cession, headed  by  the  officers,  President  Davis  of  Hamilton 
College  being  on  the  right  of  the  society's  president,  marched  to 
the  church,  where  the  following  exercises  were  observed : 
Prayer  by  Kev.  Mr,  Frost,  singing  of  an  ode,  the  president's 
address,  announcement  of  premiums,  another  ode,  prayer  by 
Rev.  Elon  Galusha;  and  this  was  followed  by  remarks  from 
Elkanah  Watson,  a  well  known  agriculturist,  who  was  present 
as  a  guest.  The  premiums  given  were  seventeen  in  all.  The 
yield  of  corn  reported  by  Thomas  Hulbert  of  Westmoreland, 
was  one  hundred  and  four  bushels  and  eleven  quarts  from  a 
single  acre.  This  product  was  so  extraordinary,  that  several 
farmers  in  Albany  county  and  on  Long  Island,  a])plied  to  Gov- 
ernor De  Witt  Clinton  for  information  as  to  the  mode  of  culture. 
The  Governor  wrote  to  Dr.  Coventry,  the  seci'etary  of  the  soci- 
ety, for  particulars.  The  reply  of  Dr.  Coventry  includes  a 
lengthy  statement  of  Mr.  Hulbert.  This  correspondence  was 
published  in  the  Albany  Argus,  from  which  it  was  copied  into 
nearly  all  the  newspapers  of  the  country.  In  the  evening  fol- 
lowing the  exhibition,  there  was  a  splendid  ball,  attended  by 
ninety  ladies  and  nearly  the  same  number  of  gentlemen. 

Tlie  societ}^,  thus  happily  inaugurated,  continued  to  meet  from 
time  to  time  for  the  transaction  of  business  and  to  hold  its  an- 
nual exhibitions.  At  the  one  held  on  the  5th  and  6th  of  Octo- 
ber, 1819,  there  were  a  number  of  fine  cattle,  some  excessively 
large,  fat  swine,  and  beautiful  horses  and  colts.  There  was 
also  a  ploughing  match,  at  which  Henry  Burden  of  Utica  and 
afterwards  of  Tro}',  distinguished  for  his  inventions,  carried  off 
the  premium  for  the  superiority  of  his  plough.  At  that  of  1820, 
besides  the  animals,  the  flannels  and  carpeting  were  much  com- 
mended. Mr.  Burden's  plough  again  did  the  best.  The  show 
of  1S21  was  attended  by  four  thousand  people;  there  was  more 
than  double  the  number  of  cattle  m  the  pens ;  one  yoke  meas- 
ured eight  feet,  six  inches  in  girth  :  a  hog  weighed  nine  hundred 
weight ;  the  horses  were  much  improved,  and  among  the  domes- 
tic goods  there  were  many  first  rate  articles.  There  was  an  ex- 
hibition in  1822,  and  another  in  1823.  At  the  latter  there 
were  shown  very  fine  cattle,  of  better  shape  and  as  numerous 
as  at  any  former  exhibition.     The  sheep  and  hogs  were  also 


458  THE   PIONEERS  OF  UTICA. 

declared    to   fce    improvements    on   those    previously    shown 
The  cattle  of  1825,  the  same  informant  assures  us,  were  better 

still. 

Toward  the  end  of  the  year  1817,  the  Presbyterian  Church 
was  deprived  of  its  pastor  by  the  ill-health  and  consequent  resig- 
nation of  Rev.  Mr.  Dwight.  The  church  and  congregation  ex- 
tended a  call  to  Rev.  Samuel  C.  Aikin,  who  came  and  was  set- 
tled over  them.  Mr.  Aikin  was  born  at  Windham,  Vermont, 
September  29,  1791 ;  was  graduated  at  Middlebury  University 
in  1814,  and  entering  Andover  Seminary,  completed  his  theo- 
logical course  in  1817.  While  at  Andover,  he  did  not  excel  as 
a  classical  scholar,  but  gave  much  attention  to  helles  lettres  and 
to  sermonizing,  and  was  reckoned  as  good  a  writer  as  any  in 
the  large  class  with  which  he  was  connected.  He  was,  it  is  said, 
an  especial  favoi-ite  of  Professor  Moses  Stuart.  After  his  grad- 
uation, he  was  employed  a  few  months  in  missionary  work  in 
the  City  of  New  York,  under  the  auspices  of  the  Female  Moral 
Reform  Society,  and  came  thence  to  Utica.  His  ordination  and 
installation  took  place  on  the  4th  of  February,  1818.  The  ser- 
mon was  preached  by  Rev.  Hezekiah  N.  Woodruit"  of  Herkimer, 
the  charge  was  given  by  Rev.  Noah  Coe  of  New  Hartford,  that 
to  the  church  by  Rev.  Eli  F.  Cooley  of  Cherry  Valley,  and  the 
hand  of  fellowship  was  extended  by  Rev.  John  Frost.  The  salary 
allowed  him  was  one  thousand  dollars,  which  was  to  be  raised 
by  annual  subscriptions  made  by  members  of  the  congregation. 
The  same  year  the  new  pastor  was  married  to  Miss  Delia,  daugh- 
ter of  Ira  Day  of  Catskill. 

As  a  preacher  Mi*.  Aikin  at  once  became  popular.  He  was 
in  person  commanding  and  dignified,  his  voice  was  sonorous 
and  pleasing,  and  like  his  gesticulation,  had  been  skillfully  cul- 
tivated; and  to  these  qualities  he  added  clearness  and  finish  of 
diction,  an  engaging  address,  and  an  earnestness  which  rose  at 
times  into  eloquence.  His  thoughts  were  arranged  with  care, 
and  it  was  easy  to  carry  home  the  heads  of  his  discourses.  Like 
many  other  preachers,  he  was  not  uniform.  Not  always  did  he 
find  time  to  write  out  his  sermons  completely,  and  it  frequently 
happened  that,  having  prepared  a  copious  outline,  he  trusted 
for  the  filling  in  to  extemporaneous  fervor.  .His  occasional  dis- 
courses, written  for  special  occasions,  were  marked  by  careful 


THE  THIRD  CHARTER,  459 

workmanship  and  happy  adaptation.  Several  of  them  were 
printed,  and  well  merit  perusal.  One  of  these  special  occasions 
presented  itself  at  the  celebration  of  the  completion  of  the  Erie 
Canal,  when  Governor  De  Witt  Clinton  and  other  distinguished 
persons  were  among  his  hearers.  The  heads  of  the  government 
with  many  attendant  dignitaries  had  set  out,  in  a  flotilla  of  boats, 
from  Lake  Erie,  and  were  expected  to  reach  Utica  by  Saturday 
night.  Arriving  at  noon  of  Sunday,  they  attended  service  at  the 
Presbyterian  Church  in  the  afternoon.  The  text  of  Mr.  Aikin's 
sermon  was  this:  "  God  is  good."  He  was  then  in  the  vigor  of 
manhood,  and  in  the  possession  of  his  best  powers.  Those  who 
were  so  fortunate  as  to  hear  that  sermon,  says  one  who  was 
present,  have  not  forgotten  the  fine  elaboration  of  its  theme, 
and  its  eloquent  application  to  the  hour;  nor  the  felicitous  style 
in  which  the  preacher  congratulated  his  illustrious  auditor  on 
the  propitious  ending  of  the  great  work  of  his  life  and  of  that 
era.  Out  of  the  pulpit,  Mr.  Aikin  was  genial  and  affable,  and 
he  exerted  much  influence  in  the  community,  as  a  neighbor  and 
a  gentleman.  He  was  a  good  pastor,  and  took  pleasure  in  re- 
ceiving visitors  at  his  house,  although  with  the  poor  of  his  own 
congregation  and  of  the  town,  he  was  not  as  conversant  as  he 
used  to  wish  he  might  be.  He  was,  however,  much  hampered 
in  his  pulpit  as  well  as  in  his  pastoral  duties  by  the  illness  of  his 
wife.  She  was  subject  to  attacks  of  mental  aberration,  from 
which  the  only  relief  she  could  obtain  was  afl:"orded  her  by  trav- 
elling. In  these  excursions  her  husband  was  accustomed  to 
attend  her,  leaving  his  house  in  the  care  of  his  sister  Margaret, 
who  in  domestic  affairs  was  his  principal  dependence.  These 
frequent  absences  were,  during  a  portion  of  his  pastorate,  a 
great  detriment  to  his  usefulness.  It  has  happened  that,  going 
off  in  haste,  his  place  was  filled  for  a  month  at  a  time  by  tem- 
porary supplies.  That  his  ministrations  were,  howevei-,  not 
only  acceptable  but  fraught  with  good,  we  may  judge  by  the 
fact  that  within  little  more  than  a  year  after  they  were  begun,  the 
church  was  blessed  with  a  fruitful  revival,  and  one  hundred 
and  thirteen  persons  were  added  to  its  communion.  In  1821, 
a  session  or  conference  room  for  the  use  of  the  society  was 
erected  on  Hotel  street,  which  was  used  also  by  the  Sunday 
school.  It  was  enlarged  four  years  later  by  the  addition  of  a 
second  story  at  the  expense  of  the  Sunday  school.     The  church 


460  THE  PIONEERS  OF  UTICA. 

was  not  furnished  with  an  organ  until   1824,  and  this,  when 
procured,  was  placed  in  the  south  gallery. 

In  the  latter  part  of  the  year  1828,  the  congregation  having 
become  so  large  that  all  the  seats  below  and  many  in  the  gal- 
lery were  taken  up,  and  the  cares  of  the  minister  being  deemed 
too  onerous  for  him  to  bear  alone,  it  was  determined  to  appoint 
him  an  assistant,  who,  if  thought  advisable,  should  organize  a 
new  society.  Rev. Linsley,  who  was  first  invited,  preach- 
ed for  a  short  time  with  much  favor,  but  soon  accepted  an  invi- 
tation to  a  church  in  Hartford  Conn.  Rev.  S.  W.  Brace,  a 
cotemporary  with  Mr.  Aikin  in  the  seminary  at  Andover,  but 
then  settled  in  Phelps,  Ontario  county,  was  called  with  the 
same  purpose.  He  arrived  in  February  1824.  For  a  time  he 
preached  alternately  with  the  I'egular  pastor,  and  next  in  the 
session  room  of  the  church  on  Hotel  street.  Here  a  new  soci- 
ety was  formed  May  6,  1824.  It  soon  took  steps  toward  erec- 
ting an  edifice,  and  in  the  following  spring  the  construction  was 
begun.  A  few  months  later,  it  was  proposed  by  Mr.  Aikin's 
people,  to  build  also  a  new  church,  for  the  use  of  his  congrega- 
tion. And  the  following  are  the  reasons  for  it  set  forth  in  the 
resolution  of  the  trustees,  passed  January  12,  1826.  "The 
church  of  the  First  Utica  Presbyterian  Society  being  found  too 
small  for  the  accommodation  of  the  congregation,  and  so  con- 
structed as  to  place  a  large  portion  of  the  hearers  on  the  side 
of  the  pulpit,  rendering  it  very  difficult  for  the  speaker  to  be 
heard  in  the  remote  parts  of  the  house  without  great  labor  and 
efiiort;  and  the  present  mode  of  raising  a  salary,  by  subscrip- 
tion, for  the  support  of  the  minister,  being  inadequate,  precari- 
ous and  highly  inconvenient,  owing  to  the  constant  change  of 
the  members  of  the  congregation ;  and  it  being  desirable  to 
provide  for  the  permanent  support  of  a  minister  and  the  con- 
tingent expenses  of  the  house,  and  for  the  accommodation  of 
those  of  the  congregation  who  have  no  pews,  who  are  more 
than  one  half  of  the  whole  number  of  subscribers,  and  for 
such  as  would  join  the  society  if  seats  could  be  piocured, —  it 
is  deemed  expedient  to  build  anew  church,  &c."  These  rea- 
sons were  doubtless  enforced  by  the  strong  desire  of  many  of 
the  congregation  that  theirs  should  maintain  its  position  as  the 
First  Church,  since  when  Mr.  Brace's  church  was  completed 
the  want  of  room  would   no  longer  be  so  urgently  felt,  and 


THE  THIRD  CHAKTER.  461 

there  would  then  be  sittings  enough  for  all  the  Presbyterians 
in  the  place.  The  proposal  to  build,  and  to  build  a  large  and 
handsome  church,  received  general  concurrence.  Liberal  sub- 
scriptions were  made,  and  a  large  number  of  pews  were  sold 
while  the  building  was  yet  in  contemplation,  the  amount  of  two 
thousand  dollars  being  assessed  on  these  pews.  In  the  summer 
of  1826,  a  plan  having  been  furnished  by  Philip  Hooker  of 
Albany,  the  architect  of  Trinity,  the  foundations  of  the  new 
edifice  were  laid,  twelve  feet  north  from  the  old  one.  Messrs. 
Tliomas  Walker,  John  Bradish  and  Samuel  Stocking  were  the 
building  committee,  and  John  Culver  took  the  contract  and 
superintended  the  work;  on  the  8th  of  November,  1827,  the 
new  building  having  been  completed,  it  was  formally  dedicated. 
It  was  a  substantial  brick  structure,  surmounting  a  basement 
of  stone.  In  dimensions  it  was  seventy- two  feet  by  one  hun- 
dred and  six,  and  had  a  steeple  two  hundred  and  eight  feet  in 
height.  The  basement  contained  a  session  room  for  evening 
meetings,  and  two  large  rooms  for  the  male  and  female  depart- 
ments of  the  Sunday  school.  The  auditorium  was  roomy, 
well-lighted  and  conveniently  seated,  and  over  the  pulpit  was 
an  organ  fifteen  feet  by  ten  in  superficial  dimension,  and  six 
feet  deep,  and  having  twelve  stops.  For  many  years  this  fine 
Ionic  edifice  surpassed  in  magnitude  and  convenience  any 
chui'ch  structure  in  Central  and  Western  New  York ;  it  was 
the  pride  of  the  village,  and,  with  its  ambitious  steeple,  a  land- 
mark the  most  conspicuous  of  any  in  the  vicinity.  To  multi- 
tudes the  remembrance  of  it  is  replete  with  varied  and  inter- 
esting associations.  "  The  old  church  was  neither  torn  down 
nor  burned  up ;  it  was  dismembered.  The  larger  part  of  it 
went  over  the  canal  and  rested  at  the  corner  of  Fayette  and 
Washington  streets,  where  it  has  been  known  for  many  years 
as  the  Mansion  House.  Another  part  found  its  way  down  into 
Whitesboro  street,  where  it  took  the  nature  of  a  double  tene 
ment  house,  distinguishable  to  this  day  from  all  of  its  neigh- 
bors by  high-shouldered  walls  and  thinness  of  flank.  While 
the  lower  part  of  the  tower  makes  the  front  part  of  a  modest 
dwelling  on  Water  street,  which  has  for  a  front  entrance  the 
identical  double  doors  that  first  swung  open  on  dedication  day, 
and  finally  closed  on  the  church  when  its" congregation  had  no 
further  need  of  it." 


462  THE  PIONEERS  OF  UTICA. 

The  most  notable  chapter  in  the  history  of  the  Presbyterian 
Church  while  it  was  under  the  ministry  of  Mr.  Aikiu,  relates 
to  the  visit  of  Eev.  Charles  Gr.  Finney.  This  occurred  early 
in  1826,  wlien  the  congregation  were  still  worshipping  in  the 
old  building.  I  cannot  give  a  better  idea  of  the  character 
of  Mr.  Finney's  preaching  and  of  the  effects  which  attended  it 
than  by  an  extract  from  an  address  delivered  at  the  Sunday 
school  jubilee  in  1866,  by  Thomas  W.  Seward,  a  source  from 
whicli  I  have  already  borrowed  in  the  preparation  of  this  notice  : 
*'  The  village  of  Rome  had  been  the  scene  of  his  labors  for 
months  previous.  We  soon  beheld  the  same  results  which 
uniformly  followed  the  preaching  of  this  great  disturber,  alike  of 
religious  tranquility  and  of  consciences  torpid  through  indiffer- 
ence, or  hardened  b}^  transgression.  Mr.  Finnej^'s  acknowl- 
edged intellectual  force,  attracted,  no  doubt,  many  of  our  citi- 
zens, who,  at  that  time  of  religious  interest  would  hardly  have 
listened  to  a  less  gifted  expounder  of  the  Divine  law.  His 
exposition  of  that  law  was  original  and  bold.  Its  novel  char- 
acter, and  its  extraordinary  fruits,  soon  became  the  universal 
themes  either  of  admiration  or  criticism.  For  months  the 
revival  eclipsed  all  other  interests.  In  no  other  season  of  relig- 
ious inquiry  was  a  whole  community  known  to  have  been  so 
entirely  absorbed  in  the  great  pursuit;  and  in  no  other  season 
of  religious  inquiry  was  there  probably  less  of  that  peculiar 
tenderness  and  hopefulness  of  spirit  which  usually  predomi- 
nate. As  I  have  already  hinted,  Mr.  Finney's  treatment  of 
religious  quietude  was  as  merciless  as  his  dealing  with  the  wicked 
conscience.  In  the  religious  world  he  may  be  said  to  have 
inaugurated  a  brief  reign  of  terror.  He  was  chary,  rather  than 
prodigal  of  sermons ;  pi'eaching  only  in  the  afternoon  or  even- 
ing of  Sundays.  In  this  i-espect,  lie  practiced  a  wise  reserve 
which  undoubtedly  told  upon  tlie  general  work  oC  reform  with 
great  effect.  The  scene  in  the  crowded  church  upon  these 
occasions  was  solemn  beyond  description.  No  unworthy  acces- 
sories to  heighten  the  interest,  or  deepen  the  solemnity,  were 
ever  employed.  Beyond  some  unaffected,  yet  striking  pecu- 
liarities of  voice  and  manner  in  the  speaker,  there  was  nothing 
to  attract  curiosity,  or  offend  even  the  most  fastidious  or  carp- 
ing sense  of  propriety.  It  is  an  inadequate  tribute  of  praise,  to 
say  of  his  preaching  that,  whether  it  was  distinguished  most  for 


THE  THIRD  CHARTER.  463 

intellectual  subtlety,  stormj^  denunciation  of  sin,  or  fearful  por- 
trayal of  the  wrath  to  come,  it  had  its  reward  in  unwonted  ac- 
cessions to  the  Christian  ranks,  and  renewed  vigor  of  religious 
life."  The  religious  interest  which  prevailed  throughout  the 
year,  chiefly  in  connection  with  the  labors  of  Mr.  Finney,  was 
by  no  means  confined  to  Utica.  It  pervaded  nearly  all  parts 
of  the  county,  and  was  strongly  felt  in  many  places  vy^hich  he 
did  not  visit.  So  much  was  said  about  it,  both  at  home  and 
abroad,  and  so  many  false  reports  w^ere  circulated  in  reference 
to  it,  that  the  Presbytery  of  Oneida  felt  called  upon  to  issue  a 
narrative  of  the  revival,  made  up  chiefly  of  reports  fi'om  the 
different  ministers  who  witnessed  its  progress.  The  committee 
w-ho  pubhshed  the  narrative  admit  that  the  efforts  of  Mr.  Fin- 
ney and  other  evangelists  were  a  very  obvious  and  efficient 
means  of  originating  and  carrying  forw^ard  the  work.  Yet  they 
enumerate  other  means  which  were  put  in  practice  in  all  the 
churches,  and  which  concurred  in  promoting  the  revival.  These 
means,  consisting  of  fasting  and  prayer,  plain  preaching  in  their 
respective  pulpits,  of  the  whole  truth  of  the  Bible,  and  diligent 
instruction  therein  in  the  Sabbath  school  and  the  Bible  class 
visiting  from  house  to  house,  and  meetings  of  inquiry,  were 
substantially  the  same  as  those  employed  by  Whitfield,  Edwards 
and  Brainard,  and  as  are  employed  by  Moodey  and  Sankey  at 
the  present  day.  The  solemnity  in  some  of  the  towns  of  the 
county  began  several  months  before  the  appearance  of  Mr.  Fin- 
ney. In  Utica  it  began  some  weeks  before  the  first  of  January 
while  he  was  still  in  Rome.  Mr.  Aikin  visited  that  place  while 
Mr.  Finney  was  laboring  there,  in  order  to  judge  for  himself  of 
the  character  of  the  work  and  of  the  propriety  of  admitting  him 
into  his  pulpit.  He  was  "  not  at  once  attracted  by  the  unique 
and,  to  cultivated  eyes  and  ears,  rather  repulsive  manners 
of  this  agitating  preacher."  He  hesitated,  it  is  said,  and  only 
yielded  in  compliance  with  the  influence  that  was  exerted  in 
favor  of  his  reception.  Havang,  however,  once  admitted  him, 
and  becoming  convinced  that  his  doctrines  were  sound,  and  his 
labors  manifestly  attended  with  divine  power,  he  cooperated 
cordially  wnth  him,  both  in  preaching  and  in  his  other  labors. 
"The  Church  in  Oneida  county,  he  has  since  said,  needed  just 
such  a  plough-share  as  Mr.  Finney  to  break  up  its  fallow  ground. 
Evil  was  done,  but  the  good  overbalanced  it."     The  probable 


464-  THE  PIONEERS  OF  UTICA. 

number  of  converts  in  Utica  was  about  live  hundred;  in  the- 
county  at  lai'ge  they  were  reckoned  at  more  than  three  thou- 
sand. Throughout  the  period  of  the  revival  there  were  differ- 
ences of  opinion  in  the  congregation  of  Mr.  Aikin  respecting 
the  character  of  Mr.  Finney,  and  the  influence  of  his  labors. 
These  differences  continued  some  time  afterward,  and  tended 
to  mar  the  harmonious  relations  of  pastor  and  people.  To  this 
source  of  disagreement  there  were  added  the  questions  of  Sunday 
mails  and  anti-slavery,  on  both  of  which  Mr.  Aikin  was  in  ad- 
vance of  the  sentiment  then  generally  prevailing.  None  of  these 
questions  caused,  however,  any  thing  like  an  open  rupture,  nor 
deprived  him  of  the  respect  and  affection  which  his  congrega- 
tion had  always  cherished  toward  him.  When,  therefore,  he 
decided  to  accept  a  call  to  the  Presbyterian  Church  of  Cleve- 
land, Ohio,  which  was  pi'ompted  by  the  advice  of  two  or  three 
of  his  former  members,  who  had  removed  there,  and  which  was 
now  pressingly  urged  upon  liim,  his  decision  was  received  by 
his  people  with  profound  regret.  He. left  them  in  May  1835.  In 
Cleveland  he  sustained  himself  with  much  credit  for  many  years, 
and  until  the  infirmities  of  age  forced  him  to  withdraw  from 
ministerial  duty.  There  he  still  lives,  though  much  broken  in 
strength,  both  of  body  and  mind.  The  degree  of  D.  D.  he  re- 
ceived after  his  removal  fi-om  Utica.  Mr.  Aikin's  first  wife, 
and  the  mother  of  his  three  children,  died  in  1835.  He  next 
married  her  sister,  Henrietta  Day.  The  children  were  Charles- 
G.,  now  living  in  Cleveland  ;  James  Carnahan,  who  died  at  sea 
many  years  since ;  and  Mrs.  E.  G.  Day.  of  Cleveland. 

We  come  next  to  the  life  of  a  leading  and  much  trusted  phy- 
sician, an  independent  and  peculiar  man,  respected  by  all,  famil- 
iarly known  to  but  few,  whose  long  career  of  professional  service 
runs  coternporaneous  with  the  chief  events  of  the  place,  and 
unites  a  generation  now  dead  with  the  actors  of  the  present. 
Dr.  John  McCall  was  born  in  the  town  of  Hebron,  Washington 
county,  N.  Y.,  on  tiie  25th  of  December,  1787.  His  father  and 
mother  emigrated  from  Scotland,  and  commenced  tlicir  married 
life  upon  a  new  farm  in  Hebron.  The  son  worked  upon  the 
farm  until  he  was  twenty  ^-ears  of  age,  his  sole  elementar}^  edu- 
cation being  gotten  during  three  or  four  winters'  attendance  at 
a  common  school.     Having  made  up  his  mind  to  study  medi- 


THE  THIRD  CHARTER.  465 

cine,  he  went  to  New  York  in  the  fall  of  1809  and  attended  the 
lectures  of  the  medical  faculty  of  Columbia  College.  After  reap- 
ing the  advantages  of  two  courses  from  Drs.  Post,  Stringham, 
Mitchell,  Edward  Miller  and  others,  he  was,  for  four  months, 
the  private  pupil  of  the  distinguished  surgeon,  Valentine  Mott. 
Upon  his  recommendation  chiefly,  the  doctor  obtained  the  ap- 
pointment of  assistant  surgeon  in  the  army,  and  was,  in  May 
1812,  assigned  to  duty  in  the  13th  Regiment  of  infantry.  In 
September  of  that  year  he  was  with  the  regiment  when  they 
marched  through  Utica  on  their  way  to  Sacketts  Harbor.  He 
was  present  at  the  battle  of  Queenston,  and  dressed  the  wounds 
of  Captain,  afterwards  General,  John  E.  AVool.  Subsequently 
and  when  he  had  been  promoted  to  the  rank  of  surgeon,  he  was 
at  the  capture  of  Fort  Greorge,  and,  under  General  Wilkinson, 
went  down  the  lake  to  French  Mills,  where  the  army  spent 
■'  the  Valley  Forge  winter,"  of  1814.  In  July  1815,  he  left  the 
army  at  Sacketts  Harbor,  and  after  making  a  brief  visit  home,, 
returned  and  commenced  practice  in  Deerfield.  In  April  1818, 
he  formed  a  partnership  with  Dr.  Alexander  Coventry,  who  was 
living  in  Deerfield,  but  conducted  an  extensive  business  in  Utica 
also.  Dr.  McCall  came  to  the  latter  place  to  reside.  The  part- 
nership continued  about  five  years.  Some  3'ears  later,  after  the- 
death  of  the  elder  Dr.  Coventry,  it  was  succeeded  by  a  longer 
one  with  his  son.  Dr.  Charles  B.  Coventry.  Still  later,  he  was 
alone  in  practice,  and  thus  he  remained  until  disabled  by  illness, 
some  two  years  before  his  death,  which  latter  event  occurred 
October  5,  1867.  During  all  this  period  of  nearly  fifty  years 
he  remained  in  constant  employment  at  Utica,  rarely  absent- 
ing himself,  and  that  mostly  to  attend  some  medical  meeting. 

In  his  practice,  Dr.  McCall  was  strictly  conservative,  relying 
more  on  careful  nursing  and  the  reparatory  efforts  of  nature 
than  on  the  effects  of  medicine.  Not  only  towards  mercury, 
which  was  his  especial  abhorrence,  toward  bleeding  and  the 
other  heroic  means  once  so  much  in  vogue,  was  he  decidedly 
averse ;  but  towards  much  less  harmful  appliances  he  was  spar- 
ing of  favor.  Often,  particularly  in  his  later  years,  he  seemed 
to  think  his  duty  performed  when  he  administered  some  simple 
placebo,  colored  and  flavored  to  suit  the  fullest  expectation  of 
his  patient.  As  an  illustration  of  the  influence  of  the  imagina- 
tion over  disease,  he  was  in  the  habit  of  mentioning  an  incident 
F-1 


4:Q6  THE   PIONEERS  OF  UTICA. 

wliieh  he  met  with  while  a  surgeon  in  the  arniy.  A  soldier 
was  suffei'ing  from-  fever  and  ague,  but  as  among  the  medical 
supplies  at  the  post  tliere  was  a  deficiency  of  bark,  the  remedy 
then  almost  universall}''  used,  he  ventured  to  trj'  an  experiment. 
He  directed  the  man  to  come  to  his  tent  half  an  hour  before 
the  expected  chill.  He  came,  and  to  his  sur])rise,  found  the 
doctor  with  his  surgical  instruments  spread  out  as  for  a  formid- 
able operation.  Much  preparation  was  gone  through  and  time 
expended  in  sharpening  and  arranging  the  dreaded  implements. 
The  time  dragged  on  and  was  at  length  consumed,  3^et  there 
was  no  chill.  After  sufhcient  delay,  the  patient  was  dismissed 
without  an}^  operation,  except  upon  his  fears.  But  though  so 
sparing  of  medicine,  and  so  confident  of  the  vis  medicairix  na- 
turae, Dr.  McCall  was  strenuous  both  in  his  observance  and  in 
his  advocacy  of  the  laws  of  Hygiene.  He  was  fond  of  quot- 
ing a  summary  of  the  rules  of  Boerhaave,  contained  in  the 
dictum  of  an  old  Scotch  physician, — keep  the  head  cool,  the 
feet  warm  and  the  booels  open.  For  the  virtue  of  fresh  air  he 
was  an  especial  stickler;  he  insisted  that  his  patients  should 
have  it  at  all  seasons  and  at  all  hazards,  and  ordered  bedroom 
windows  to  be  hoisted  and  doors  to  be  swung  open  in  the 
severest  of  cold.  He  had  many  admiring  and  attached  em- 
ployers w^ho  felt  the  fullest  confidence  in  his  skill,  for  they 
knew  it  to  be  based  on  careful  reading,  large  experience  and 
much  sound  sense.  He  was  faithfal  in  attendance,  watchful  as 
a  nurse,  and  ready  in  expedient ;  in  manner  wnse  and  oracu- 
lar, he  knew  how  to  magnify  his  office  and  command  respect ; 
was  cautious  in  forming  his  opinions,  and  secretive  as  to  their 
utterance.  Too  stately  or  too  arbitrary  for  general  popularity, 
he  seemed  indifferent  to  it,  and  had  not  the  art  to  win  it  if  he 
wished.  Not  that  he  was  wanting  in  a  desire  to  please,  but  his 
politeness  was  formal,  grandiose  and  excessive,  and  repelled 
many  whom  it  would  fain  conciliate.  It  was  by  reason  of  this 
stately,  and  apparently  severe  manner  that  he  had  not  always 
the  credit  for  kindness  and  benevolence  which  he  reall}^  de- 
served. His  true  feelings  were  concealed  by  pride.  And  often, 
as  has  been  said  by  one  who  was  admitted  to  his  confidence, 
his  visits  to  his  patients  w^ere  followed  by  tears  when  he  with- 
drew from  their  sick  beds  to  the  pi'ivacy  of  his  office.  He  be- 
lieved that  the   dignity  of  the  |)rofession   demanded   that  the 


THE  THIED  CHARTER.  467 

pliysician  should  receive  a  liberal  compensation  for  his  services, 
and  when  the  emplo^^er  was  able  to  pay,  liberal  bills  were  ren- 
dered :  but  the  indigent  he  was  alwaj^s  ready  to  attend  without 
gratuity.      When  the  first   epidemic  of   cholera   appeared  in 
Utica,  Dr.  McCall  was  appointed  health  officer,  and,  during  the 
whole  of  that  fearful  epidemic,  he  remained  at  his  post  in  the 
faithful  discharge  of  its  duties.     He  was  interested  in  the  eleva- 
tion and  standing  of   his  profession,   and  himself  took  rank 
among  its  leading  members  in  jSTew  York.     The  County  and 
State  Medical  Societies  conferred  upon  him  then-  highest  hon- 
ors, for  he  was  president  of  both.     He  was  also  a  fellow  of  the 
"College  of  Ph^-sicians  of  New  York.     Phrenologj',  or  cerebral 
physiology  as  he  would  call  it,  engaged  the  Doctor's  attention 
for  more  than  thirty  years,  and  to  the  doctrines  of  Gall,  Spurz- 
heim  and  Combe  he  was  a  thorough  convert.     He  had  made 
the  acquaintance  of  the  two  last  named,  while  they  were  visit- 
ing America,  and  was  in  correspondence  with  George  Combe 
for  years  after  his  return.     He  neglected  no  opportunity  of  pro- 
claiming his  belief  in  these  teachings,  adopted  the  phraseology 
of  the  science,  and  avoided  all  expressions  that  were  alien  to 
it.      Such  familiar   ones  as  "the  sentiments  of  the  heart,"  "a 
warm  hearted  person,"  &c.,  since  they  did  not  recognize  the 
brain  as  the  seat  of   the  affections,   he  scouted  as  unscientific 
and  misleading.     In  confirmation  of  the  truth  of  the  science, 
he  did  not  hesitate  to  mention  an  incident  which  reflected  upon 
a  peculiarity  of  his  own,  and  with  an  approving  smile  would 
relate  that  Mr.  Combe,  when  he  was  shown  a  cast  of  the  Doc- 
tor's head,  exclaimed  with  earnestness  "self-esteem  enormous." 
He  possessed  in  a  marked  degree  what  are  considered  the  ele- 
ments of  the  Scotch  character.    He  was  positive,  firm,  peremp- 
tory, and  unyielding  to  opposition.     The  opinions  he  held  ad- 
mitted of  small  modification,  and  his  rules  must  be  carried  out 
to  the  bitter  end.     He  was  honest  m  its  broadest  and  fullest 
sense.     He  shrank  with  disgust  and  hatred  from  every  thing 
mean  or  dishonorable,  and  despised  the  man  who  would  resort 
to  tricker}^  to  get  business,  or  "  flatter  that  favor  might  follow 
fawning."     He  never   complained  of  sickness,    misfortune  or 
evil    of    any  kind,    and    had   little    patience   with   those   who 
did  complain.     Even  in  his  last  illness  he  did  not  murmur- 
though  at  times  depressed,  he  retained  his  accustomed  self-pos- 


468  THE  PIONEERS  OF  UTICA. 

session,  and,  when  unable  to  speak,  he  would,  with  his  usual 
politeness,  motion  to  an  attendant  to  give  a  visitor  a  chair. 
While  in  the  army  he  formed  two  habits  which  he  afterwards 
came  to  consider  pernicious  and  ungentlemanly.  These  were- 
snuff-taking  and  profane  swearing.  He  abandoned  them  abso- 
lutel}^  and  forever.  In  early  life,  too,  he  was  fond  of  a  social 
glass,  but  becoming  satisfied  that  it  was  unnecessarj^,  he  gave- 
up  the  use  of  stimulants  altogether,  and  even  went  so  far  as  to 
contend  that  they  were  never  necessary  even  in  the  practice  of 
medicine.  An  attendant  of  no  church,  and  friendly  t(;  no  ortho- 
dox creed,  he  believed  that  Christianity  consisted  in  feeding 
the  hungry,  clothing  the  naked,  visiting  the  sick  and  the  afllict- 
ed,  and  in  doing  unto  others  as  we  would  that  they  should  do- 
unto  us.  And  such  Christianity  he  aimed  to  practice.  In 
1814,  while  on  leave  of  absence  from  the  army,  he  was  married 
to  his  cousin  Annie  McCall,  who  still  survives  him.  Their  two 
accomplished  children  died  not  long  after  reaching  adult  life. 
These  were  William  Wallace,  a  lawyer  of  fine  endowments; 
and  Helen  Marr  (Mrs.  Peter  Webster  of  Fort  Plain.) 

Early  in  these  sketches  was  related  the  story  of  one  who 
served  as  a  nurse  to  the  sick  among  her  fellow  citizens.     An- 
other useful  woman  of  the  same  class,  most  heroic  in  her  devo- 
tion, was  Susan  Harrington.      A  native  of  Salisbury,   Conn., 
she  removed  with  her  father's  family  to  Utica  in  her  early  child- 
hood.    When'  about  nine  years  old  she  was  wandering  about 
the  burying   ground,    and    was   attracted   by   the   grief   of  a 
mother  who  had  come  there  to  weep  over  the  graves  of  her 
children.     She  clasped  the  hand  of  the  bereaved  one.     The 
act  was  so  expressive  and  touching,  so  grateful  to  the  mourner, 
that  she  could  not  rest  until  she  had  secured  the  child  as  her 
foster-daughter.      From  this  time, — which  was  about  1804, — 
Miss  Harrington   knew  no  parents  but  Mr.   and  Mrs.   Elisha 
Spurr.     The  death  of  her  adopted  mother  devolved  upon  her, 
while  yet  a  girl,  the  care  of  a  young  family,  to  whom  she  be- 
came  more  than  a  sister,   and  who  always  regarded  her  with 
filial  gratitude  and  love.     But  the  domestic  circle  could  not 
hem  in  the  sympathies  of  her  soul ;  the  sentiments  she  had  so 
early  manifested  were  her  master  passion.     From  the  eighteenth 
to  the  last  year  of  hei*  life,  she  devoted  herself  to  ministries  to- 


THE  THIRD  CHARTER.  469 

the  sick  and  suffering;  patiently,  skillfully  and  tenderly  prose- 
cuting the  work  m  forgetfulness  of  her  own  interest  and  com- 
fort. About  1832  she  removed  to  New  York,  and  was  there 
engaged  in  the  faithful  exercise  of  her  calling,  returning  occa- 
sionally to  U tica  to  respond  to  the  necessities  of  some  one  who 
sought  her.  When  the  late  war  began  its  desolations,  although 
well  advanced  in  years,  and  needing  the  repose  which  she  had 
so  well  earned,  she  felt  it  her  duty  to  give  herself  to  the  care 
of  the  sick  soldier,  and,  with  rare  self-abnegation,  she  exchanged 
the  comforts  of  private  life  for  the  laborious  cares  of  a  hospital. 
While  engaged  in  this  labor  of  love,  her  strength  was  over- 
tasked, and  after  a  lingering  illness  she  received  her  discharge 
from  earthly  duties.  She  was  taken  sick  at  Bedlow's  Island, 
but  died  in  Utica,  November  16,  1862,  in  her  sixtj^-seventh 
year.  She  was  supported  under  her  pangs  by  the  religion  she 
had  early  professed  and  long  practiced.  Kept  in  the  unclouded 
and  undisturbed  possession  of  her  faculties,  she  feared  no  evil 
and  expired  with  the  words :  "  This  is  death.  Lord  Jesus  help 
me  in  death.''  She  was  humble,  self-sacrificing,  religious.  Her 
life  was  spent  in  doing  good,  and  her  exemplary  death  was 
worthy  of  a  blameless  and  devoted  life. 

The  Utica  Academ}^  being  now  completed,  it  was  opened, 
in  the  autumn  of  1818,  under  the  preceptorship  of  Kev. 
Samuel  T.  Mills.  He  was  a  Presbyterian  minister,  who  had 
just  been  dismissed  from  the  pastorate  of  the  church  of  On- 
ondaga Hollow,  having  before  been  settled  over  the  church 
in  Litchfield,  Herkimer  county.  He  was  well  educated,  but  of  an 
infirm  constitution,  which  impaired  his  efhciency  in  the  capacity 
of  principal  teacher.  He  afterward  rendered  some  service  as  a 
missionary,  under  the  auspices  of  the  Female  Missionary  So- 
ciety of  Oneida.  His  wife  was  daughter  of  Colonel  Gerrit  Gr. 
Lansing  of  Oriskany.  William  Sparrow,  alread}^  living  in  the 
village,  opened  a  classical  school  early  in  1819,  but  before  the 
end  of  the  year,  was  called  to  succeed  Mr.  Mills.  He  was  a 
graduate  of  an  English  or  Irish  university,  and  at  this  time  was 
studying  theology,  and  a  candidate  for  orders  in  the  Episcopal 
Church.  Eemaining  principal  of  the  academy  about  a  year,  he 
I)ecame,  subsequently,  a  divine,  and  a  professor  in  Gambler  Col- 
lege, Ohio.     Mr.  J.  Watson  Williams,  in  his  historical  address, 


470  THE    PIOXEEKS  OF  UTICA. 

tells  US  that,  while  Mr.  Sparrow  was  still  in  charge  of  his  private- 
school,  his  pupils,  who  cherished  some  rivalry  toward  the  boys 
under  Mr.  Mills'  tuition,  used  to  call  out  to  them  in  passing : 
".Ten  mills  makes  one  cent."  To  this  the  Mills  boys  would 
profanely  reply:  "Are  not  two  sparrows  sold  for  a  farthing ?' 
A  young  ladies'  school  was  at  this  time  opened  by  Montgomery 
R.  Bartlett,  which  at  once  met  with  favor  among  the  best  fami- 
lies of  the  town.  Mr.  Bartlett,  who  was  a  native  of  New  Hamp- 
shire, was,  in  some  departments,  an  accomplished  scholar,  and 
was  the  author  of  an  Astronomy,  an  edition  of  Murray's  English 
Eeader,  a  Map  of  the  Heavens,  &c.  He  was  rather  severe  in 
discipline,  and  did  not  teach  long,  but  lived  in  Utica  until 
about  1830,  his  home  being  on  Bi-oad  street,  east  of  the  Basin. 
His  school  was  on  Bleecker  street.  He  removed  to  Ohio.  A 
daughter  was  the  first  wife  of  Edward  Curran,  Another  be- 
came the  wife  of  Professor  Garth  of  Transylvania  University, 
a  third  was  Mrs.  Hastings,  and  a  fourth  remained  unmarried. 
His  son,  Horatio,  was  attached  to  the  New  York  Sim  news- 
paper. 

Theodore  Sedgwick  Gold,  son  of  Thomas  R.  Gold  of  Whites- 
boro,  after  a  school  training  under  Mr.  Halsey  of  that  place,  en- 
tered Hamilton  College,  and  was  graduated  in  1816.  Directly 
afterward  he  became  a  clerk  in  the  store  of  Jesse  W.  Doolittle, 
and  entered  into  partnership  with  him  in  1818.  Six  years  later, 
he  started  a  new  dry  goods  store  at  No.  76  Genesee,  above  the 
Ontario  Branch  Bank,  which,  some  time  afterward,  was  removed 
to  No.  62,  a  few  doors  below  the  bank.  And  here  he  remained 
until  1839.  As  a  merchant,  he  obtained  a  fair  amount  of  suc- 
cess, and  his  discretion  in  matters  of  business  made  him  a  bank 
director.  But  his  literary  tastes  drew  him  much  into  diverging 
and  more  congenial  pursuits,  and  these  gave  occupation  to  his 
time  and  pen.  He  took  interest  in  the  Utica  Library,  the  Utica 
and  the  State  Lyceums,  &c.  He  was  a  large  reader,  possessed 
a  good  degree  of  intelligence  and  refined  taste,  and  was  able  as 
a  writer.  For  two  years  or  more  he  edited  the  Oneida  Whig, 
and  proved  a  vigorous  and  entertaining  journalist,  and  a  formid- 
able adversary.  Moreover,  he  had  a  fine  person  and  an  engaging- 
address,  with  unusual  skill  as  a  talker,  and  was  influential,  Ijoth 
in  social  and  in  political  circles.     In  1837  he  was  chosen  mayor 


THE  THIRD  CHARTER.  471 

of  the  city.  For  a  short  time,  also,  he  was  a  trustee  of  Ham- 
ilton College,  as  he  was  also  of  the  Utica  Academy.  Mr.  Gold 
lived  in  the  house  on  Chancellor  square  of  late  occupied  by 
Mrs.  Daniel  Mitchell,  and  afterwards  on  the  south  side  of  Broad 
street,  two  doors  west  of  Second.  In  1859,  while  in  New  York 
City,  he  was  stricken  with  paralysis,  and  for  fourteen  years  was 
disabled  from  further  employment.  He  made  his  home  with 
his  daughter,  Mrs.  Dexter,  in  Whitesboro,  and  with  her  returned 
afterwards  to  Utica,  where  he  died,  October  22,  1863,  at  sixty- 
seven  years  of  age.  His  wife,  who  was  Ann,  daughter  of  James 
S.  Kip,  died  some  years  before  him.  Sarah  (Mrs.  Andrew 
Dexter)  is  his  only  surviving  child. 

Oren  Clark,  from  Somers,  Mass.,  located  himself  as  a  variety 
dealer  at  ISTo.  32  Genesee,  just  above  the  post  office.  He  made 
his  home  on  Broad  street,  a  few  doors  east  of  Trinity  church, 
until  he  built  and  occupied  the  brick  house  No.  53  Broad,  where 
James  F.  Mann  now  lives.  In  the  rear  of  his  house,  he  made 
wall  paper.  He  was  an  amiable  and  respected  citizen,  and  had 
a  wife  who  was  active  in  deeds  of  public  beneficence.  She  died 
of  the  cholera  in  1832.  About  1834,  Mr.  Clark  removed  to  Cleve- 
land, Ohio.  Of  his  three  sons,  the  eldest  returned  to  Massa- 
chusetts to  live ;  Henry  Steele,  after  graduating  at  Hamilton 
College,  became  a  Presbyterian  minister,  and  was  settled  in  Phila- 
delphia, but  died  in  1864 ;  the  third  son,  and  the  only  daugh- 
ter, moved  west  with  their  father. 

Thomas  M.  Francis,  half  brother  of  William  Francis,  the  car- 
penter, was  successively  deputy  scribe  in  the  office  of  the  county 
clerk,  book-keeper,  canal  collector  and  receiver  at  the  office  of 
the  Central  Pailroad  ;  and  was  industrious  and  faithful ;  a  quiet 
little  man,  and  an  unwavering  Democrat.  He  lived,  for  the 
most  part,  at  No.  42  Catherine  street,  and  was  the  father  of  four 
or  five  sons.  He  lived  until  November  1866.  John  Gray,  baker, 
an  intelligent,  sprightly  person,  was  among  the  early  members 
of  the  Broad  Street  Baptist  Church.  Bat  as  a  Baptist  he  had 
one  proclivity,  by  no  means  universal  with  the  sect, — he  would 
commune  with  other  churches.  When  called  to  account  for  it, 
his  onl_y  plea  was  that  "he  couldn't  help  it."  He  moved, 
after  a  few  years,  to  New  York.  Three  shoemakers  now  set 
out  in  trade,  although  not  together.     Samuel  Bryant  from  Ver- 


472  THE   PIONEERS  OF  UTICA. 

niont,  a  quite  respectable  man,  lived  here  until  his  death,  Sep- 
tember 25,  1825,  at  ^vhiell  time  he  was  a  grocer.  One  of  his 
two  sons  is  president  of  an  insurance,  and  the  other  of  a  trans- 
portation compan}',  in  Buffalo.  Moses  Comstock,  who  had  been 
an  apprentice  of  his  brother  Levi,  worked  at  his  own  lap  stone 
until  September  26,  1827,  and  died  in  New  Jerse}',  where  he 
had  gone  to  regain  his  health.  John  R.  Ludlow  was  for  a  few 
years  an  honest  shoemaker,  and  then  became  ca}^tain  of  a  packet. 
One  of  his  daughters  married  William  Harrington,  and  another 
Grove  Penny. 

In  one  of  the  local  papers,  we  read  under  date  of  July  29, 
1818,  that  two  companies  of  Welsh  emigrants,  exceeding  in  the 
aggregate  one  hundred  souls,  recently  passed  through  Albany 
to  the  west,  with  an  intention  of  settling  in  Steuben.     Whether 
as  a  detachment  from  one  of  these  companies.  I  cannot  say,  but 
the  following  Welshmen  now  found  a  resting  place  in  Utica, 
viz :   Watkin  Griffiths,   David    Lewis,   John   Edwards,   David 
Roberts,  Edward  Roberts,  Thomas  Jones.     Griffiths,  who  was 
a  wheelwj'ight,  remained  about  two  3'ears,  and  then  moved  to 
Deerfiekl.    His  sons,  John,  now  of  Cleveland,  0.,  and  T.  Ja3^  have 
been  most  of  their  lives  denizens  of  their  father's  first  tarrving 
place.     David  Lewis,  at  first  the  helper  of  Judge  Miller,  and 
then  the  faithful  cultivator  of  the  Walker  place  under  its  suc- 
cessive occupants,  Peter  Bours  and  Asahel  Seward,  is  now  an 
independent  housekeeper  on  John  street.     A  sou  of  John  Ed- 
wards is  also  resident.      David  Roberts,  a  tanner's  apprentice, 
remained    until    1825.      Edward    Roberts    was  a  mason,  and 
Thomas  Jones  a  wheelwright.     Watkin  Roberts,  stone-cutter, 
had  himself  come  a  year  or  two  before  to  Utica ;  his  wife  about 
this  time.     He  died  many  years  since ;  his  partner,   who  sur- 
vived until  1872,  was  a  person  of  more  than  ordinary  sense  and 
strength  of  character.     Their  children  were  the  able  and  dis- 
tinguished editor  and  congressman  Ellis  H.,  the  late  Robert  and 
Watkin  J.  Roberts,  and  Mrs.  Perry  and  Mrs.  Williams  besides 
two  daughters  who  are  non-resident. 

Others  living  in  Utica  in  1818,  of  those  who  had  gotten  be- 
yond their  clerkship,  were :  Dr.  Spooner,  wdio  essayed  to  do  den- 
tistry, but  probably  failed  of  encouragement  enough  to  justify 


THE  THIRD  CHARTER.  473 

liim  in  remaining  long.  Plu'sicians  then  drew  teeth  for  those 
who  needed  it,  while  for  servant  girls  and  others  confiding  in 
his  skill,  Thomas  Jones,  the  blacksmith,  stood  ready  with  his 
pmcers ;  Philip  Euss,  carpenter,  brother  of  John  A. ;  Henry 
O'Keefe,  tailor ;  Daniel  Daniels,  marble  cutter,  drowned  in  the 
canal ;  Eber  Hamilton  and  George  Black,  two  notorious  char- 
acters of  Water  street,  who  lived  by  their  wits,  the  former 
chiefly  by  fishing ;  John  O'Connor,  &c. 


1819. 

The  Board  of  trustees  created  by  the  election  of  1819,  did 
not  differ  materially  from  that  of  the  preceding  year.  Messrs. 
David  P.  Hoyt  and  Gurdon  Burchard  replaced  Messrs.  Brown 
and  Van  Santvoort  as  trustees  in  the  second  ward,  the  last 
named  having  left  the  village,  and  William  Alverson  was  elec- 
ted in  lieu  of  Marcus  Hitchcock  in  the  the  third  ward.  In  the 
thii'd  ward  Apollos  Cooper  was  elected  assessor  in  lieu  of 
Thomas  Walker.  The  supervisor,  constables,  collector  and 
clerk  remained  the  same.  E.  S.  Cozier  was  made  treasurer  in 
place  of  Judah  Williams,  and  there  were  a  few  other  changes. 
Tlie  only  business  transacted  during  the  year,  that  is  of  impor- 
tance enouo-h  to  be  noted,  was  the  engaging  of  A.  L' Amoureux 
to  take  charge  of  the  public  school,  and  the  appointment  of 
ten  persons  from  among  the  firemen  to  form  a  ladder  com- 
pany, which  so  reduced  the  force  of  the  two  established  com- 
panies as  to  make  it  advisable  to  petition  the  Legislature  for  a 
change  in  the  charter,  in  order  to  allow  of  an  increase  in  the 
number  of  firemen.  The  public  school  was  now  to  be  con- 
ducted on  the  Lancaster  s^^stem,  agreeably  to  a  pi-oposition 
made  the  trustees  by  JVIr.  L'Amoureux.  In  September  he  pub- 
lished a  report  of  his  school  for  the  first  term.  He  reports  two 
hundred  and  thirteen  as  having  been  admitted,  and  two  hundred 
and  three  noAv  remaining  in  the  school.  Of  these  twentj^-six  read 
in  the  New  Testament,  twenty-eight  are  learning  to  read  simple 
stories  on  cards,  one  hundred  and  thirty  are  making  rapid  im- 
provement in  spelling  and  reading  words  of  two  to  eight  s^dla- 
bles,  and  nineteen  are  learning  to  make  the  alphabet  in  sand ; 
sixty  have  learned  to  write  a  tolerable  hand,  and  eighty  are 
learning  to  write  words  of  from  one  to  three  letters ;  thirty-two 


474  THE  PIONEERS  OF  UTICA. 

are  learning  to  cypher,  seven  of  whom  are  nearly  masters  of 
the  first  four  rules  of  arithmetic ;  and  a  class  in  geography  are 
now  committing  the  lirst  pi'ineiples. 

Early  in  1819  we  meet  with  the  first  notice  of  Roman  Cath- 
olic service  having  been  held  in  Utica.  Agreeably  to  notice 
previously  published,  Eev.  Mr.  0"Gorman,  from  Albany,  met 
the  adherents  of  this  faith  on  the  10th  of  January,  in  the  Court 
House,  for  public  worship.  JVIass  was  celebrated  ;  six  or  seven 
females  and  two  males  received  the  consecrated  wafer,  and 
eight  or  ten  children  were  baptized.  In  the  evening  Mr.  O'Gor- 
man  preached  a  serman  from  the  text;  "Love  your  Enemies." 
On  the  loth  of  March,  the  Catholics  of  Utica  and  vicinity 
were  invited  to  attend  divine  service  the  following  Sunday, 
which  was  to  be  performed  by  Rev.  Mr.  Farnon ;  and  on  the 
24th  of  May,  it  was  announced  that  "Rev.  Mr.  Farnon,  who  is 
now  established  rector  of  the  Catholic  Church  of  the  Western 
District,  lias  returned  from  a  circuit  through  said  district,  and 
will  perform  divine  service  at  the  academy  on  the  30th  inst, 
J.  Lynch,  secretary."  The  foregoing  were  the  first  steps  taken 
toward  assembling  and  organizing  this  now  numerous  body  of 
Christians,  but  which  was  then  so  small  and  so  sparsely 
scattered  that  the  whole  western  district  was  included  in  one 
religious  society.  The  first  trustees  of  the  church  were  John 
C,  and  N.  Devereax  of  Utica,  James  Lynch,  till  now  a  resi- 
deiit  of  Rome,   but  who  about  this  time  removed  to  Utica, 

Francis   O'Toole   of    Augusta,   and —  of  Johnstown. 

Measures  were  at  once  taken  to  erect  a  church  edifice.  The 
resident  congregation  did  not  exceed  twenty -five  or  thirty,  and 
these  few  contributed  freely  to  defray  the  expense.  Much 
generous  assistance  was  also  accorded  by  Protestants  generally. 
Moreover,  the  construction  of  the  Erie  canal,  now  in  progress, 
had  caused  a  large  inmiigration  of  Irish  laborers,  who  though 
poor  and  without  homes,  could  not  be  denied  the  privileges  of 
their  own  form  of  worship.  From  their  scanty  wages  they 
each  gave  one  dollar  a  month,  toward  the  Ijuilding  of  the 
church.  A  lot  was  presented  by  Judge  Morris  S.  Miller  and 
wife,  on  the  condition  that  it  should  reveit  to  the  owners  or 
their  heirs  whenever  it  ceased  to  be  used  for  the  purpose  for 
wiiich   it  was    given.      This   lot,    on   the   corner  of   John   and 


THE  THIRD  CHARTER.  475 

Bleecker  streets,  is  the  same  that  is  now  occupied  by  St.  John's 
Church,  though  the  building  lirst  placed  thereon  was  afterwards 
moved  across  Bleecker  to  its  lower  side,  where,  with  some  alter- 
ations, it  still  stands  An  Englishman,  by  the  name  of  Crane, 
took  the  contract  for  the  erection  of  the  building,  and  it  went 
rapidly  forward.  The  congregation,  in  the  meantime,  worship- 
ped in  the  parlors  of  one  or  other  of  the  Messrs.  Devereux ;  or 
on  Saints'  days  and  when  unusual  services  were  held,  in  the 
Court  room  of  the  academy  building.  When  complete  the 
church  was  a  pretty  gothic  structure  forty-five  by  sixty  feet^ 
surmounted  with  a  low  spire  and  painted  white.  It  was  con- 
secrated on  the  19th  of  August,  1821,  by  Rt.  Rev.  Bishop  Con- 
nolly, assisted  by  Rev.  Messrs.  O'Gorman,  O'Connor  and  Farnon. 
But  though  fit  for  use,  it  was  some  two  years  more  before  it 
was  wholly  finished,  and  only  about  ten  pews  were  leased  at 
this  time.  Rev.  Mr.  Farnon  was  a  young,  good  looking  and 
agreeable  man,  with  pleasant  and  free  manners,  who  had  not 
been  long  in  the  country.  His  position  was  by  no  means  a 
sinecure,  since  in  addition  to  supermtending  the  building  of 
the  edifice,  he  was  much  occupied  in  ministering  to  the  parish- 
ioners of  his  widely  extended  district,  and  in  visiting  the  sick 
and  destitute  up  and  down  the  line  of  the  canal.  Though  in 
the  larger  villages  along  this  line  other  Catholic  Churches  were 
created  as  fast  as  the  Irish  influx  demanded,  )-et  his  assistance 
was  constantly  needed  to  establish  them.  As  a  preacher  he 
was  plain  and  practical,  and  spoke  without  notes.  His  first 
residence,  and  until  a  rectory  was  built  for  him,  was  a  small 
wooden  house  on  the  east  side  of  Chancellor  square,  the  first 
which  was  erected  thereon,  and  which  is  still  standing.  The 
rectory,  adjoining  the  church  on  the  west  side,  and  which  has 
given  way  to  the  present  one,  was  put  up  in  1824.  Mr.  Far- 
non remained  until  1825,  and  was  succeeded  by  Rev.  Mr. 
Bulger,  a  talented  young  Irishman,  who  stayed  two  years. 

Another  church  which  had  its  beginning  in  the  3^ear  1819, 
was  the  Second  Baptist.  It  was  the  first  one  made  up  of  Eng- 
lish-speaking people,  and  the  same  which  was  afterwards  known 
as  the  Broad  Street  Baptist,  and  of  late  as  the  Tabernacle 
Church.  During  a  few  preceding  years  the  English-speaking 
Baptists  of  the  village  had  been  accustomed  to  attend  a  second 


476  THE   PIONEERS  OF  UTICA. 

service,  held  for  their  benefit  at  the  close  of  the  earlier  Welsh 
service.  At  a  meeting  of  the  society,  held  on  the  23d  of  Sep- 
tember, a  member  present  having  stated  that  many  of  the  mem- 
bers of  this  church  were  subjected  to  great  inconvenience  by 
reason  of  the  fact  that  the  exercises  were,  in  part,  in  a  language 
which  they  did  not  understand,  it  was  determined  to  take  into 
consideration  the  propriety  of  giving  such  members  permission 
to  enter  into  covenant  as  a  second  church.  And  at  a  meeting 
held  on  the  7th  of  October,  the  cordial  a]3pi'obation  of  the  soci- 
ety was  accorded  all  such  as  chose  to  unite  together  for  such  a 
purpose.  The  brethren,  seventeen  in  number,  who  proposed  so 
to  do,  met  together  and  called  Rev.  Elijah  F.  Willey  of  Lansing- 
barg  to  become  their  pastor.  He  accepted  their  call,  and  com- 
menced his  labors  on  the  second  Sunday  in  November.  On  the 
6th  of  Januar}^,  following,  a  council  made  up  of  representatives 
fi'om  other  Baptist  Churches  in  the  vicinity,  met  to  consider  the 
propriety  of  recognizing  the  little  society  as  a  regular  charch. 
Eev.  Elon  Galusha  of  Whitesboro,  was  chosen  moderator,  and 
Dr.  Charles  Babcock  of  New  Hartford,  secretary.  The  council,  • 
after  proper  examination,  voted  that  they  viewed  the  said  cov- 
enanted members  as  a  regular  Church  of  Christ  in  Gospel  order; 
and  several  of  the  elders  present  addressed  the  new  Church,  ex- 
pressing their  fellowship  and  congratulations.  Not  long  after- 
ward, a  lot  was  purchased,  situate  on  the  north  side  of  Broad 
street,  midway  between  John  and  First  streets,  and  a  plain,  but 
comfortable  wooden  building  was  erected.  It  was  forty  by  sixty 
feet,  and  capable  of  seating  four  hundred  people.  The  funds 
for  its  erection  were  chiefly  procured  tlirough  the  personal  ex- 
ertions of  Edward  Baldwin.  It  was  first  occujiied  on  the  4th 
of  November,  1820.  Rev.  Mr.  Willey  remained  the  minister 
until  December  16,  1826.  He  was  not  li])erally  educated  n(H' 
possessed  of  much  polish,  but  was  not  deficient  in  acquirements ; 
was  an  earnest  ])reacher,  dispensing  with  notes  and  entering  ■ 
warmly  into  his  pulpit  duties.  He  secured  the  respect  and 
affection  of  his  people.  With  Rev.  Elon  Galusha  of  Whites- 
boro, he  conducted  the  Baptist  Register^  and  was  the  originator 
of  that  paper.  His  duties  as  a  minister  were  not  confined  to 
Utica,  for  in  the  afternoon  he  preached  at  Deerfield.  After  his 
resignation,  induced  by  ill  health,  he  removed  to  Albany  and 
engaged  in  lumber  business. 


THE  THIRD  CHARTER.  477 

On  the  30th  of  December,  1819,  there  appeared  in  the  Utica 
papers  an  announcement  of  the  holding  of  the  annual  meeting 
of  the  Utica  Ti'act  Society,  signed  by  John  Bradish,  secretary. 
Of  this  society  I  know  only  that  about  four  years  later  its  tracts 
were  stored  away  and  the  society  virtually  extinct. 

A  Dorcas  society  was  also  in  existence  at  this  time,  but  of 
its  operations  the  writer  is  not  informed.  It  was  the  forerun- 
ner if  not  the  parent  of  "  The  Female  Society  of  Industry  for 
Charitable  Purposes,"  which  commenced  its  operations  in  Octo- 
ber 1819.  In  January  1828,  this  latter  society  began  raising  a 
fund  for  the  purpose  of  establishing  an  orphan  asylum,  an  effort 
which  culminated  in  the  establishment  of  the  Utica  Orphan 
Asjdum.  Its  history  is  generally  considered  as  beginning  in 
1828,  though  it  is  worthy  of  question  whether  it  did  not  origin- 
ate with  the  above  mentioned  Dorcas  Society,  first  set  on  foot 
to  make  garments  for  the  destitute  children  of  the  Sunday 
school. 

The  Erie  Canal,  begun  in  July  1817,  and  on  which  work  was 
steadily  progressing,  was  still  far  from  completion.  The  east- 
ern portion  of  its  middle  section,  or  so  much  of  it  as  is  included 
between  Rome  and  Utica,  was,  however,  rendered  fit  for  navi- 
gation by  the  fall  of  1819.  And  on  the  22d  of  October,  the 
first  boat  sailed  on  the  canal  from  Rome  to  Utica,  the  channel 
having  been  filled  from  the  Oriskany  creek,  the  day  previous. 
It  was  an  elegant  boat,  constructed  to  carry  passengers,  and  was 
called  the  Chief  Engineer,  in  compliment  to  Benjamin  Wright. 
On  the  ensuing  day,  the  Governor  of  the  State  and  the  Board 
of  Commissioners,  attended  by  about  seventy  ladies  and  gentle- 
men of  Utica  and  vicinity,  embarked  upon  it  to  return  to  Rome. 
The  embarkation  took  place  amid  the  ringiDg  of  bells,  the  roar- 
ing of  cannon,  and  the  loud  acclamations  of  thousands  of  spec- 
tators. The  following  is  a  copy  of  a  letter  written  by  an  en- 
thusiastic gentleman  of  Utica,  to  the  editors  of  the  Albany  Daily 
Adveriizer,  descriptive  of  this  interesting  event : 

"  The  last  two  days  have  presented  in  this  village  a  scene  of  the 

liveliest  interest ;  and  I  consider  it  among  the  privileges  of  my 

life  to  have  been  present  to  witness  it.     On  Friday  afternoon,  I 

walked  to  the  head  of  the  grand  canal,  the  eastern  extremity  of 

■  which  reaches  within  a  very  short  distance  of  the  village,  and  from 


478  THE  PIONEERS  OF  UTICA. 

one  of  the  slight  and  aiiy  Lridojes  which  crossed  it,  I  had  a  sight 
which  could  not  but   ejihilerate  and  elevate  the  mind.     The 
waters  were  rushing  in  from  the  westward,  and  coming  down 
their  untried  channel  towards  the  sea.     Their  course,  owing  to 
the  absorption  of  the  new  banks  of  the  canal,  and  the  distance 
they  had  to  run  from  where  the  stream  entered  it,  was  much 
vslower  than  I  had  anticipated;  they  continued  graduall_y  to  steal 
along  from  bridge  to  bridge,  and  at  first  only  spreading  over  the 
bed  of  the  canal,  imperceptibly  rose  and  washed  its  sides  with  a 
gentle  wave.    It  was  dark  before  they  reached  the  eastern  extrem- 
ity, but  at  sunrise  next  morning  they  were  on  a  level — two  feet  and 
a  half  deep  throughout  the  whole  distance  of  thirteen  miles. 
The  interest  manifested  by  the  whole  county,  as  this  new  inter- 
nal river  rolled  its  first  waves  through  the  State,  cannot  be  de- 
scribed.    You  might  see  the  people  running  across  the  fields, 
climbing  on  trees  and  fences,  and  crowding  the  bank  of  the 
canal  to  gaze  upon  the  welcome  sight.     A  boat  had  been  pre- 
pared at  Rome,  and  as  the  waters  came  down  the  canal,  you 
might  mark  their  progress  hj  that  of  this  new  Argo  which 
floated  triumphantly  along  the  Hellespont  of  the  West,  accom- 
panied by  the  shouts  of  the  people,  and  having  on  her  deck  a 
military  band.     At  nine,  the  next  morning,  the  bells  began  a 
merry  peal,  and  the  commissioners  proceeded  in  carriages  from 
Bagg's  Hotel  to  the  place  of  embarkation.     The  Governor,  ac- 
companied by  General  Van  Rensselaei-,  Rev.  Mr.  Stansbury  of 
Albany,  Rev.  Dr.  Blatchford  of  Lansingburg,  Judge  Miller  of 
Utiea.  Ml".  Holley,  Mr.  Seymour,  Judge  Wright,  Colonel  Lan- 
sing. Mr.  Childs,  Mr.  Clark,  Mr.  Bonner,  and  a  large  company 
of  their  friends,  embarked,  and  were  received  with  the  roll  of 
the  drum,  and  the  shouts  of  a  large  multitude  of  spectators. 
The  boat  which  received  them  is  built  for  passengers,  is  sixty- 
one  feet  in  length,  and  seven  and  a  half  feet  in  width,  having 
two  rising  cabins  of  fourteen  feet  each,  with  a  flat  deck  between 
them.      In  forty  minutes  the   company  readied  Whitesboro, 
the  boat  being  drawn  by  a  single  horse,  wliich  walked  on  the 
towing  path,  attached  to  a  tow  rope  about  sixty  feet  long.    The 
horse  travelled  apparently  with  the  utmost  ease.     The  boat, 
though  literall}^   loaded  with   passengers,    drew  but  fourteen 
inches  water.      A  military  band  played  patriotic  airs.     From 
bridge  to  bridge,  from  village  to  village,  the  pi'ocession   was 
saluted  with  cannon,  and  every  bell,  whose  sound  could  reach 
the  canal,  swung  as  with  instinctive  life,  as  it  ])assed  by.     At 
Whitesboro,  a  number  of  ladies  embarlced,  and  heightened  by 
their  smiles  a  scene  that  wanted  but  this  to  make  it  complete." 

From  one  of  the  papers  of  Utica  of  that  date  we  borrow  a 
few  additional  particulars,  as  follows :  "  Seldom  has  there  been 
seen  more  heart  felt  joy  than  was  manifested  on  this  occasion ;  ' 


THE  THIRD  CHARTER.  479 

and  the  feelings  of  those  who  viewed  the  departure  from  Utica 
of  this,  the  first  boat  which  the  watei's  of  the  canal  had  ever 
borne,  bordered  on  enthusiasm.  All  the  way  to  the  embank- 
ment across  the  Sauquoit  creek,  man}^  hundreds  of  spectators  fol- 
lowed the  boat,  and  frerpiently  filled  the  air  with  their  animat- 
ing cheers.  At  Whitesboro,  the  arrival  was  announced  by  a 
national  salute  and  by  the  cheers  of  people  assembled  to  witness 
the  scene.  After  a  sail  of  a  little  more  than  four  hours,  the 
boat  arrived  at  Eome.  It  remained  at  that  place  until  a  quar- 
ter past  three,  when  it  set  out  on  its  i-eturn,  and  arrived  at  Utica 
ten  minutes  before  eight.  This  first  trial  of  the  canal  was  highly 
gratifying,  not  only  to  the  commissioners,  but  to  all  who  beheld 
it ;  and  if  ever  deep-felt  gladness  was  exhibited,  it  was  in  uni- 
versal and  full  display  throughout  this  excursion." 

Nathan  Williams,  as  president  of  the  board  of  village  trus- 
tees, on  the  same  day  addressed  a  congratulatory  letter  to  the 
board  of  canal  commissioners,  which  was  answered  by  Governor 
Clinton,  their  president.  From  the  former,  we  present  an  ex- 
tract :  "  While  gliding  .with  ease,  safely  and  rapidly  over  the 
smooth  surface  of  this  inland  river,  to  a  neighboring  village, 
and  back  again,  (a  distance  of  more  than  thirty  miles,  in  about 
nine  hours,)  our  minds  could  not  but  reflect  with  high  gratifi- 
cation upon  the  past  and  the  future,  as  well  as  upon  the  present 
delightful  scene.  The  inhabitants  of  this  country  who  have 
lived  to  see  the  soil  covered  with  forests,  yielding  to  a  high 
state  of  cultivation,  and  the  once  savage  population  of  our  red 
brethren  exchanged  for  that  of  a  polished  society,  occupied 
with  success  in  the  arts  of  agriculture,  commerce  and  manufac- 
tures, can  look  back  upon  the  past  with  an  eye  of  gratitude ; 
wdiile  they  look  through  the  vista  of  the  future,  not  only  with 
gratitude,  but  with  wonder.  They  behold  in  this  great  fabric 
now  opened  before  them,  that  link  and  source  of  commerce 
and  wealth  to  this  State,  which  is  to  bring  the  products  and  re- 
sources of  the  western  inland  seas  and  States,  through  this  coun- 
try to  the  Atlantic,  and  which  is  to  be  a  powerful  means  of 
binding  together  the  different  goverments  that  form  our  rising 
republic.  From  Erie  to  the  Atlantic,  a  distance  of  five  hundred 
miles,  more  than  three  hundred  is  to  be  traversed  by  this  canal. 
Considering  the  infancy  of  the  settlements  through  which  it  is 
to  pass,  and  that  it  is  commenced  by  the  efforts  and  patriotism 


480  THE  PIONEERS  OF  UTICA. 

of  a  single  State,  it  will  be  viewed  by  future  generations  as  a 
wonderful  work.  The  experience  of  this  daj^'s  excursion  must 
do  away  all  doubt,  if  any  remain,  of  the  j^iracticability  of  con- 
structing this  '  stupendous  artificial  river  of  the  West.'  It  ap- 
pears now  indeed  to  be  rendered  certain,  that  thev  who  pro- 
jected the  plan,  and  they  who  so  faithfully  persevere  to  execute 
it,  under  the  wise  sanction  of  our  laws,  and  the  patriotic  coop- 
eration of  our  citizens,  will  be  ranked  among  the  greatest  bene- 
factors of  our  country." 

By  an  act  of  Congress,  passed  March  19,  1819,  a  post  road 
from  Schenectady  to  Utica  was  established.  Utica  was  made 
the  place  of  arrival  and  departure  of  nine  different  mails. 

There  is  one  able  commissioner,  among  the  eminent  persons 
appointed  by  the  State  to  supervise  and  direct  its  cherished 
work,  the  stor}^  of  wdiose  life  falls  within  the  compass  of  our 
records,  since  towards  Utica  he  held  the  relations  of  an  honored 
citizen,  and  for  a  time  its  official  head.  This  is  Hen rj- Seymour. 
He  was  a  son  of  Major  Moses  Seymour  of  Litchfield,  Conn., 
who  served  throughout  the  Eevolution  as  captain  in  the  5th 
Regiment  of  Connecticut  cavalry,  afterwards  represented  his 
town  in  the  Legislature  of  that  State  from  1795  to  1812;  was 
town  clerk  from  1789  until  his  death  in  1826,  and  was  seven- 
teen years  senior  warden  of  St.  Michael's  Church.  Of  the  five 
sons  of  Major  Seymour,  Horatio  of  Middlebury,  Vermont,  was 
United  States  Senator  from  1821  to  1822;  Ozias  was  nine  years 
sheriff  of  Litchfield  county  ;  Moses,  a  lawyer,  was  several  years 
postmaster  of  Litchfield,  and  six  years  sheriff;  and  Epaphro- 
ditus'was  president  of  the  Bank  of  Brattleboro,  Vermont. 

Henry  Seymour,  who  was  born  at  Litchfield,  May  30,  1780, 
moved  to  Pompey  Hill,  Onondaga  county,  N.  Y.,  and  entered 
into  business  as  a  merchant.  By  his  integrity,  sound  judgment 
and  capacity  to  execute,  he  became  so  well  and  favorably  known 
that,  from  1816  to  1819,  he  was  sent  to  represent  the  Western 
District  in  the  State  Senate.  On  the  24th  of  March,  1819,  he 
was  appointed  a  commis.sioner  of  the  canals  of  the  State,  and 
was  actively  engaged  in  the  duties  of  this  office  until  his  resig- 
nation in  May  18-31.  Soon  after  becoming  commissioner  he 
removed  to   Utica,  and  ontiiuu'd  to  reside  here  during  the  re" 


■^^^^>ri^Y  ^Jtyy/^yrrL^^a^ 


THE  THIRD  CHARTER.  481 

mainder  of  his  life.  In  1820  be  was  elected  to  the  Assembly,  and 
in  1822  he  became  a  second  time  a  Senator.  In  March  1833, 
he  was  apjDointed  mayor  of  Utica.  being  the  second  person  who 
held  the  office,  and  the  same  year  was  chosen  president  of  the 
Farmers'  Loan  and  Trust  Company  of  the  City  of  New  York. 
The  change  from  an  active  life  in  the  country  to  the  sedentary 
one  of  an  office  in  the  city  destroyed  his  health,  and  he  died  at 
Utica,  August  26,  1887. 

Mr.   Seymour's   character  has   been  thus  sketched   by  Mr. 
Hammond,  in  his  Political  History  of  New  York:     "He  was  a 
well-bred  man,  and  very  gentlemanly  in  deportment.     His  great 
native  shrewdness  and  sagacity  had  been  improved  and  highly 
cultivated  by  an  association  with  genteel  society.     As  a  politi- 
cian,  he  was  wary,  smooth,  and  apparently  moderate  in  his 
action.     His  opponents  charged  him  with  being  Jesuitical,  but 
of  this  I  cannot  speak  from  my  own  knowledge ;  for  he  cer- 
tainly never  gave  me  any  proofs  of  want  of  sincerity  and  can- 
dor.    Notwithstanding  the  immense  amount  of  moneys  which 
passed  through  his  hands,  and  the  many  and  vastly  important 
contracts  made  by  him  on  the  part  of  the  State,  not  the  least 
suspicion  was  ever  breathed  against  the  purity  of  his  conduct. 
He  was  in  all  respects  a  correct  business  man."     To  this  we 
may  add  that  he  was  eminently  practical  in  the  character  of  his 
mind  ;  careful  and  accurate  in  detail,  but  capable  of  large  enter- 
prises, and  skillful  in  executing  them.     He  was  vigilant  as  a 
commissioner,  not  only  treating  with  contractors,  but  person- 
ally supervising  their  work  and  adjusting  their  claims.     As  a 
sample  of  his  private  undertakings,  it  may  be  mentioned  that 
he  bought  up  the  Eochester  Bank,  and  managed  it  so  well  that 
he  afterwards  sold  one-half  of  it  for  a  sum  equal  to  what  he  had 
paid.     Though  untrained  as  a  speaker,  quiet  in  manner,  and  not 
at  all  aggressive  as  a  politician,  his  opinion  carried  weight,  and 
his  influence  in  public  affairs  was  considerable.    Mr.  Van  Buren 
openly  expressed  his  pleasure  when  he  heard  that  Mr.  Seymour 
was  made  a  member  of  the  Council  of  Appointment ;  and  in  a 
letter  to  a  friend  he  gave  vent  to  his  feelings, — which  had  been 
wrought  to  a  high  pitch  of  anxiety, — in  this  laconic  manner: 
'"Dear  Sir,  Seymour!    Seymour!    Seymour!''      In  temper  he 
was  amiable  and  forgiving,  just,  considerate  and  tender  ;  he  was 
intolerant  of  evil  speaking  in  others,  and  suffered  as  much  from 
G-1 


482  THE   PIONEERS  OF  UTICA. 

the  veiy  api)reliensiori  of  defrauding  as  though  he  himself  were 
wronged.  To  gentlemanlj^  deportment  there  was  joined  a  gen- 
tlemanly physiognomy,  for  he  had  a  tall  figure,  and  features 
that  were  strikingly  handsome  and  refined. 

Mrs.  Seymour  was  a  daughter  of  Colonel  Jonathan  For  man, 
a  valued  officer  of  the  Revolution,  and  on  her  mother's  side 
was  a  grand-niece  of  Colonel  Ledyard,  who  was  in  command  at 
Fort  Griswold  and  afterwards  at  Fort  Groton,  Conn.  She  was 
born  at  Monmouth,  N.  J,,  February  IS,  1785.  At  twelve 
years  of  age  she  accompanied  her  father  when  he  removed  to 
Cazenovia,  Madison  county,  then  a  frontier  settlement.  Their 
carriage  was  the  first  conveyance  of  the  kind  that  had  passed 
in  that  direction  beyond  Whitesboro,  so  that  in  many  places 
they  were  obliged  to  use  axes  to  make  their  way.  She  was 
married  to  Mr.  Seymour  in  1807,  and  survived  hirri  many 
years,  her  death  occurring  September  16,  1859.  In  her  char- 
acter, decision  and  energy  were  happily  blended  with  many 
gentler  virtues.  She  was  beautiful  and  gi'aceful,  and  apprecia- 
tive of  the  beautiful  and  graceful  in  nature  and  in  art;  among 
the  earliest  ladies  of  ITtica  to  give  attention  to  flowers,  she  de- 
lighted to  cultivate  them  so  long  as  she  lived.  She  was  highly 
educated  socially  and  mentally  ;  had  a  Christian  love  for  all  of 
mankind,  and  a  honeyed  softness  of  address  and  a  discerning 
refinement  which  never  failed  to  please  all  who  entered  her 
presence.  With  their  engaging  family  the  Seymours  main- 
tained a  social  standing  and  influence  which  was  second  to  that 
of  no  cotemporary  family  of  the  place.  The  children  were 
six  in  number,  and  all  are  living,  viz:  Mary  (Mrs.  Rutger  B. 
Miller) ;  Horatio,  twice  Governor  of  New  York  ;  Sophia  (widow 
of  Edward  F.  Shonnard  of  Yonkers) ;  John  F. ;  Helen  (widow 
of  Ledyard  Linklaen  of  Cazenovia),  and  Julia  (Mrs.  Roscoo 
Conk  ling). 

.JTames  Lynch  had  already  for  several  years  maintained  a 
creditable  place  at  the  bar  of  Oneida.  He  was  the  son  of  Dom- 
inic Lyncli  of  Rome,  and  was  born  about  1786.  He  was  grad- 
uated at  Columbia  College  in  1799,  studied  law  at  Rome,  and 
began  practice  in  that  })lace.  During  the  sessions  of  1814-16, 
he  represented  his  town  in  the  State  Legislature.  About  1819, 
he  changed  his  residence  for  one  in  Utica,   continuing  in  the 


THE  THIRD  CHARTER.  483 

exercise  of  his  profession,  and  having  as  his  partner  Abraham 
Varick,  who  had  been  his  classmate  at  Cokimbia.  He  hved  at 
his  coming  on  the  north  side  of  Broad  street,  between  Genesee 
and  John,  but  about  1823  he  built  for  himself  the  fine  house 
on  Chancellor  square  afterwards  occupied  by  Thomas  H.  Hub- 
bard, and  now  b}^  Dr.  S.  Gr.  Wolcott.  In  1825,  he  moved  to 
New  York  Citv,  where  he  was  appointed  a  judge  of  the  Ma- 
rine Court.  In  this  office  he  remained  until  his  death,  Octo- 
ber 3,  1853,  at  the  age  of  sixtj-seven.  Mr.  Lynch  was  one  of 
the  founders  of  St.  John's  Church,  and  after  removing  to  New 
York,  he  was  an  early  and  active  member  of  the  American 
Institute.  Judge  Bacon,  in  his  "Early Bar  of  Oneida,"  speaks 
of  him  as  "  of  princely  bearing  and  commanding  presence." 
As  a  lawyer  he  was  creditable  and  above  mediocrity,  though 
in  the  opinion  of  the  Judge  he  was  "  capable  when  roused,  of 
efforts  little  inferior  to  those  of  Storrs  and  Talcott."  Judge 
Lynch's  wife  was  Miss  Janette  Tillotson,  of  an  aristocratic 
family  of  Rhinebeck,  N.  Y.,  and  was  a  member  of  Trinity 
Church  in  Utica,  though  her  husband  was  foremost  among  the 
Catholics.  They  had  three  sons  and  four  daughters.  Of  these 
daughters,  Juha,  the  eldest,  became  the  wife  of  President  Olin 
of  the  Wesleyan  University,  the  youngesi  married  Rev.  Mr. 
Montgomery  of  the  Episcopal  Church,  and  Adelaide  married 
Mr.  Fitzgerald  de  Tasistro,  a  counterfeit  count..  Janette  was, 
while  in  Utica,  a  belle  much  admired.  Eugene  is  the  only  son 
now  living. 

Justus  H.  Eathbone,  native  of  New  Hampshire,  studied  law 
in  Utica,  with  David  W.  Childs,  and  at  its  conclusion  joined 
him  in  practice.  Afflicted  from  his  youth  with  a  lameness 
that  ensued  upon  an  attack  of  rheumatic  gout,  he  did  not 
attend  the  courts,  though  he  was  vei'sed  in  his  profession. 
Being,  however,  industrious,  methodical  and  scrupulously  accu- 
rate in  all  his  transactions,  he  was  called  to  fill  some  positions 
of  responsibility.  In  April  1819,  he  was  appointed  a  Commis- 
sioner of  Deeds,  and  some  little  later  he  was  a  Master  in  Chan- 
eery  :  he  was  almost  the  founder  of  the  old  Utica  Library,  and 
was  for  some  time  its  zealous  custodian.  An  elder  in  the  Re- 
formed Dutch  Church,  he  was  for  several  years  its  treasurer 
likewise.     A  little   eccentric  in  some  particulars,  he  was  yet 


48i  THE  PIONEERS  OF  UTICA. 

possessed  of  sound  judgment  and  ready  and  practical  intelli- 
gence, and  was  self-denying  and  faithful  in  all  that  he  under- 
took. So  careful  was  he  in  business  matters  tliat  an  error  of 
a  penny  or  two  in  his  cash  account  would  rob  him  of  sleep  and 
give  him  days  of  disquiet.  He  was  a  partner  of  Mr.  Childs 
until  the  removal  of  the  latter.  He  lived  on  Broad  street,  and 
latterly  in  the  house  before  occupied  by  Thomas  Skinner,  until 
he  removed  not  long  before  his  death  to  Deerfield.  His  death 
took  place  in  Philadelphia,  May  27,  1861.  Mr.  Rathbone's 
wife  was  Sarah  Elizabeth,  daughter  of  Henry  E.  Dwight.  Of 
his  five  children,  J.  Henry  now  lives  in  Washington,  and  Mary 
D.,  (Mrs.  Pease)  in  Philadelphia ;  another  of  his  daughters  was 
the  first  wife  of  Thomas  Van  Embergh. 

After  the  resignation  of  Rev.  Mr.  Baldwin  as  rector  of  Trin- 
ity Church,  May  12,  1818,  there  was  difficulty  and  delay  expe- 
rienced in  settling  a  pastor.  This  continued  until  August  1819, 
when  the  Rev.  Henry  Moore  Shaw  succeeded  to  the  place. 
Not  then  ordained  a  priest,  he  was  ordained  in  September 
1820,  and  the  following  May  tendered  his  resignation  and  with- 
drew. 

On  the  7th  of  September,  1819,  Dr.  Newel  Smith  offered  his 
services  as  a  physician  to  the  people  of  Utica.  In  1828  he  was 
still  at  the  place  of  his  first  location,  viz:  the  corner  of  Liberty 
and  Hotel  streets.  Four  years  later  he  had  moved  lower  down 
on  Hotel  street,  into  a  part  of  the  double  brick  house  next  above 
the  lane  leading  to  Burchard  street,  which  house  he  built.  By 
1834  he  had  left  the  place.  He  was  "a  fair  kind  of  a  man," 
and  once  a  partner  with  Dr.  Goodsell. 

An  assistant  of  Rev.  Mr.  Mills  in  the  Utica  Academy  was  Am- 
brose Kasson,  who  came  hither  from  Lanesboro,  Mass.  He  was 
something  over  a  year  in  charge  of  the  English  department,  and 
then  opened  a  private  school  in  company  with  Mrs.  S.  Gridley, 
which  school  he  afterwards  carried  on  alone.  It  was  kept  in 
the  building  that  had  been  occupied  l)y  the  Utica  Insurance 
Company,  and  then  in  the  second  story  of  the  Kirkland  block, 
and  was  largely  attended  bj^  both  boys  and  girls.  Mr.  Kasson 
was  a  good  instructor  in  the  English  branches  and  did  not  want 
for  energy  of  rule;  he  studied  law  with  Judge  Nathan  Wil- 
liams.     His  place  of   residence   was   Deerfield  and   there  he 


THE  THIRD  CHARTER.  485 

passed  his  latter  years.  His  wife  was  a  daughter  of  Rev.  Calvin 
Hall  of  Deerfield,  though  he  was  married  before  he  came  to 
Utica.  His  associate,  Mrs.  Gridley,  had  begun  school  teaching 
in  the  place  as  early  as  1816.  She  continued  it  quite  a  num- 
ber of  years,  and  has  left  the  remembrance  of  herself  and  her 
school  pleasantly  impressed  upon  many  who  still  survive. 
Her  teaching  was  concluded  when  she  entered  into  marriage  as 
the  second  wife  of  Captain  William  Clarke. 

Another  assistant  in  the  academy  in  1819  was  William  Hayes, 
who  has  already  been  mentioned  as  a  denizen  of  the  village  in 
1804,  and  a  fabricator  of  earthern  ware  near  the  present  corner 
of  Liberty  and  Washington  streets.  In  1811,  Hayes  and  his 
son,  William  Hayes,  Jr.,  advertised  a  scrivener's  office  on  Broad 
street,  a  little  east  of  Genesee ;  and  were  prepared  to  teach  math- 
ematics, surveying",  book-keeping  and  writing,  and  also  to  post 
books.  In  the  latter  duty,  the  son  found  employment  with 
Samuel  Stocking,  William  Williams,  &c.  J.  Watson  Williams, 
the  historian  of  the  academy,  who  was  a  pupil  of  the  father 
while  he  was  writing  master  there,  thus  discourses  of  him : 
"  Mr.  Hayes  was  a  penman  and  book-keeper  of  the  old  English 
school ;  of  that  period,  when  thoroughness  and  skill  distinguished 
those  arts.  He  was  none  of  your  twelve-lesson  men  ;  but  be- 
gan at  the  beginning  with  full-fed,  broad-nibbed  goose  quills, 
that  made  their  marks,  straight  or  round,  of  good  portly  body 
strokes  and  clean  hair  strokes,  which  followed  each  other,  after 
a  short  experience,  without  a  ruled  page  to  guide  them,  with 
perfect  uniformity  and  drill.  He  suffered  no  meddling  with 
current  hand  until  you  had  first  served  a  full  apprenticeship  at 
elemental  lines,  and  curves  of  manly  length,  and  fair  bold  sweep. 
When  you  had  gone  through  a  book  or  two  of  half  inch  small 
letters,  distinct  enough  to  be  criticised  across  the  school  room, 
he  instructed  you  in  the  high  art  of  capitals,  plain,  open,  fair 
and  of  honest  aspect  that  might  be  recognized  of  all  men.  He 
did  not  throw  his  whole  force,  as  some  do,  upon  their  ornament- 
ation, making  them  everything,  and  their  little  followers  noth- 
ing. He  handled  his  quill  delibei'atel}^,  as  if  he  loved  its  move- 
ments ;  and  his  manuscript  had  a  fair  roast-beef  and  plum-pud- 
ding air  that  betokened  good  faith  and  honesty,  and  a  mind  ear- 
nest upon  its  M^ork.  *  *  I  do  not  know  what  be- 


486  THE  PIONEERS  OF  UTICA. 

came  of  Mr.  Hayes  after  bis  two  or  three  years  connection  with 
the  academy,  but  I  revere  his  name  and  memory  on  account  of 
some  fair  chirography,  which  I  occasionally  see,  that  might  not 
have  existed  but  for  him."  Records  inform  us  that  he  died 
October  10,  1825,  aged  sixty-five.  His  son  went  to  Brockville 
in  Canada,  w^here  his  daughter  became  allied  with  one  of  the 
most  aristocratic  families  of  the  town. 

Cotemporaneously  with  the  deliberate  drill  of  Mr.  Hayes  at 
the  academy,  one  H.  Dean  was  teaching,  or  professing  to  teach, 
penmanship  in  thirtj-six  hours,  at  the  school-room  of  Royal 
West.  How  many  tested  his  professions,  or  how  many  he  per- 
fected in  the  allotted  time,  the  writer  is  unable  to  sa}",  for  further 
knowledge  of  him,  after  his  one  advertisement,  is  not  to  be  had. 
This  Mr.  West  stayed  something  longer,  and  in  1820,  the  vil- 
lage trustees  arranged  with  him  for  the  occupation  of  the  pub- 
lic building,  next  to  Trinity.  He  kept  a  few  boarders  in  his 
house  below  Washington  Hall,  but  soon  left  the  place,  and 
subsequently  became  a  minister.  M.  Y.  Scott  essays,  this  same 
year,  to  get  scholars  desirous  of  learning  French  ;  and  some  one 
strives  to -help  him,  through  the  columns  of  the  weekly  paper, 
by  a  labored  eulogy  of  the  language,  and  by  expatiating  upon 
the  advantages  enjoyed  by  one  who  has  become  acquainted 
with  it.  It  is  to  be  presumed  he  did  not  find  encouragement 
sufficient  to  tarry  long. 

In  the  fall  of  1819,  the  village  received,  fresh  from  his  native 
Scotland,  Henry  Burden,  afterwards  eminent  as  an  inventor  and 
iron  manufacturer.  Born  at  Dunblane,  in  1791,  he  pursued 
a  course  of  mathematics  and  engineering,  at  Edinburgh,  having 
already  given  evidence  of  a  genius  for  invention  by  making 
with  his  own  hands  labor-saving  machinery  from  the  roughest 
materials,  and  with  but  few  tools  and  no  model.  His  first 
achievement,  after  his  arrival  in  Utica,  was  an  improved  plough, 
that  took  the  premium  at  three  of  the  county  fairs.  These 
ploughs,  with  other  agricultural  implements,  he  sold  "near 
the  academy,  on  the  east  side  of  the  public  square,"  (Chancel- 
lor). In  1820  he  invented  the  first  (niltivator  of  the  country. 
These  efforts  were  followed,  when  he  had  removed  to  Troy, 
by  machines  for  making  spikes,  horse-shoes,  hook-headed 
spikes  in  use  on  railroads,  for  reducing  iron  into  blooms,  for 
rolling  it  into  bars,  besides  a  suspension  water  wheel,  a  cigar- 


THE  THIRD  CHARTER.  487 

shaped  steamboat,  &c.,  &c.  Mr.  Burden  became  one  of  the  most 
extensive  manufacturers  in  tiie  Uuited  States,  and  amassed  a 
large  fortune,  from  which  he  gave  hberally  to  philanthropic 
purposes.     His  death  occurred  at  Troy,  January  19,  1871. 

Additional  residents  of  1819  were :  William  B.  Grra}^,  saddler, 
Irish  by  birth,  with  an  unusual  share  of  the  gayety  of  his  coun- 
trymen, and  abounding  in  practical  tricks.  He  lived  in  Utica 
for  twenty-five  j'cars  and  more,  and  was  an  oihcer  in  the  Dutch 
Reformed  Church.  Isaac  Clough,  blacksmith,  who  died  of 
cholei'a  in  1832,  had  for  years  done  most  of  the  repairing  of 
coaches  that  was  needed  by  J.  Parker  &  Co.  His  wufe  was  a 
Van  Syce,  and  he  an  estimable  person.  James  Crocker,  who 
lived  some  ten  years  after  his  coming,  is  best  remembered  as  the 
father  of  the  late  Hugh  and  the  present  John  G.  Crocker. 
Lewis  Lewis,  stone  cutter,  was  at  this  time  preparing  the  stone 
for  the  structures  of  the  canal.  He  was  the  father  of  Professor 
J.  J.  Lewis  of  Madison  University.  Richard  Perry,  another 
Welshman,  and  a  mason,  was  the  father  of  the  late  David  and 
Harvey  Perry,  and  of  Mrs.  James  Best.  George  F.  Merrell  and 
his  brother.  Bradford  S.,  bookbinders,  came  from  Westmore- 
land, and  learned  their  trade  with  their  relative,  Andrew  Mer- 
rell. Both  worked  at  different  times  for  Seward  &  Williams. 
Bradford,  abont  1825,  set  up  business  for  himself,  and  continued 
in  it  until  his  death  in  187L  George,  who  died  a  few  years  pre- 
viously, was  always  a  journeyman,  and  latterly  for  his  brother. 
Both  have  left  their  representatives  in  the  city.  Lemuel  Snow, 
shoemaker,  and  his  wife,  who  kept  a  millinery  shop,  were  both 
victims  of  the  cholera.  David  G.  Bates  was  a  shoemaker  like- 
wise, but  did  not  follow  the  trade.  He  superintended  the  build- 
ing of  the  Second  Presbyterian  Church,  of  which  he  was  an 
elder.  G.  Pond  was  a  last  maker.  Mills  &  Matthews  were 
cabinet  makers,  of  whom  the  former  went  to  Poughkeepsie,  and 
the  latter  tarried  some  time.  Eleazer  McKee,  carpenter,  had 
ah-eady  been  a  good  while  in  the  county.  John  Jones,  mason, 
father  of  Mrs.  Charles  Downer  and  other  children,  has  but  re- 
cently passed  away  (1877).  James  Jones,  father  of  Mrs.  AVilliam 
Jarrett,  has  also  grandchildren  in  the  place.  Kelty  &  Mitchell 
were  associate  tailors.  Henry  O'Keefe  was  likewise  a  tailor 
Miss  Andrews  was  a  mantua  maker,  and  the  Misses  J.  &  E, 
Gralaam,  milliners.     Simon  Dickens,  was  a  brewer. 


488  THE   PIOXEERS  OF  UTICA. 

1820. 

The  village  trustees  of  the  j'ear  1820  were  E.  S.  Cozier  and 
John  E.  Hinman  from  the  first  ward  ;  James  Hooker  and  Abra- 
ham Culver  from  the  second  ward ;  and  Ezekiel  Bacon  and 
Thomas  Walker  from  the  third  ward.  Eudolph  Snyder  was 
appointed  president  by  the  State  Council,  on  the  resignation  of 
Judge  Williams.  Measures  were  initiated  this  year  for  the  con- 
struction of  a  new  road  above  the  canal,  running  westward  from 
■Genesee  street  and  in  continuation  of  Bleecker, — a  road  whicli 
met  with  opposition  from  individuals  owning  land  along  its  in- 
tended course,  and  which,  not  until  after  litigation  and  much 
delay,  resulted,  in  the  year  1823,  in  the  present  Fayette  street. 
Other  matters  that  engaged  the  attention  of  the  corporation,  and 
in  which  the}'  felt  called  on  to  advise  and  direct,  were  the  loca- 
tion and  construction,  by  the  canal  commissioners,  of  bridges 
over  such  part  of  the  canal  as  was  included  within  the  bounds 
of  the  village;  the  proper  adjustment  of  Liberty  street  in  its 
relation  to  the  canal ;  the  sanctioning  of  a  basin  and  slip,  which 
John  R.  Bleecker  had  obtained  leave  to  construct,  the  basin  on 
the  south  side  of  the  canal  and  the  slip  extending  from  it  to 
Catherine  street. 

For  the  subject  of  absorbing  interest  at  this  era  was  the  pro- 
gress of  this  great  improvement.  In  April  of  this  year  a  trip 
was  made  between  Utica  and  Montezuma  in  which  a  large  com- 
pany bore  a  delighted  part.  On  the  20th  of  May,  Governor 
Clinton  and  the  canal  commissioners,  accompanied  by  as  many 
gentlemen  from  Utica  and  Whitesboro  as  could  be  accommo- 
dated, went  on  tbe  boats  Montezuma  and  Chief  Engineer  from 
Utica  to  the  Seneca  river.  The  citizens  of  the  village  "  em- 
braced the  occasion  to  manifest  their  respect  for  the  chief  mag- 
istrate of  the  State,  and  the  high  estimation  in  which  they  held 
those  who  were  associated  with  him  in  the  prosecution  of  works 
of  inestimable  value  to  the  present  and  future  generations." 
A  procession  was  formed  which  accompanied  the  party  to  the 
boats  where  an  address  was  delivered  by  Mr.  Snyder,  president 
of  the  village,  to  which  the  Governor  replied  in  behalf  of  the 
commissioners.  On  the  lirst  of  June,  we  are  informed  by  adver- 
tisement, that  "  boats  for  the  accommodation  of  passengers  one 
hundred  miles  on  the  canal,  are  now  in  operation  by  '  The  Erie 


THE  THIRD  CHARTER.  489 

Canal  Navigation  Company.'  They  sail  every  Monday  and 
Thursday  morning  from  Utica,  at  nine  o'clock,  and  arrive  at 
Canistota  (Lenox)  at  seven  P.  M.,  proceed  next  day  at  two  A.  m., 
and  arrive  at  Montezuma  at  seven  P.  m.  Price  of  passage  in- 
cluding provisions,  four  dollars.  A  small  advance  to  be  made 
when  the  toll  and  lockage  are  established.  For  passage  ap})ly 
to  Doolittle  &  Gold,  or  at  the  stage  office."  In  the  weekl}^ 
chronicle  of  arrivals  and  departures  on  the  canal,  wdiich  began 
at  this  time  to  be  published  in  the  papers,  we  find  that  five 
boats  departed  and  two  arrived  on  the  first  of  July,  one  each 
on  the  second,  and  four  departed  and  one  arrived  on  the  third  ; 
between  July  31  and  August  7,  there  were  twelve  arrivals  and 
nineteen  clearances ;  between  August  14  and  August  25,  there 
were  twenty-two  arrivals  and  seventeen  clearances.  Most  of 
these  boats  were  loaded  with  merchandise,  two  only  carrying 
passengers.  The  Fourth  of  July  was  celebrated  on  the  canal 
by  a  large  concourse  of  people  from  various  parts  of  the  Wes- 
tern District.  The  Oneida  Chief  from  Utica,  and  the  Monte- 
zuma from  Cayuga  Lake,  accompanied  with  a  number  of  other 
boats,  filled  with  passengers  from  the  intermediate  country,  met 
at  Syracuse.  His  Excellency,  the  Governor,  with  his  secretaries 
and  other  gentlemen  from  New  York,  were  of  the  passengers 
from  Utica.  "  The  exei'cises  of  the  day  consisted  in  reading 
tlie  declaration  of  independence,  a  very  animated  and  appro- 
priate prayer  by  Eev.  M.  Willey  of  Utica,  and  an  address  by 
Samuel  M.  Hopkins  of  Genesee,  in  a  style  every  way  worthy 
of  the  distinguished  talents  and  character  of  that  gentleman." 
All  of  which  were  held  in  an  open  field  where  alone  the  great 
multitude  could  be  assembled.  "About  two  o'clock,"  the  nar- 
nator  continues,  "the  whole  moved  in  a  novel  and  imposing  style 
of  procession,  to  Salina ;  the  side  canal  leading  to  that  place, 
one  mile  and  a  quarter  in  length,  being  covered  with  about 
twenty  boats  of  various  sizes,  all  thickly  crowded  with  as  many 
passengers  as  they  could  contain,  while  those  who  could  not 
thus  be  accommodated  lined  the  banks,  and,  with  the  accom- 
paniment of  an  excellent  band  of  music,  exhibited  a  spectacle 
more  interesting  and  impressive  than  has  ever,  it  is  ])resumed, 
been  exhibited  in  our  country  on  any  occasion  whatever." 

The  interest  felt  by  Governor  Clinton  in  this,  his  favorite, 
j)roject,  brought  him,  as  we  have  seen,  often  to  the  interior  and 


490  THE  PIONEERS  OF  UTICA. 

and  western  parts  of  the  State.  It  was  in  the  summer  of  1820, 
while  travelling  up  and  dow'n  the  course  of  the  future  canal, 
that  he  wrote  his  w^ell  known  letters  of  Hibernicus.  From  the 
ijiansion  of  Mr.  Grreig  at  Canandaigua,  from  Auburn,  from 
Utica  and  from  other  places,  he  penned  those  classic  letters  to 
the  Statesman^ — letters  abounding  in  instruction  upon  the  nat- 
ui-al  history  and  resources  of  the  country  through  which  he 
journeyed,  and  prophetic  of  the  good  to  be  expected  from  the 
completed  canal.  At  the  York  House  in  Utica,  he  held  a  con- 
ference with  Dr.  Barto  of  Newport,  and  learned  much  of  the 
composition  and  qualities  of  water  lime,  which  had  been  recently 
discovered  and  put  in  use  on  the  canal  by  Canvass  White,  one 
of  the  engineers. 

Since  the  year  1803,  the  Coarts  of  the  county  had  been  held 
;it  Whitesboro  and  at  Rome,  the  two  half-shire  towns.  Bat 
about  this  time  it  was  ordered  that  a  session  of  the  United 
States  District  and  also  of  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  State 
should  be  held  in  the  academy  at  Utica.  A  visitor,  who 
attended  the  October  term  of  the  latter,  held  in  Utica  iiL  1820, 
saw  there  a  full  bench,  Chief  Justice  Spencer  presiding,  flanked 
by  Judges  Van  Ness  and  Piatt  on  his  right,  and  Judges  Yates 
and  Woodworth  on  the  left.  The  bar  was  filled  with  lawyers 
of  the  first  ability  and  reputation,  including  Aaron  Burr, 
Thomas  J.  Oakley,  Martin  Van  Buren,  Elisha  Williams,  &c., 
the  two  last  named  being  opposed  in  a  trial. 

An  event  that  caused  much  excitement  in  the  quiet  village 
early  in  the  present  year,  w^as  a  highway  robbery  and  murder 
committed  in  a  distant  State.  The  daring  nature  of  the  crime, 
and  the  cruelty  which  attended  it,  aroused  the  whole  country 
to  indignation  wherever  the  papers  made  known  the  particulars. 
But  in  Utica,  especially,  the  feeling  was  intense,  because  one 
of  the  guilty  parties  was  the  son  of  a  most  respectable  citizen 
of  the  place,  and  thus  with  abliorrence  of  the  crime  there  was 
mingled  deep  sympathy  with  the  afflicted  family.  The  crimi- 
nal, who  for  some  time  had  been  given  to  wayward  and  wicked 
habits,  had  fallen  in  witli  a  worse  companion  in  his  w^anderings 
from  home,  and  with  him  concerted  a  plan  foi-  robVjing  the  mail 
stage  between  Baltimore  and  Washington.     Having  waylaid  and 


THE  THIRD  CHARTER.  491 

watched  the  stage  for  several  days,  they  at  last  found  an  oppor- 
tunity to  stop  it,  in  a  lonely  place  and  when  there  were  no  pas- 
sengers within.     Tying  the  driver  to  a  tree,  they  cut  open  and 
pillaged  the  mail  bag  of  about  fi\'e  thousand  dollars.     But  fear- 
ing discovery  if  the  driver  were  left  to  appear  against  them, 
they  killed   him,  despite  his  earnest   pleading  for  life,   for  his 
own  sake  and  for  the  sake  of  his  wife  and  children.      They 
were  apprehended  the  same  day,  and  soon  made  a  full  confes- 
sion.    After  a  most  touching  charge  from  the  judge,  they  were 
condemned,  and  in  due  time  were  executed.     Simultaneously 
with  the  execution,  the  church  friends  of  the  unhappy  father 
were  assembled  at  Utica,  engaged  in  prayer  for  the  souls  of  the 
criminals  and  the  spiritual  good  of  those  whom  they  had  made 
to  mourn.     To  this  day  there  are  elderly  people  in  the  vicinity 
who  can  repeat,  verbatim,  the  masterly  charge  of  the  Judge, 
such  was  the  interest  in  this  heinous  and  comparatively  rare 
a  crime,  and  in  the  misguided  youth  who  was  led  to  its  perpetra- 
tion, which  was  experienced  at  the  time  in  the  neighborhood 
where  he  was  born  and  brought  up.  and   where  he  was  repre- 
sented by  a  worthy  parent.      The  notion  was  quite  prevalent 
that  in  reality  he  was  never  hung,— at  least  until  he  was  dead,— 
but  that  through  the  influence  of  his  father,  he  either  escaped 
the  punishment  altogether,   or  having  been  a  short  time  sus- 
pended, he  was  cut  down  and  resuscitated.     The  notion  was  a 
groundless  one. 

An  act  of  the  Legislature  was  passed  this  year  incorporating 
the  Utica  Savings  Bank,  but  for  some  reason,  now  unknown, 
the  bank  did  not  go  into  operation  until  the  year  1839,  when  a 
new  charter  was  procured.  This  first  charter  was  probably  in 
advance  of  the  actual  necessity  for  such  an  institution,  and  the 
stock  was  not  taken.  The  president  named  in  this  first  charter 
was  the  same  as  the  one  who  headed  the  later  board,  viz. :  John 
C.  Devereux. 

At  a  meeting  of  the  inhabitants  of  Cayuga,  Onondaga,  Madi- 
son and  Oneida  counties,  convened  at  Manlius,  on  the  18th  day 
■of  July,  1820.  there  was  formed  "The  Bible  and  Common 
Prayer  Book  Society  of  the  Western  District  of  New  York." 
Morris  S.  Miller  was  chosen  president,  and  Nathan  Williams 


492  THE  PIONEERS  OF  UTICA. 

treasurer.  The  otlier  officers  were  from  the  three  first  named 
counties.  The  later  liistorj  of  this  society  has  fallen  into  obliv- 
ion. In  18-il  there  had  ceased  to  be  any  depository  of  praye^ 
books  in  Utica,  as  contemplated  by  the  society,  and  as  was 
probably  at  first  practiced.  At  that  time  it  was  determined  to 
transfer  the  permanent  fund  into  the  hands  of  the  board  for 
Church  objects  of  the  Diocese  of  Western  New  York,  and  the 
same  was  accepted  by  the  standing  committee  of  the  diocese. 
The  amount  of  such  fund  was  then  estimated  at  $1,400,  but 
owing  to  the  bankruptcy  of  the  trustee,  in  whose  hands  this 
fund  remained,  only  about  half  that  sum  was  conveyed,  some 
years  later,  into  the  permanent  fund  of  the  diocese. 

Foremost  among  the  individual  notices  for  the  year  1820,  I 
introduce  Ebenezer  Grriffin,  a  gifted  lawyer,  who  for  a  few  years 
adorned  the  bar  of  Oneida,  but  removed  so  long  since  that  not 
many  of  the  present  generation  have  any  knowledge  of  him. 
The  account  I  present  is  drawn  almost  wholly  from  the  "  Bench 
and  Bar"  of  Proctor.  He  was  born  at  Cherry  Valley,  July  29, 
1789.  While  quite  young  he  removed  with  his  father  to  Clin- 
ton in  this  county,  and  there  he  was  prepared  for  college.  He 
entered  Union,  and  soon  gained  the  re})utation  of  a  close  and 
thorough  student.  Desiring,  however,  to  enter  his  chosen  pro- 
fession with  as  little  delay  as  possible,  he  left  college  two  years 
and  a  half  after  entering,  and  immediately  conmienced  his  legal 
studies  with  Mr.  Hotchkiss  of  Clinton.  The  degree  of  A.  M. 
was  subsequently  conferred  on  him  by  the  authoi'ities  of  Ham- 
ilton College.  In  due  time  he  was  prepared  for  the  bar,  and 
was  admitted  at  the  July  term  of  the  Supreme  Court  in^iSll- 
He  began  practice  at  Clinton  ;  but  his  growing  reputation  de- 
manded a  more  extensive  field,  and  in  June  1S20,  he  opened 
an  office  in  Utica.  In  1821,  he  was  appointed  Examiner  and 
Master  in  Chancer}^  In  April  of  the  following  year,  he  formed 
a  business  connection  with  William  H.  Maynard,  succeeding 
therein  to  Mr.  Talcott,  just  appointed  Attorney  General.  While 
here,  and  still  more  after  his  removal  to  New  York  City,  in 
1825,  he  was  engaged  in  a  large  and  extensive  practice.  His 
reputation  extended  throughout  the  State,  and  his  pi-actice  in 
the  Court  for  the  Correction  of  Errors,  in  the  Supreme  Court, 
and  in  the  various  Circuits  in  the  State,  was  equalled  by  few 


THE  THIRD  CHARTER.  493 

lawyers  then  at  the  bar.  He  seemed,  says  Proctor,  ahiiost 
iibiquitous ;  now  in  Buffalo,  then  at  Bath,  then  at  Albany,  then 
at  New  York. 

Among  the  many  important  cases  in  which  he  was  retained^ 
that  of  the  Bank  of  Utica  vs.  Wager,  tended  most,  as  Mr.  Proc- 
tor tells  ns,  to  increase  and  extend  his  reputation.  It  was  tried 
at  Utica,  in  November  1821,  before  Hon.  Jonas  Piatt,  circuit 
judge.  Judge  Piatt  ordered  a  verdict  for  the  bank,  subject  to 
the  opinion  of  the  Supreme  Court.  It  was  argued  before  that 
tribunal  in  May  1824.  Henry  R.  Storrs  opened  the  argument 
for  the  plaintiff,  and  Joshua  A.  Spencer  for  the  defence.  Mr. 
Griffin  made  the  closing  argument  for  the  defence.  When  he 
arose  to  address  the  court,  many  supposed  that  the  subject  had 
been  exhausted  by  Mr.  Spencer,  that  whatever  else  might  be 
said  would  be  but  the  work  of  supererogation.  A  few  mo- 
ments, however,  sufficed  to  convince  all  present  that,  as  by  in- 
tuition, Mr.  Griffin  had  penetrated  deeper  into  the  subject,  had 
more  fully  and  logically  grasped  the  great  questions  of  the  case 
than  either  of  the  other  counsel.  His  argument  was  one  of  the 
most  able,  profound  and  elaborate  ever  heard  at  the  bar  of  this 
State.  Every  authority  bearing  on  the  matter,  whether  Amer- 
ican, English  or  Fi'ench,  was  fully  considered,  examined  and 
digested.  It  was  lengthy,  yet  did  not  touch  upon  anything  which 
could  excite  the  fancy  or  please  the  imagination.  It  contained 
nothing  but  logic  and  learning ;  yet  the  court  and  the  bar  list- 
ened with  deep  and  unwearied  attention.  The  court  sustained 
him  in  his  view  of  the  case,  the  judgment  being  pronounced  by 
Chief  Justice  Savage.  An  appeal  was  taken  to  the  Court  of 
Errors,  and  the  case  was  argued  in  December  1826.  The  argu- 
ment of  Mr,  Griffin  was  superior  even  to  that  which  he  had 
made  before  the  Supreme  Court.  He  seemed  to  rise  with  the 
occasion,  and  to  gain  mental  power  as  it  was  demanded,  and  he 
was  again  victorious.  But  his  victory  was  purchased  at  a  fear- 
ful expense.  So  great  were  his  labors  in  the  preparation  and 
trial,  that  a  cerebral  agitation  soon  followed,  which,  at  times 
through  life,  quite  unsettled  his  splendid  mind. 

Mr.  Griffin  continued  to  live  in  New  York  until  1842,  when  he 
removed  to  Rochester  and  resided  there  until  his  death.  This 
occurred  on  the  22 d  of  January,  1861,  in  his  seventy-third  year. 
Mr.  Griffin  was  quite  agreeable  in  his  intercourse,  was  tall  and 


494  THE   PIONEERS  OF  UTICA. 

heavy  in  person,  weighing  at  least  two  hundred  and  twenty 
pounds,  and  yet  quite  prepossessing.  Politically,  he  belonged 
to  the  famous  high-minded  gentlemen.  His  home  here  was  on 
Broadway.  His  wife,  to  whom  he  was  married  in  1812,  was 
Miss  Hannah  Morrison  of  Westmoreland,  and  in  all  his  domes- 
tic relations  he  was  fortunate  and  happy.  One  of  his  daugh- 
ters was  the  wife  of  Judge  E.  Darwin  Smith  of  Rochester. 

A  lawyer  now  admitted  to  practice  was  Charles  Pinckney 
Kirkland,  son  of  Joseph  Kirkland.  He  was  born  at  New 
Hartford,  1797,  graduated  at  Hamilton  College  in  1816,  and 
entered  upon  legal  study  in  the  office  of  his  father.  Admitted 
to  the  bar,  he  was  received  into  j)artnership  with  the  latter,  and 
remained  with  him  until  the  year  1830,  soon  after  which  time  he 
united  in  practice  with  William  J.  Bacon.  About  1851  he  re- 
moved to  the  city  of  New  York,  where  he  still  resides.  During 
the  whole  of  his  residence  in  Utica,  and  for  some  time  longer,  he 
was  engaged  unceasingly  in  his  professional  duties,  was  a  diligent 
worker,  an  honest  business  man,  and  took  high  rank  throughout 
the  State  as  a  skillful  advocate  and  a  wise  and  trusty  counsellor. 
As  a  politician,  he  was  fair  and  unprejudiced.  In  1838  he  was 
mayor  of  Utica,  and  in  1846  was  a  member  of  the  convention 
to  revise  the  constitution.  For  many  years  he  was  a  trustee  of 
Hamilton  College,  and  received  from  that  institution,  as  he  did 
likewise  from  Columbia,  the  degree  of  LL.  D.  A  trustee  also 
of  other  educational,  manufacturing  and  commercial  corpora- 
tions, he  was  actively  concerned  in  every  means  devised  for  the 
good  of  the  place  in  which  he  lived.  Afterwards,  in  New 
York,  his  influence  and  his  usefulness  were  not  less  than  they 
had  been  in  Utica.  The  failure  of  his  health  has  within  a  few 
years  withdrawn  him  from  active  life.  His  first  wife,  who  was 
Cornelia,  daughter  of  John  H.  Lothrop,  died  in  July  1831. 
Their  children  were  Cornelia  (Mrs.  Alexander  Seward),  and 
John,  both  of  whom  are  now  deceased,  and  Julia,  a  resident  of 
New  York.  His  second  wife  was  Mary,  daughter  of  James  S. 
Kip.  Their  children  are  Edward  and  Charles,  both  of  New 
York. 

A  merchant  who,  after  five  years  residence  in  Utica,  returned 
to  New  York,  became  bankru])t,  and  then  burst  upon  the  world 


THE  THIRD  CHARTER  495 

as  an  admired  actor  of  comedy,  was  James  Henry  Hackctt. 
His  earlier  and  less  distinguished,  but  for  our  purpose  most 
interesting  career,  he  himself  relates  as  follows  :  "  Early  in  1819, 
when  just  turned  of  nineteen  years  of  age,  I  married.  In 
April  1820,  I  chose  Utica,  in  the  State  of  JSTew  York,  as  a 
promising  town  to  settle  in,  and  I  took  there  a  stock  of  groce- 
ries, and  began  business.  I  had  a  cash  capital  of  about  three 
thousand  dollars,  and  obtained  credit,  too,  through  the  late  Mr. 
John  Beekman,  my  mother's  first  cousin,  and  also  the  father- 
in-law  of  my  own  first  cousin,  Abraham  K.  Fish,  with  whom 
I  had  been  a  clerk  for  some  two  years  before  my  marriage. 
Finding  no  regular  dealer  in  earthen-ware  in  Utica  at  this  time, 
I  resolved  to  try  a  small  assortment  of  this  article,  and  accord- 
ingly purchased  it.  It  proved  an  important  adjuuct  to  my 
grocery  business,  and  I  soon  became  a  wholesale  dealer  in  it, 
and  occasionally  imported  earthen-ware  from  the  Scotch  manu- 
facturers. Born  in  New  York  City  (March  15.  1800,);  ten 
years  preparing  for  Columbia  College  at  Union  Hall  Academy, 
Jamaica,  L.  I.,  where  my  mother's  family  (the  Keteltases)  were 
born ;  a  short  time  at  college — my  exercises  there  having  soon 
been  interrupted  by  a  fit  of  sickness,  and  which  were  never 
resumed — and  also  having  been  a  student  at  law  a  year  in  New 
York,  before  I  entered  myself  as  clerk  with  my  kinsman,  Mr. 
Fish, — I  had  mingled  to  some  extent,  young  as  I  was,  with  the 
world,  and  was  enabled  through  various  friends  and  relations 
to  carry  to  Utica  immediate  passports  for  myself  and  wife  to 
the  best  society.  I  was  cordially  received  there,  and  was 
regarded  as  an  enterprising  and  industrious  young  man  of  bus- 
iness. My  society  was  generally  courted  for  my  acceptable 
manners  and  good  humor ;  and  that  of  my  dear  wife  for  hers 
and  her  proficiency  as  an  accomplished  singer.  We  lived  there 
very  happily  full  five  years  ;  when,  having  accumulated  about 
eighteen  thousand  dollars,  and  thinking  that  New  York  City 
afi^orded  a  more  favorable  locality  for  my  capital  and  enlarged 
facilities,  I  changed  my  residence  back  to  New  York,  in  March, 
1825."*  The  further  narrative  of  Mr.  Hackett,  I  forbear  to  fol- 
low. It  shows  us  how,  after  he  had  cleared  a  few  thousand  in 
the  first  few  weeks,  by  forestalling  the  market  in  the  article  of 
Holland  gin,  he  ventured  on  other  speculative  purchases,  giv- 

*  Galaxy. 


496  THE  PIONEERS  OF  UTICA. 

ing  his  notes  for  ninety  thousand  dollars,  and  establishing  his- 
credit  by  discounting  the  shortest  of  such  j)aper  to  the  amount 
of  twenty-five  thousand  dollars ;  how  his  goods  which  were 
mostly  staple  ones,  declined  in  value ;  how  by  fresh  operations 
he  struggled  hard  to  save  himself,  and  lost  the  more  deeply ; 
how  in  September  there  came  a  crisis  and  a  panic  with  many 
heavy  failures,  when  he  realized  that  he  had  not  only  lost  his 
capital  but  was  bankrupt,  yet  unwilling  to  trade  upon  his  credit, 
as  some  of  his  advisers  would  have  him  do,  he  entered  into  a 
voluntary  assignment ;  and  how  in  order  to  support  his  family, 
he  yielded  to  his  "  natural  talent"  for  the  stage,  and  made  his 
debut  in  March,  1826,  upon  the  boards  of  Park  Theatre,  where 
four  hundred  of  the  first  merchants  of  the  city  were  assembled 
to  give  him  countenance.  In  August  following,  he  visited 
Utica,  and  in  a  temporary  theatre  managed  by  Murdock,  he 
gave  his  sketches  of  character  and  imitations,  and  appeared 
also  in  the  farce  of  Monsieur  Tonson. 

His  later  history  is  well  known,  and  his  i-ank  as  an  actor 
both  in  America  and  in  England  is  fully  established.  He  was 
organically  a  humorist,  had  keen  perceptions  of  the  ludicrous 
and  an  infinite  versatility  in  the  expression  of  them.  Before 
he  went  on  the  stage  he  told  Yankee  stories  to  perfection,  and 
his  skill  as  a  mimic  was  often  displayed  for  the  diversion  of  his 
friends.  These  native  talents  joined  to  his  genteel  and  comely 
air,  his  frank  and  friendly  disposition,  and  his  cheery,  buoyant 
temperament,  rendered  him  a  decided  favorite  in  Utica. 

Few  things  are  more  difficult  to  delineate  than  the  character- 
istic sayings  and  doings  of  a  humorist.  Even  wit  is  so  evanes- 
cent, and  depends  so  much  on  the  circumstances  of  place  and 
occasion,  that  it  loses  much  of  its  sparkle  when  set  down  for 
perpetuation.  But  when  the  fun  is  in  drollery  of  manner, — in 
tone,  and  look,  and  gesture, — which  amuse  while  we  cannot 
analyze  or  describe, — or  still  more  in  the  skilled  and  inimitable 
mimicry  of  the  practiced  actor,  the  attempt  to  photograph  is  in 
vain.  We  may  tell  of  its  effects,  we  cannot  i-eproduce  them. 
Hence  it  is  that  the  reputation  of  a  humorist  must  always  be 
taken  on  trust,  and  one  may  believe  that  he  had  wonderful 
powders  of  entertainment  though  he  has  not  seen  the  evidence 
which  proves  it.  In  the  case  of  Mr.  Hackett,  the  only  incident 
of  his  life  in  Utica  that  savors  of  his  genius  which  would  not 


THE  THIRD  CHARTER,  497 

be  wholly  lost  in  the  telling  is  the  following  :  He  was  amusing 
some  gentlemen  one  da}''  in  the  store  of  John  C.  Devereux,  by 
showing  off  the  peculiarities  of  several  of  their  townsmen. 
Groing  out  of  the  store,  he  would  reenter  it  in  the  character 
of  some  particular  citizen,  whose  air,  manner,  voice  and  expres- 
sion were  so  closely  copied  that  at  once  all  knew  the  man.  He 
thus,  in  turn,  took  off  a  number  of  well  known  individuals  of 
the  town,  to  the  delight  of  those  present.  Mr.  Devereux,  who 
was  especially  pleased,  now  begged  the  mimic  that  he  would 
take  him  off.  ''Oh,  no!"  said  Mr.  Hackett,  "you  would  not 
have  me  take  you  off,  Mr.  Devereux."  But  the  latter  was  per- 
sistent, Mr.  Hackett  must  take  him  off.  "  Well,"  said  he  "  I 
will,  but  first  allow  me  to  take  myself  off."  This  was  of  course 
agreed  to,  and  so  going  out  of  the  store  as  if  to  return  with 
another  scene  of  more  than  the  previous  interest,  he  left  them 
in  waiting  but  did  not  return.  Emphatically  he  had  taken 
himself  off.  Had  he  presented  this  amiable  but  notable  per- 
sonage as  he  alone  could  do,  it  is  doubtful  whether  the  joker 
would  ever  have  been  forgiven. 

Mrs.  Hackett,  an  English  lady,  whose  maiden  name  was 
Leesugg,  and  who  had  been  an  actress  before  her  marriage,  was 
accomplished  as  a  musician,  and  as  welcome  in  social  circles  as 
her  husband.  Not  less  so  was  her  sister,  Mrs.  Sharpe,  another 
expert  in  music.  They  lived  at  first  on  Hotel  street,  in  the 
yellow  wooden  house  ■  next  north  of  the  lane  that  leads  to 
Burchard  street.  And  here  their  eldest  son,  John  K.  Hackett, 
the  present  esteemed  recorder  of  New  York,  was  born,  when 
his  father  was  but  twenty.  A  native  of  Utica,  he  imbibed  his 
law  in  after  j^ears  at  the  same  source,  having  been  a  student 
of  Kirkland  &  Bacon.  Another  son,  William  Henry,  was  like- 
wise born  in  Utica,  though  this  was  after  the  pai'ents  w^re  liv- 
ing on  the  north  side  of  Broad  street,  between  Genesee  and 
John.  Of  Mrs.  Hackett's  second  appearance  on  the  stage,  in 
March  1826,  we  read  that  it  "  confirmed  the  pleasing  anticipa- 
tions long  entertained  of  her  musical  performance.  Most  of 
the  songs  in  '  Love  in  a  Village'  are  set  to  old  and  difficult  music, 
yet  she  sang  them  with  taste  and  spirit ;  and  the  Polacca  in  the 
'  Gloom  of  Night,'  she  went  through  with  great  brilliancy  of  ex- 
ecution." 

H-1 


498  THE    P10^'EERS  OF  UTICA. 

Together  I  introduce  two  men  of  marked  and  distinguishing 
traits,  alhed  in  a  business  of  wide  extent  and  almost  universal 
necessity,  who  passed  in  Utica  long  years  of  continuous  and 
well  rewarded  endeavor,  and  in  the  course  of  their  lives  were 
leaders  in  most  of  the  united  undertakings  of  the  place.  These 
were  Theodore  S.  Faxton  and  Silas  D.  Childs,  names  identified 
with  the  needs  of  all  who  once  travelled  by  public  inland  con- 
veyance. I  introduce  them  together,  not  because  they  were 
synchronous  in  their  coming,  but  because  their  business  was  so 
closely  associate,  and  because  the  time  was  so  nearly  the  same 
when  they  assumed  a  responsible  share  in  its  management.  Mr. 
Faxton  was  the  earliest  to  enter  upon  staging,  and  was  a  good 
\vhile  in  the  service  of  Jason  Parker  before  the  arrival  of  Mr. 
Childs.  The  latter  was  his  earliest  partner.  Both  were  natives 
of  Conway,  Mass.,  and  not  far  from  the  same  age.  Both  came 
penniless,  and  attained  wealth  and  influence.  Besides  their 
union  with  Mr.  Parker,  they  were  together  after  his  death  in 
conducting  the  same  business.  They  both  gave  a  helping  hand 
to  facilitate  other  modes  of  conveyance,  and  were  as  zealous  in 
the  construction  of  railroads  as  they  had  before  been  in  trans- 
])orting  bj'  mail.  They  took  part  in  the  same  factories  and 
other  schemes  to  enrich  the  home  of  their  adoption.  Both  w'ere 
wdthout  children,  and,  during  their  life  time,  made  the  needy 
among  their  neighbors,  and  the  institutions  of  charity  about 
them,  the  partakers  of  their  fortunes.  Both  were  endow^ed  with 
strong  practical  sense,  energy,  enterprise  and  power  in  business ; 
and  in  their  individual,  as  well  as  in  their  united  capacity,  have 
done  much  to  advance  the  prosperity  of  Utica. 

The  further  individual  history  of  Mr.  Faxton  is  as  follows: 
It  was  in  1812,  when  he  was  twenty  years  of  age,  that  he  made 
the  village  his  residence,  although  he  had  previous  to  that  time 
w^orketT  on  the  roads  in  the  vicinity.  In  1813  he  obtained  a 
position  as  driver  on  the  stage,  and  held  the  reins  of  four-in- 
hand  every  day  until  1817,  except  for  the  space  of  six  months, 
which  time  was  spent  in  school  at  Clinton.  And  though  after 
this  time  it  was  only  now  and'  then  that  he  mounted  the  box, 
yet  such  was  his  acknowledged  skill  as  a  reinsman  that,  on  oc- 
casions of  ceremony,  or  where  something  extraordinary  was  re- 
quired, he  w^as  the  one  that  was  usually  selected  as  most  com- 
petent to  do  honor  to  the  service.     One  of  the  proudest  remem 


THE  THIRD  CHARTER.  499 

l)rances  of  his  life  is  the  one  that  recalls  the  visit  of  La  Fayette, 
m  1825.  He  got  together  six  dashing  greys,  put  silver  plated 
harness  on  them,  borrowed  the  old  Van  Rensselaer  carriage,  and 
•drove  to  Whitesboro,  where  the  distinguished  guest  was  to  be 
received.  After  General  La  Fayette  had  left  the  packet  and 
got  into  the  carriage,  Mr.  Faxton  felt,  as  he  himself  has  said 
grander  than  Napoleon  Bonaparte.  ' 

A  little  while  previous  he  was  himself  the  real  hero  in  another 
ride,  projected  by  Parker  &  Co.,  to  show  what  could  be  done 
by  stages,  and  which  caused  much  excitement  at  the  time.    This 
was  a  pleasure  ride  to  Albany  and  back,  which  he  conducted 
m  the  winter  of  1822-8,  safely  accomplishing  the  feat  in  eight- 
een  hours.       There  were  six  gentlemen   of   Utica   who   took 
part  in  the  excursion,  viz. :  James  Piatt,  Richard  R.  Lansing 
John  H.  Ostrom,  Charles  P.  Kirkland,  Joseph  S.  Porter  and 
William  Williams.     Arrangements  were  made  for  full  relays  of 
horses  ready  harnessed,  and  for  due  expedition  in  attendance 
Starting  at  midnight,  they  reached  Albany  before  the  opening 
of  the  morning  session  of  the  Legislature.     After  an  hour  of 
rest,  they  set  out  on  their  return,  and  were  not  content  until 
they  had  eked  out  their  two  hundred  miles  by  a  further  ride  to 
and  from  New  Hartford,  the  whole  completed  before  early  bed 
time.     The  following  lines,  descriptive  of  the  ride,  which  were 
written  by  Morgan  Truesdell,  a  rhyming  son  of  St.  Crispin,  hint 
at  some  of  the  stopping  places  then  encountered  by  travellers 
eastward : 

"Extract  from  the  log  book  of  J.  Parker  &  Co.'s  Old  Line 
of  Battle  Sliip,  Flying  Dragon,  Dorick  Faxton,  sailing  master  and 
-acting  boatswain. 

'Twas  twelve  o'clock,  it  was  uo  more, 

When  from  M.  Bagg's  we  started; 
Our  sailing  master  Faxton, 

A  jockey,  jolly-hearted. 

To  reef,  to  steer,  haul  home,  belay, 

You'd  always  find  him  ready, 
Or  give  the  fiery  spanker  play; 

He's  prudent,  prompt  and  steady. 
Helm  a  weather  port  or  lee. 

It's  all  the  same  to  Faxton; 
Aloft,  on  deck,  on  land  or  sea, 

He's  ready  trimmed  for  action. 


500  THE  PIONEERS  OF  UTICA. 

He  piped  all  hands.     "All  hands  aboard!" 
Was  echo'd  round  like  thunder  : 

Our  spanker's  trimmed,  our  ship  unnioor'd. 
She  cleft  the  air  asunder. 

The  Dragon,  built  to  lug  or  run 

Down  any  in  the  nation; 
For  profit,  pleasure,  sport  or  fun, 

She's  always  at  her  station. 

The  wind  north-west  our  courses  haul'd. 

Close  aft,  the  sea  inviting, 
When  loud  our  hardy  boatswain  bawl'd 

Down  helm  for  neighbor  Whiting. 

At  half  past  one  left  Whiting's  hall 
Took  Mason's  o'er  our  quarter; 

Made  Reed's  at  three,  gave  Ckmyne  a  call 
To  breakfast,  brace  and  water. 

At  half  past  four  left  old  Canyne's, 

De  Graff,  and  all  together; 
Ran  Given  down;  the  plain  of  pines 

Lay  hard  upon  our  weather. 

But  soon  we  took  it  o'er  our  lee. 

Our  ardent  hopes  reviving; 
Huzza!  for  the  port  of  Albany 

We  rapidly  are  driving. 

Stand  by,  for  Dunn's,  our  boatswain  bray'd. 
Hard  up  for  Green  street,  laddy: 

Haul  coursers  home;  see  all  belay'd. 
Steady,  hearties,  steady. 

At  nine  o'clock  we  anchored  ship; 

Found  every  shipmate  able 
To  grapple  with  his  can  of  Hip, 

And  rally  round  the  table. 

One  glass  run  out,  all  things  made  right. 
Our  boatswain  bray'd  like  thunder 

'We'll  sup  at  home,  my  hearts,  this  night. 
Or  run  the  Dragon  under.' 

Left  Dunn's  at  ten;  now  homeward  bound, 

We  jollily  are  steering, 
All  dangers  past,  our  hearts  rebound, 

As  th'  wish'd  for  port  we're  nearing. 

At  seven  P.  M.  we  rounded  to 
At  neighbor  Bagg's  (es)  door. 

Of  the  Dragon  took  a  fond  adieu 
And  the  gallant  Faxton. 


THE  THIRD  CHARTER.  501 

A  solitary  but  not  less  exciting  ride  of  those  early  times  he 
made  for  a  different  purpose.  This  was  to  capture  a  visitor  of 
Mr.  Gibson's  at  the  branch  of  the  Bank  of  Utica  located  at 
Canandaigua,  who,  admitted  to  the  freedom  of  the  bank,  sud- 
denly disappeared,  and  with  him  $1,600  of  the  funds  of  the 
newly  opened  institution.  It  was  thought  that  the  thief  had 
gone  eastward,  and  word  was  sent  to  head-quarters.  Mr.  Hunt, 
the  cashier,  at  once  called  on  Mr.  Faxton  for  assistance.  The 
stage  had  left  at  two  p.  m.,  and  the  rogue's  name  was  on  the 
way-bill.  It  was  now  almost  six.  Setting  out  in  a  light  sulky, 
and  availing  himself  of  a  fresh  horse  at  every  station,  Mr.  Fax- 
ton  reached  Albany  before  day  light.  The  stage  had  got  in 
before  him,  and  the  burglar,  with  a  hi^red  horse  and  driver,  had 
bent  his  course  toward  the  north,  as  if  he  aimed  for  Canada. 
Mr.  Faxton  applied  to  his  allies,  Thorpe  and  Sprague,  and  with 
the  aid  of  a  swift  horse,  he  was  soon  on  the  traces.  In  a  pine 
woods,  above  Troy,  he  came  upon  the  fugitive.  Ordering  a 
halt,  he  told  him  he  was  under  arrest,  and  must  go  back  to 
Utica.  "To  Utica!  and  for  what?"  exclaimed  the  astounded 
man,  who  could  not  conceive  it  possible  that,  with  the  despatch 
he  had  made,  he  should  be  so  quickly  overtaken.  "  You  have 
been  at  Canandaigua  lately,  and  the  bank  is  not  so  well  oft'  as 
it  was."  The  truth  was  out  then,  and  without  more  ado  he 
submitted  to  return  with  his  captor.  He  was  tried  and  went 
to  State  prison.  The  bank  recovered  all  the  stolen  money, 
and  rewarded  Mr.  Faxton  with  the  present  of  one  hundred  dol- 
lars. 

After  the  year  1817,  Mr.  Faxton,  as  we  have  said,  was  no 
longer  exclusively  a  driver.  Mr.  Parker  fixed  him  at  Utica, 
and  gave  him  charge  of  a  portion  of  his  business,  his  duties  be- 
ing to  superintend  the  men,  horses  and  coaches,  and  do  all  that 
was  requisite  outside  of  the  office.  Some  little  time  later,  he 
was  offered  an.  interest  in  the  concern,  the  sole  condition  being 
that  he  should  pay  for  his  share  as  the  profits  enabled  him  to 
do.  It  was  in  1822  that  he  thus  became  a  partner,  together 
with  Mr.  Childs,  in  the  firm  of  Parker  &  Co.  The  Erie  canal 
was  not  yet  complete.  And  even  after  its  navigation  was  fully 
opened,  conveyance  by  water  was  a  tedious  mode  of  travel  when 
compared  with  travel  by  land.  It  was  chiefly  selected  to  lessen 
fatigue  or  to  gain  a  night's  rest,  or  b}'  tourists  from  motives  of 


502  THE  PIONEERS  OF  UTICA. 

curiosity  and  the  pleasure  of  a  sail,  or  else  by  families,  and 
those  moving  with  goods ;  it  was  avoided  where  time  was  of 
account.  Merchants,  bankers  and  tradesmen,  bound  to  or  from 
the  metropolis,  lawyers  in  their  progress  to  the  courts,  and  all 
fulfilling  engagements  or  intent  only  on  business,  and  who  must 
needs  go  in  haste,  made  use  of  the  stages.  And  though  the 
number  of  those  who  then  travelled  by  stage  cannot  be  justly 
estimated  by  the  multitudes  who  now  daily  sweep  past  on  the 
rail,  and  though  journeying  by  one's  own  conveyance  was  for- 
merly much  more  customar}^  than  at  present,  yet  it  is  not  difli- 
cult  to  conceive  that  stage  travellers  were  numerous,  and  that 
the  business  which  consisted  in  finding  and  regulating  the  means 
to  carry  them  onward  was  a  large  and  important  one.  At  the 
date  of  the  death  of  Mr.  Parker,  in  1828,  there  were  eight  daily 
lines  of  stages  running  through  Utica  east  and  west,  besides 
four  lines  running  , north  and  south,  with  the  departure  and 
arrival  of  eighty-four  stages  weekly.  This  vast  and  daily  in- 
creasing transport,  the  firm  continued  to  manage  after  the  death, 
of  the  senior  partner,  down  to  the  year  1838.  They  continued 
in  partnership  some  years  longer.  Together  they  erected  the 
Exchange  Building,  on  the  site  of  tlie  old  Canal  Coffee  House, 
and  occupied  themselves  in  collecting  the  rents  of  this,  the 
Eagle  Tavern — the  predecessor  in  site  of  Grace  Church, — and 
other  real  estate  which  they  held  in  common. 

Ere  the  conclusion  of  their  partnership,  Mr.  Faxton  joined 
with  John  Butterfield,  Hiram  Greenman  and  others,  in  the  run- 
ning of  packet  boats  on  the  canal.  In  connection  with  Alfred 
Munson  and  associates,  he  organized  the  first  American  line  of 
steamers  that  ran  on  Lake  Ontario  and  tlie  St.  Lawrence,  and 
continued  for  a  number  of  3'ears  to  be  one  of  the  managing  di- 
rectors. He  was  one  of  the  originators  of  the  Utica  and  Black 
River  Eailroad;  paid  in  a  larger  subscription  than  any  other 
person,  and  for  a  long  time  held  the  office  of  president  of  the 
company.  He  gave  the  first  one  hundred  dollars  that  was  ever 
given  to  found  the  Utica  Mechanics  Association,  and  has  held 
the  presidency  of  that  organization  for  several  terms.  Together 
with  Willett  H.  Sliearman  and  Anson  Dart,  he  was  one  of  the  com- 
missioners, who,  in  1843,  completed  the  erection  of  the  State 
Lunatic  Asylum  at  Utica,  the  first  board  having  been  dismissed 
when  Mr.  Seward  became  Governor,  after  they  had  laid  only 


THE  THIRD  CHARTER.  503 

the  foundations.  In  1852  he  was  chairman  of  the  able  com- 
mittee who  superintended  the  erection  of  the  present  edifice  of 
the  First  Presbyterian  Church,  who  watched  the  laying  of  everj 
stone  and  brick  and  the  driving  of  every  nail.  In  addition  to 
the  above,  Mr.  Faxton  was  one  of  the  originators  of  the  Utica 
Water  Works  Company,  the  Utica  Steam  Cotton  Mills,  the 
Grlobe  Woolen  Mills,  of  which  he  is  now  j^resident,  and  the 
Second  National  Bank,  over  whose  affairs  he  has  presided  ever 
since  its  organization. 

Mr.  Faxton  deserves  particular  credit  for  the  part  he  took,  in 
1845,  in  developing  and  adapting  to  wider  and  to  cheaper  use 
that  great  invention  of  this  century, — the  magnetic  telegraph. 
Aroused  as  he  was,  in  common  with  others,  by  the  published 
accounts  of  what  this  instrument  was  capable  of  doing,  and 
more  especially  by  the  success  of  the  line  recently  laid  down  Ije- 
tween  Baltimore  and  Washington,  he  was,  however,  not  content 
to  wonder  at  a  distance  from  the  scene  of  its  achievements.  But 
after  frequent  discussion  with  business  friends  of  like  prescience 
and  enterprise  with  himself,  he  set  out  for  Washington.  There 
he  spent  a  fortnight  in  personal  examination  of  the  telegraph, 
its  connections  and  its  workings,  and  was  satisfied  with  the 
capabilities  and  probable  general  use  of  this  marvellous  power. 
He  had  learned  from  his  experience  in  the  Telegraph  line  of 
stages, — a  line  his  company  had  fitted  out  to  carry  a  small  num- 
ber of  passengers  at  the  greatest  possible  speed,  and  which  had 
been  so  popular  that  seats  were  bespoken  days  before  the  hour 
of  departure, — that  men  loved  speed,  and  would  encourage  the 
fastest  stages,  the  fastest  boats,  and  the  fastest  means  of  trans- 
mitting intelligence.  From  Amos  Kendal  and  F.  0.  J.  Smith, 
the  owners  associated  with  Professor  Morse,  he  obtained  the 
refusal  of  the  right  to  establish  a  line  of  telegrapli  between  New 
York  and  Bufi'alo,  these  owners  to  have  one  half  of  the  stock 
when  the  line  was  complete.  Returning  home,  he  united  with 
John  Butterfield,  Hiram  Greenman,  Messrs.  Livingston,  Wells 
and  others — the  last  two  as  representatives  of  the  Express  Com- 
pany— and  formed  a  company,  with  a  capital  of  $200,000,  which 
laid  down  the  first  wire  that  was  laid  between  the  above  named 
places.  He  was  chosen  president  of  the  company  and  superin- 
tendent of  the  road,  and  continued  in  this  capacity  for  seven  yeai's, 
laboring  hard  against  much  opposition  to  make  the  enterprise  a 


604  THE  PIONEERS  OF  UTICA. 

success.  It  has  been  inti  mated  that  he  contributed  also  to  cheapen 
the  cost  of  telegraphic  construction.  The  first  wire  in  use  was  of 
coppei',  and  worth  about  sixty  dollars  a  mile.  Professor  Morse 
believed  that  iron  wires  would  rust  easily  and  could  not  be  em- 
ployed, unless  they  were  completely  insulated.  Mr.  Faxton's 
attention  was  called  to  the  wire  fence  which  had  been  in  use  for 
twenty -five  years  on  the  grounds  of  Colonel  Walker's  old  place, 
and  he  conceived  that  if  iron  wire  was  good  for  fence  purposes 
for  such  a  length  of  time,  it  would  do  for  telegraphing.  The 
•copper  wires  were  taken  down  and  sold  for  enough  to  pay  the 
expense  of  two  iron  wires,  the  latter  kind  costing  only  eighteen 
dollars  per  mile,  and  thus  was  saved  the  cost  of  a  new  line. 
The  secret  of  the  ground  circuit  was  not  then  known,  but  was 
soon  afterward  discovered,  and  this  still  further  reduced  the 
expense. 

Mr.  Faxton  never  took  a  very  active  part  in  politics,  but  was 
often  called  to  positions  of  honor  and  trust.  In  1831  he  was  a 
trustee  of  the  village  of  Utica,  was  an  alderman  in  1836,  and 
mayor  in  1864  He  was  a  delegate  to  the  National  Whig 
Convention,  which  nominated  Zachary  Taylor  in  1848,  and  was 
also  sheriff  of  the  county  in  1842.  Holding  the  office  only 
a  few  weeks,  he  was  displaced  by  the  incoming  Grovernor, 
William  C.  Bouck,  for  political  reasons  solely.  In  addition  to 
the  stage,  packet,  steamboat,  railroad  and  telegraph  lines,  banks, 
manufactories  and  other  enterprises  that  have  added  wealth  and 
prosperity  to  Utica,  Mr,  Faxton  has  three  other  monuments 
that  will  perpetuate  his  name  and  add  honor  and  blessings  to 
his  memory, — the  Old  Ladies'  Home  on  Faxton  street,  Faxton 
Hall  at  the  junction  of  Varick  and  Court  streets,  for  the  educa- 
tion of  the  children  of  factory  operatives,  by  day  and  night,  and 
Faxton  Hospital,  the  splendid  institution  recently  opened. 

Mr.  Childs,  who  was  born  in  1794,  had  received  a  good  com- 
mon school  education,  and  had  already  been  a  clerk  in  his  native 
town  before  he  migrated  westward,  in  the  year  1816.  In  Utica 
he  at  once  found  kindred  employment  His  first  employer  was 
his  former  fellow  townsman,  Stalham  Williams,  then  him- 
self connected  with  Jason  Parker.  And  here  it  may  not  be  in- 
appropriate to  remark  that  while  a  single  neighborhood  in  Rhode 
Island  furnished  Oneida  the  Ballous,  the  Shearmans,  the  Caprons 


THE  THIRD  CHARTER.  505 

and  others,  while  the  town  of  Danbury  in  Connecticut  sent  it 
the  Hoyts,  the  Comstocks,  and  Barnum,  &c.,  and  the  town  of 
Litchfield,  the  Hastings  and  Groodsell  and  Seymour,  that  of 
Conway  in  Franklin  county,  Mass.  supplied  four  such  valued 
citizens  as  Williams,  Faxton,  Childs  and  Maynard. 

It  was  not  long  before  the  young  clerk  became  the  book- 
keeper of  Jason  Parker,  and  was  installed  in  the  stage  office 
situated  at  the  south-west  corner  of  the  basement  of  Bagg's 
Hotel,  His  courteous  manners,  his  diligent  and  accurate  habits, 
and  his  conscientious  discharge  of  all  his  duties,  soon  won  upon 
this  appreciative  and  wisely -judging  proprietor.  In  1820  he 
took  him  into  partnership,  and  subsequently  gave  him  his 
daughter  in  marriage.  The  connection  with  Mr.  Parker,  and 
which  was  still  longer  continued  with  Mr.  Faxton,  has  been 
already  noticed.  His  duties  meanwhile  were  mainly  of  the 
same  nature  as  at  first,  that  is  to  say,  the  care  of  the  books  and 
accounts.  The  trim  and  handsome  appearance  of  his  younger 
years  as  he  stood  behind  the  desk,  or  went  in  and  out  of  the 
office,  are  not  wholly  beyond  the  range  of  the  writer's  remem- 
brance, for  it  was  a  daily  spectacle  of  his  extreme  early  youth. 
So,  too,  were  the  bustle  and  flurrv  attendant  on  the  oft  recur- 
ring  arrivals  of  the  stage  : — the  prolonged  toot — toot — toot  of 
the  horn,  ere  it  came  in  sight  at  the  lower  end  of  Main  street, 
or  was  heard  tearing  down  from  the  west,  or  rumbling  over  the 
river  bridge ; — tbe  corps  of  portei's,  stable-boys,  stage-men  and 
loungers,  all  rushing  hastily  fi'om  their  coverts,  in  time  to  wit- 
ness the  grand  flourish  with  which  the  team,  by  a  few  well 
adjusted  touches,  was  brought  flying  to  the  door ; — the  throwing 
open  of  the  coach,  and  the  descent  in  succession  of  the  tall  gen- 
tleman and  the  short  one,  the  stout  gentleman  and  the  thin  one, 
followed  by  the  ladies,  helped  over  the  kindly-placed  wooden 
steps ; — the  unbuckling  of  straps  and  the  dragging  of  trunks 
from  the  depths  of  the  burdened  and  tetering  boot ; — the  re- 
newed crack  of  the  whip,  and  the  disappearance  of  the  cause  of 
all  this  stir.  It  was  a  scene  that  is  familiar  nowadays  only  to 
the  dwellers  in  towns  and  villages  remote  from  railway  courses, 
and  is  scarcely  looked  on  by  the  citizen^  except  during  his  rural 
summer  jaunts.  Exciting  as  it  was  to  the  spectator  without, 
to  the  busy  clerk  at  his  desk  it  was  far  less  absorbing  than  the 
booking  of  names  and  other  preparations  for  departure,  as  well 
as  the  daily  routine  of  way-bills,  correspondence  and  accounts. 


606  THE   PIONEERS  OF  UTICA. 

Apropos  of  this  quiet  office,  never  can  I  forget  an  incident 
connected  with  it  which  happened  as  long  ago  as  when  the 
Cozzens  (Hedges)  tavern  was  in  existence.  Two  stage  horses, 
just  released  from  harness,  started  from  this  tavern,  and  ran 
down  Genesee  street,  turning  thence  into  Main.  And  while 
one  of  them  made  for  the  usual  watering  place,  in  the  river  at 
the  foot  of  First  street,  the  other,  as  if  he  had  business  at  tlie 
office,  bolted  down  its  steps,  and  never  rested  until  he  had 
turned  a  short  corner,  and  wedged  himself  behind  the  counter. 

The  monopoly  in  staging  enjoyed  by  Parker  &  Co.,  ever  since 
the  failure  of  Joshua  Ostrora  &  Co.,  in  1S12,  continued  until 
about  1821,  when  a  new  line  was  started  by  Peter  Cole,  aided  at 
Utica  by  a  plausible,  superpolitic  runner  named  Henry  S.  Storms. 
This  line  was,  however,  soon  overpowered,  and  the  influence 
of  Mr.  Storms  effectively  met  by  introducing  from  Albany  the 
energetic,  driving  John  Butterfield,  the  services  of  the  other 
runner  being  transfen-ed  to  the  packets.  About  1828  the  old 
line  encountered  more  serious  opposition,  when  Josiah  Bissell  of 
Rochester  set  on  foot  a  week-day  line  to  traverse  the  State,  and 
enlisted  in  its  behalf  the  sympathies  and  the  money  of  church 
members  along  the  route.  The  project  caused  nn  intense  de- 
gree of  excitement ;  the  sin  of  travelling  on  Sunday  was  freely 
discussed,  and  a  fierce  war  raged  within  and  without  the  Church. 
It  was  no  long  time  after  the  preaching  of  Mr.  Finney  in  the 
larger  towns  on  the  way,  and  when  men's  minds  were  alive  to 
questions  of  religion.  Dissensions  in  the  Presbyterian  Church 
of  Utica  were  especially  rife,  because  it  was  there  that  Messrs. 
Parker,  Faxton  and  Childs  all  attended,  and  the  pastor,  peace- 
able as  he  was,  and  perhaps  a  little  irresolute  withal,  found  it 
hard  to  conduct  himself  to  the  satisfaction  of  every  one.  But 
the  week  day  line  lacked  both  capital  and  skill  in  its  managers, 
and  beside  had  not  the  privilege  enjoj^ed  by  the  other  of  carry- 
ing the  mail,  and  so  after  a  contest  which  impoverished  itself, 
and  greatly  straitened  the  resources  of  its  rival,  it  finally  yielded 
the  field.  Until  1836  this  field  conthiued  free ;  but  when  the 
Utica  and  Schenectady  road  was  opened,  the  eastward  route 
was  blocked,  and  afterward,  as  the  railway  was  gradually  ex- 
tended, other  routes  were  more  and  more  curtailed,  and  Parkers 
with  the  associate  line  of  stages  was  brought  to  a  close. 

Faxton  and  Childs  still  remained  a  while  together,  closing  up 
the  concern  and  caring  for  the  real  estate  they  owned  in  com- 


THE  THIRD  CHARTER.  507 

mon.  Detaclied  at  length  from  his  near  forty  years  connection 
with  his  partner,  Mr.  Childs  did  not  engage  in  any  new  busi- 
ness of  a  merely  personal  nature.  So  much  of  his  time  as  was 
not  spent  in  doing  for  the  community,  was  occupied  with  his 
own  private  affairs,  and  the  care  of  his  now  ample  estate.  The 
chief  solace  of  the  later  years  of  his  life  he  found  in  the  pursuit 
of  horticulture.  He  had  a  passion  for  flowers  and  the  raising 
of  fruits,  and  esj^ecially  grapes.  In  the  exercise  of  these  pleas- 
ures he  evinced  remarkable  taste  and  skill,  and  met  with  a  high 
degree  of  success.  Nor  was  he  a  mere  selfish  enthusiast,  con- 
tent to  labor  for  himself  alone  :  the  products  of  his  garden  de- 
lighted all  beholders,  and  were  the  comfort  of  many  a  chamber 
of  the  sick,  while  his  annual  grape  parties  were  among  the  ex- 
pected and  most  agreeable  events  of  the  winter.  In  other  par- 
ticulars also  his  benevolence  was  genuine,  and  his  giving  pro- 
fuse. A  good  object  or  a  needy  one  he  never  turned  away 
empty.  Abounding  in  public  spirit,  and  deeply  interested  in 
every  project  devised  for  the  benefit  of  the  town,  he  could  not 
be  an  idle  or  a  useless  spectator.  Trusted  by'  his  townsmen  for 
his  liberality,  his  integrity,  his  good  sense,  his  fidelity,  his  pru- 
dence and  his  wisdom  in  afl'airs,  he  was  relied  on  as  an  import- 
ant actor  in  every  public  undertaking,  whether  social,  charita- 
ble, commercial  or  manufacturing.  He  was  a  director  in  thfe 
Utica  Savings  Bank  and  in  the  Oneida  National ;  a  director  in 
the  Steam  Cotton  and  the  Globe  Woolen  Mills ;  a  director  in  the 
Black  Eiver  Railroad  and  a  manager  of  the  State  Lunatic  Asy- 
lum ;  a  trustee  in  the  Female  Academy  and  in  the  Cemetery 
Association  ;  a  counsellor  of  the  Utica  Orphan  Asylum  and  a 
trustee  of  the  Reformed  Church.  By  him  these  various  posi- 
tions were  never  regarded  as  empty  honors, — tributes  to  his 
wealth  and  standing,  which  made  no  exactions  on  his  time  and 
efforts.  He  was  prompt  at  every  meeting,  faithful  to  every 
trust,  and  cheerfully  aided  with  his  judicious  but  unobtrusive 
counsel.  At  his  death  all  of  these  corporate  bodies  expressed 
their  regret  at  his  loss,  and  published  testimonials  of  his  import- 
ance to  their  association,  especially,  as  well  as  to  his  excellence 
as  a  citizen. 

Mr.  Childs,  was  by  instinct,  and  in  the  highest  sense,  a  gen- 
tleman. He  had  not  only  the  suave  courtesy  of  manner  and 
of  tongue,  and  the  modest  unpretension  of  the  well-bred  man, 


508  THE  PIONEERS  OF  UTICA. 

he  had  also  the  refinement  of  feeling,  the  justness  of  sentiment, 
the  kindness  and  generosity  of  heart,  the  evenness  of  temper, 
and  the  purity  of  motive,  which  are  the  basis  of  the  true  born 
gentleman.  Not  to  praise  liim  unduly,  nor  to  claim  for  him 
preeminence  in  a  few  special  attributes  of  merit,  it  may  justly 
be  said  that  his  superiority  depended  on  the  assemblage  of 
many,  that  his  was  a  rounded  and  comparatively  finished  char- 
acter. He  was  sensitive  to  opposition  and  to  wrong,  but  he  had 
the  rare  ability  to  keep  silent  when  disturbed,  or  to  retire  if 
unduly  excited.  His  death  occurred  suddenly,  while  he  was 
in  the  director's  room  of  the  Oneida  National  Bank,  on  the 
11th  of  July,  1866,  after  suffering  for  some  months  from  an 
organic  trouble  of  which  few  knew  but  his  ph^^sician.  By 
request  of  the  mayor  of  LTtica,  stores  and  other  places  of  bus- 
iness throughout  the  city  were  closed  during  the  passage  of 
his  funeral.  The  munificent  legacies  left  by  Mr.  Childs,  for 
educational  and  elemosynary  purposes,  were  in  harmony  with 
the  many  charitable  deeds  of  his  life.  They  amounted  in  all 
to  ninety  thousand  dollars,  and  were  as  follows :  To  Hamilton 
College  for  the  founding  of  a  Professorship  of  Agricultural 
Chemistry,  $30,000 ;  to  the  Utica  Orphan  Asylum,  $25,000  ; 
and  to  the  following  $5,000  each,  viz. :  Forest  Hill  Cemetery, 
the  Reformed  Church  of  Utica,  the  Board  of  Foreign  Missions 
of  the  Beformed  Church,  its  Board  of  Domestic  Missions,  its 
Board  of  Publication,  the  American  Bible  Society,  and  the 
American  Tract  Society. 

His  wife  Roxana  (Parker,)  was,  by  her  extreme  deafness,  in 
a  great  degree  deprived  of  the  pleasures  of  general  social  inter- 
course, and  was  largely  dependent  on  his  tender  and  continued 
devotion.  With  a  veneration  for  his  memoiy  that  could  not 
vent  itself  in  other  means,  she  purchased  the  chapel  then 
recently  erected  at  Forest  Hill  Cemetery  and  presented  it  to 
the  association,  to  be  maintained,  in  memor}^  of  her  husband, 
as  a  place  for  funeral  services  and  for  temporary  sepulture,  in 
free  and  common  use  forever.  In  her  will  she  supplemented 
his  bequests,  selecting  for  the  most  part  the  same  objects  that 
had  profited  by  his  benefactions.  And  these  were  her  bequests, 
increased  as  they  were  by  a  residuary  portion  of  her  estate :  To 
Hamilton  College  for  the  Agricultural  Professorship,  $58,101.64 ; 
to  the  Utica  Orjjhan  Asylum,  $48,417.04;  to  the  Utica  Female 


THE  THIRD  CHAKTER.  509 

Academy,  $16,367. Oi;  and  to  the  following,  each  $9,683.04; 
viz. :  Forest  Hill  Cemetery,  the  Board  of  Foreign  Missions  of 
the  Reformed  Church,  its  Board  of  Domestic  Missions,  the 
American  Bible  Society,  and  the  American  Tract  Society. 

A  man  of  polished  addi'ess  and  amiable  and  tender  feelings, 
came  this  year  from  Albany,  and  joined  William  Tillman  in 
selling  hardware.  This  was  Charles  E.  Hardy.  He  married 
Louisa,  daughter  of  Thomas  Walker,  and  in  the  fall  of  1822 
formed  a  partnership  with  his  brother-in-law,  William  Walker. 
Their  hardware  establishment,  located  at  No.  80  Genesee  street, 
was  continued  some  time  after  the  withdrawal  of  Mr.  Walker, 
but  was  finally  ended  by  Mr.  Hardy's  removal  to  Ithaca  about 
1830.  There  he  lived  until  his  death  July  7,  1868.  While 
here  he  built  and  lived  in  the  house  now  occupied  by  John 
Carton.  His  widow  and  two  daughters,  Mrs.  J.  W.  Williams 
and  Miss  Hardy,  are  residents  of  Ithaca. 

Another  firm  dealing  in  the  same  kind  of  ware,  that  of 
Spencer  Stafford  &  Co.,  succeeded  to  that  of  Enos  Brown.  The 
Stafford  family  had  long  carried  on  this  business  in  Albany. 
They  were  backers  of  Stafford  &  Brown,  and  when  the  latter  fail- 
ed they  assumed  the  place.  Their  head,  Spencer  Stafford,  had 
three  sons  engaged  with  him,  Spencer,  Jr.,  Hallenbake  and  Joab. 
Of  these  the  two  former  now  moved  to  Utica,  Joab  following  a 
few  years  later.  And  these,  with  varying  partners,  conducted  the 
the  house  many  years,  nearly  on  the  site  of  the  store  of  Hopson  and 
Shepard,  and  afterwards  a  few  doors  above  the  square  on  the  east 
side  of  Genesee.  Spencer,  Jr.,  born  June  22, 1798,  married  Miss 
Sarah  Sanger  Eames  of  New  Hartford,  who  is  still  living.  Besides 
the  above  mentioned  business  connection,  he  was  at  one  time 
a  dry  goods  merchant  in  New  York.  His  death  took  place 
October  26,  1866.  Of  his  seven  children,  Spencer  H.,  is  now 
a  lawyer  at  Oneida.  Hallenbake,  an  older  brother,  made  a  much 
shorter  stay  in  Utica.  Joab  was  the  only  one  of  the  three  who 
was  resident  in  1829. 

In  this  connection  let  us  notice  one  who  was  most  of  his  life 
engaged  in  the  hardware  trade,  though  at  this  time  dealing  in 
other  goods  as  well.  James  Sayre.  a  native  of  Milton,  Sara- 
toga county,  and  born  in  1799,   came  to  Utica  in  1818,  and 


510  THE  PIONEERS  OF  UTICA. 

entered  the  store  of  John  H.  Handy.  He  soon  became  a  j)art- 
ner,  and  on  the  death  of  Mr.  Hand}^,  assumed  the  sole  manage- 
ment, completing  also  the  erection  of  the  National  Hotel,  which 
the  latter  had  begun.  His  first  subsequent  partner  was  Philip 
Thurber,  and  this  connection  was  followed  about  1835  b}^  one 
with  Alanson  House,  which  lasted  until  1849.  In  1837  he 
entered  into  an  arrangement  for  dealing  in  New  York,  likewise. 
The  firm,  known  by  the  title  of  Townshend,  Sajn-e  and  Clark, 
and  in  which  Mr.  House  was  also  interested,  lasted  until  1852. 
From  that  time  onward,  Mr.  Sayre  carried  on  business  in  com- 
pany with  his  sons  Charles  and  Theodore.  At  first  he  was 
located  next  below  the  canal  on  the  east  side  of  Genesee  street, 
but  when  this  channel  was  widened,  and  his  store  encroached 
upon,  he  bought  the  land  whereon  stands  the  present  store  of 
his  sons,  put  up  a  wooden  building,  and  afterwards  the  fine 
brick  one  which  now  fills  that  site. 

Industrious,  S3'stematic  and  thrifty,  he  gave  close  and  con- 
tinued attention  to  his  affairs  until  a  year  or  more  before  his 
death,  when  bodily  infirmities  caused  him  to  withdraw  from 
active  duties.  He  reaped  the  reward  due  to  such  devotion  by 
the  possession  of  a  handsome  fortune,  and  what  is  of  greater 
value  the  full  confidence  of  the  community.  He  was  consci- 
entious and  upright  in  his  dealings,  and  through  his  long  life 
his  integrity  grew  to  be  recognized  and  honored  by  all.  He 
was  sincere  and  earnest  in  his  convictions,  with  a  sunny  tem- 
perament and  an  affectionate  disposition.  His  judgments  of 
men  were  dictated  by  a  nice  sense  of  justice,  and  mellowed  by 
a  kindness  that  was  broad  and  generous.  He  borrowed  noth- 
ing from  ofiicial  station,  and  except  that  he  was  alderman  in 
1830,  he  held  no  municipal  office,  though  he  always  took  a 
deep  interest  in  pal)lic  affairs.  He  served  considerably  as  a 
bank  director,  at  first  in  the  United  States  Branch,  then  for  a 
short  time  in  the  Ontario  Branch,  and  later  for  many  ^-ears  in 
the  Oneida  National,  of  which  he  was  president  at  his  decease. 
Of  the  Black  Eivcr  Railroad  he  was  a  director  from  its  organ- 
ization, and  participated  in  all  labors  and  responsibilities  until 
stricken  down  by  disease, — "a  valued  and  pleasant  associate, 
in  whom  the  puljlic  })luced  such  confidence  that  his  name  was 
a  symbol  of  strength  to  the  enterprize."  For  many  years  he 
was  a  trustee  of  the  First  Presbyterian    Church,   and  for  no 


THE  THIRD  CHARTER.  511 

little  period  its  treasurer.  Of  the  Utica  Cemetery  Association 
he  was  also  for  a  time  the  prudent  and  judicious  head.  In 
1824,  Mr.  Say  re  was  married  to  Miss  Van  Ranst  of  New  York, 
who  survives  him.  They  were  the  parents  of  three  sons  and 
two  daughters,  viz. :  Charles,  Emma  (Mrs.  Bixbey),  James, 
Caroline  and  Theodore,  the  last  being  the  present  Senator  from 
this  district.  Mr.  Sayre's  decease,  which  was  caused  by  a  renew- 
ed attack  of  paralysis,  occurred  April  22,  1877. 

Seth  Peckham,  from  Troy,  who  came  into  the  county  in 
1817,  and  to  Utica  in  1820,  was  the  founder  of  a  manufactory 
of  ploughs  and  other  implements  of  iron.  Under  date  of  "  third 
month  (called  March)  1,  1820,"  he  announces  that  he  has  opened 
a  shop  for  the  above  mentioned  purpose  on  Catherine  street, 
where  soon  afterward  Amos  Peckham  was  his  partner.  Seven 
years  later  he  is  engaged  in  making  vinegar,  on  Fayette  street, 
and  has  sold  his  factory  to  his  enterprising  uepliew,  John  S. 
Peckham.  The  latter  was  joined,  some  years  later,  by  his  half- 
brother,  Merritt,  and  they,  with  their  sons  and  nephews,  have 
continued  the  factory  to  the  present  time,  greatly  enlarging  it, 
and  increasing  the  range  of  its  production.  Another  plough 
maker  of  1820  was  John  Gibson,  who  was  on  Broad  street, 
"  near  the  hay  scales."     But  he  was  soon  gone. 

A  citizen  who  had  migrated  from  Providence,  R.  I.  some  ten 
years  before,  and  had  been  a  tanner  in  the  employ  of  James 
Hopper,  then  a  tavern  keeper  at  New  Hartford,  and  who  now 
transferred  his  tavern  keeping  to  Utica,  was  Levi  Cozzens.  In 
New  Hartford  he  kept  what  of  late  was  known  as  the  brick  hotel, 
then  called  the  "  Old  Stage  Coach  Tavern."  In  Utica  he  took 
charge  of  the  "Hedge's  Tavern,"  so  called,  opposite  Catherine 
street,  which  was  now  vacated  by  the  advancement  of  Sam. 
Gay,  its  late  landlord,  to  the  proprietorship  of  the  York  House, 
He  remained  here  some  years,  and  when  he  left  it,  the  tavern 
went  also,  and  is  now  a  double  house  on  Seneca  street.  Mr. 
Cozzens  next  engaged  in  the  lumber  trade,  and  followed  it  until 
the  death  of  his  wife,  in  1858.  His  lumber  yard  was  on  Broad- 
way next  above  the  canal,  and  his  residence  opposite,  below  the 
canal.  He  once  owned  the  land  adjoining  the  Oneida  National 
Bank,  and  put  up  the  store  on  the  corner  above  it.     He  was 


512  THE  PIONEERS  OF  UTICA, 

one  of  the  founders  of  the  Mechanics  Association,  was  its  pres 
ident  in  18-16,  and  its  treasurer  from  1850  to  1862,  and  was 
also  chairman  of  the  building  committee  which  erected  the 
hall.  After  the  death  of  his  wife,  Mr.  Cozzens  lived  with  one 
or  other  of  his  children  until  his  death,  at  the  advanced  age  of 
eighty-six.  This  took  place  at  Buffalo,  Februaiy  10,  1873. 
His  remains  were  brought  to  Utica  for  interment.  He  was  a 
man  of  upright  business  principles,  a  constant  worshipper  at  the 
old  Presbyterian  Church  and  one  of  its  trustees.  Mrs.  Cozzens, 
it  is  asserted,  was  the  first  child  born  in  the  town  of  New  Hart- 
ford. Their  children  were  Mary  Ann  (Mrs.  Orville  Brown), 
deceased ;  Julia  (Mrs.  Silas  Kingsley  of  Buffalo) ;  Cornelia  (Mrs. 
Eurotas  Marvin  of  Buffalo);  Henry  H.,  deceased;  Elizabeth 
(Mrs.  A.  T.  Spencer),  deceased ;  Charles  L.  and  Edward. 

A  tavern  keeper  named  Elisha  Backus  had  been  in  Trenton 
since  1807,  where,  also,  he  was  concerned  in  staging.  Coming 
to  Utica  in  1820,  he  abandoned  inn  keeping,  and  bought  a  line  of 
stages  that  Bildad  Merrell  and  Ira  Dickinson  had  set  up  between 
Utica  and  Denmark.  He  was  also  interested  in  a  line  between 
Eome  and  Oswego.  His  wife  was  a  Merriam  of  Lewis  county. 
One  son,  Elisha,  was  engaged  with  him  in  staging,  and  one 
(Charles  C.)  was  a  bookseller.  Another,  Mancer  M.,  after  hav- 
ing graduated  with  high  honors  at  Columbia  College,  took 
charge  of  the  Utica  Academy  at  the  age  of  twenty,  and  was  its 
principal  from  April  1838,  to  January  1841.  Both  of  the  latter 
now  reside  in  New  York.  A  daughter,  Amanda,  became  Mrs. 
Chapman  of  Morristown,  another  one  became  the  wife  of  H.  H. 
Hawley,  and  another  that  of  Eev.  Dr.  Corey.  Three  other  tav- 
ern keepers  were  Theophilus  Lombard,  proprietor  of  the  New 
England  House ;  Noah  Briggs,  head  of  the  Union  Inn ;  and 
Joseph  Mack,  who  opened  the  Canal  Coffee  House.  The  former 
was  the  successor  of  Bellinger ;  Briggs  was  situated  on  Seneca 
street  and  the  canal.  Neither  of  them  stayed  more  than  ten 
years.     Mack  was  soon  gone. 

Edward  Aikin,  brother  of  Rev.  Samuel  C,  taught  the  classics 
in  the  Academy  of  Utica,  in  1821,  and  in  the  Academy  at  Pom- 
pey  in  1823.  He  studied  medicine  with  Dr.  Theodore  Pomeroy, 
and  in  182'1  was  associated  with  him  in  practice.     It  was  but  a 


THE  THIRD  CHAETEE.  513 

short  time  that  he  remained  however;  he  went  south  for  his 
health,  and  died  at  an  early  age.  He  received,  in  1821,  the  de- 
gree of  A.  M.  from  Hamilton  College,  and  was  probably  an  alum- 
nus of  an  eastern  institution.    Johnston  was  another  teacher 

of  the  Academy ;  and Palmer  a  writing  master. 

A  citizen  of  Utica  of  protracted  residence  was  Otis  Whipple. 
Born  in  Mendon,  Mass.,  December  16,  1781,  he  came  with  his 
father,  Otis  Whipple,  Sr.,  to  Deerfield,  and  at  an  early  age  was 
a  clerk  in  Utica.  In  1810,  in  company  with  Cyrus  Trowbridge, 
another  clerk,  he  located  in  Lowville.  Not  meeting  with  con- 
tinued success,  he  returned  in  1820,  and  became  a  writer  in  the 
office  of  Eichard  R.  Lansing.  At  a  later  period,  he  was  a  dealer 
in  lands,  and  later  still,  justice  of  the  peace  for  a  number  of 
years.  He  died  October  13,  1861.  He  was  twice  married,  and 
his  children  were  Charlotte,  unmarried,  Mrs.  Bigelow,  Mrs  Alfred 
Putnam,  and  Edward.  Otis  W.  Whipple,  nephew  of  the  pre- 
ceding, was  from  the  j'ear  1820  a  clerk  in  the  Post-office  until 
1826  or  '27,  and  afterwards  in  the  Bank  of  Utica.  But  for  most 
of  the  succeeding  3"ears  he  has  been  employed  as  a  book- keeper 
and  accountant,  until  ill  health  compelled  him  to  retire. 

Traders,  whose  relations  to  Utica  were  less  enduring,  were  : 
L.  Barton  &  Co.,  who  dealt  in  millinery  ;  Henry  B.  Ely,  engaged 
in  storage  and  forwarding,  and  who,  in  1820,  advertised  that  he 
would  transport  goods  for  twenty-five  cents  per  cwt.  for  one 
hundred  miles  including  toll,  or  about  five  cents  a  ton  per  mile, 
which  was  at  least  one  quarter  less  than  by  land ;  Mr.  Ely  re-  , 
moved  to  Rochester ;  Thomas  H.  Whittemore,  hatter,  and  sub- 
sequently keeper  of  the  United  States  Hotel,  much  interested 
in  the  Baptist  Church,  whose  residence  terminated  about  1832. 

Jabez  Miller,  baker,  came  with  a  family  from  Southampton, 
England,  and  continued  to  make  bread  until  his  decease,  Jan- 
uary 3,  1830.  He  was  once  burned  out,  and  to  some  one  com- 
miserating him  upon  his  loss,  he  replied  most  characteristically : 
"  1  have  a  house  above  that  can't  be  burned."  His  later  bakery 
and  residence,  on  the  south  side  of  Broad,  between  Genesee  and 
John,  has  recently  been  demolished  to  make  room  for  the  new 
government  building.  One  son,  Henry  T.  Miller,  two  daughters 
i-l 


514  THE  PIONEERS  OF  UTICA. 

and  the  children  of  William  G.  Miller  still  preserve  his  name 
and  memory.  A  brewer  and  malster,  named  Joseph  Goodliffe, 
conducted  a  brewery,  in  company  with  his  son,  on  Varick  street 
near  Nail  creek.  And  there  in  March  1823,  he,  too,  was  burned 
out,  saving  only  a  small  insurance  on  his  stock.  The  building 
was  reerected  and  the  son  has  continued  the  making  of  malt 
until  a  recent  date.  In  the  end  he  added  also  the  sale  of  hyge- 
ian  pills.     J.  Bedbury  exchanged  brewing  for  groceries, 

Joseph  Blake,  tailor,  from  Whitesboro,  united  with  John 
George  in  the  succession  to  the  shop  of  John  C.  Hoyt.  He 
lived  a  few  years  only,  but  his  son,  Edmund  W.  Blake,  was  a 
merchant  tailor  until  towards  1850;  while  the  wife  of  the  latter 
carried  on  millinery  until  her  removal  to  Chicago.  Two  other 
tailors  named  Darle}-  and  Whelon,  Irishmen  of  goodly  appear- 
ance, were  here  a  few  years. 

The  Utica  Museum  was  kept  by  Henrj'^  Eunalls,  on  the  east 
side  of  Genesee,  a  few  doors  below  Broad,  where  his  organ 
dolefully  ground  out  the  livelong  hours.  Mr.  Ennalls  went  to 
Virginia  just  before  Comfort  Butler  established  Peale's  Museum, 
higher  up  the  street.  As  to  Stowell  &  Bishop,  who  advertised 
a  Museum  on  Main  street,  it  is  suspected  that  one  of  them  is  the 
Charles  Bishop,  grocer  of  1828.  Thomas  S.  Mitchell,  farmer 
and  constable,  whose  home  was  on  Third  street,  lived  in  Utica  at 
least  thirty  years  ;  Henry  Stevens,  blacksmith  on  the  coi'ner  of 
Seneca  and  Washington,  full  twentj^  years;  James  Stanton 
quite  as  long.  David  C.  Scott,  pavior,  may  be  traced  to  1834  ; 
but  David  Scott,  his  father,  of  the  same  occupation,  no  longer 
than  1828  ;  Bernard  Cole,  laborer,  and  William  Cole,  butcher, 
Edward  Smith,  carpenter,  and  James  Johnson,  laborer,  until 
1832  ;  Philip  J.  Lee,  a  boy  in  the  village  since  1811,  at  first  a 
chair-maker's  apprentice,  and  then  a  painter's,  and  who  after- 
wards painted  a  sign  of  his  own,  until  1831  ;  Ichabod  Hill, 
shoemaker,  Andrew  Nash,  hatter,  Isaac  Eees,  laborer,  until 
1829  ;  Asahel  Bi-iggs,  laborer,  William  Casey,  shoemaker,  David 
Downing,  morocco  dresser,  James  Place,  merchant,  Edward 
Crane,  the  artificer  of  the  Catholic  Church  and  other  important 
works,  until  1828,  the  era  of  the  second  Directory,  when  he  went 
to  Canada.     Walker  Canfield,  grocer,  was  a  resident  in  1825. 


d 


THE  THIRD  CHAETER.  515 

A  youth  in  the  office  of  Seward  and  Williams,  who  in  time 
attained  a  position  of  honor  and  usefulness,  was  John  Morgan, 
a  native  of  Cork,  born  in  November  1802.  While  an  appren- 
tice, he  became  a  subject  of  grace,  and  determined  on  being  a 
minister.  Having  prepared  for  college  at  Stockbridge  Academy, 
he  entered  Williams  College,  and  was  graduated  in  1S26.  *  Su})- 
porting  himself  afterward  by  teaching,  he  completed  his  theo- 
logical course,  at  Lane  Seminary,  was  settled  for  a  time  at 
Clinton,  in  this  county,  and  was  thence  called  to  a  professorship 
at  Oberlin.  At  first,  he  held  the  chair  of  New  Testament  Lit- 
erature, but  since,  for  some  years,  he  has  filled  that  of  Biblical 
Literature. 

A  tax  list  of  1820  afi:ords  the  following  additional  names,  of 
which  Otis  P.  Granger  represents  a  student  at  law,  William 
Bristol,  Ealph  Clark  and  Van  Yechten  Livingston,  subsequent 
merchants  of  Utica,  and  E.  Birdsell,  cabinet-maker;  Crandal  Lee, 
chairmaker ;  B.  Brewer,  Nathaniel  Dinsmore  and  Benjamin 
Thayer,  blacksmiths ;  Jonathan  Pelton,  butcher ;  J.  Eobinson, 
barber ;  Abner  Burges,  Jeremiah  Prosser  and  Peter  Weaver, 
laborers.  The  residuum  of  this  tax  list,  after  withdrawing  all 
of  whom  any  remembrance  is  retained,  and  which  may  include 
some  who  were  non-resident,  is  found  in  the  note  below.* 


182L 

The  village  corporation  of  1821  was  constituted  as  follows : 
Ezra  S.  Cozier,  president.  Benjamin  Ballon,  Jr.,  and  John  Bax- 
ter, of  the  first  ward,  James  Hooker  and  John  H.  Handy,  of  the 

*  Benjamin   and  Matthias   Austin,  Benjamin  Andrews,  James  Babcock, 

Francis   Barker,  E.  Battle,  Bolton   Benjamin,  Birch, Broat, 

Alpheus  Brown,  Roland  E.  Brown,  Chester  Brookins,  Edmund  Buell,  Merrit 
Butler,  J.  Cove,  Isaac  Cowan,  D.  Catting,  James  Dunce,  N.  Everett,  J.  Gard- 
ner, Simon  Johnson,  J.  Hilton,  C.  Carson,  Nicholls  Kettle, Kinch,  Eben- 

ezer  Knowles,  James  O.  Kelly,  C.  N.  S.  Lambert,  John  Lemonim,  Aaron  and  E. 

Lyon,  May,  A.  McKnight,  Aaron  Morris,  Seth  Newland,  James  Peak, 

John  Pierson,  Warren  Richardson,  Seth  Rowland, Saidler,  S.  Shad- 

rach,  H.  M.  Shaw, Sidney,  A.  Sherman,  A.  Sherman,  Jr.,  Frederick 

Spooner,  Daniel  Spencer,  J.  Stamford,   Joseph   Stebbins,  Lewis  Stevens, 

Henry  Stilwell,  John  Thomas, Upham,  D.  Vail,  Z.  Thorn,  Joseph 

"Waggoner,  Jeffrey  Watson,  Joel  Wesson,  S.  Wills,  David  L.,  Garrett,  and 
P.  Winter,  Jacob  Whitney,  D.  Wright. 


516  THE   PIONEERS  OF  UTICA. 

second,  and  Thomas  Walker  and  David  P.  Hojt,  of  the  third,, 
trustees;  Benjamin  Ballon,  Jr.,  Stalham  Williams  and  ApoUos 
Cooper,  assessors  of  their  respective  wards;  John  H.  Ostrom^, 
clerk ;  John  Bradish,  treasurer ;  Thomas  E.  Clark,  overseer  of  the 
poor,  Daniel  Stafford,  superintendent  of  streets  ;  Joshua  Ostrom 
and  Kohert  Jones,  Constables,  &c.,  &c. 

Seven  hundred  and  twenty-three  dollars  and  twenty-five 
cents  was  raised  for  contingent  expenses,  and  four  hundred  for 
the  support  of  the  poor  ;  the  Market,  that  former  source  of 
contention,  and  which  had  been  banished  to  Water  street,  was 
sold  to  Daniel  Thomas  for  $50  ;  an  alley  was  ordered  to  be 
opened  from  Geuesee  to  Hotel  street,  starting  from  between  the 
stores  of  William  Tillman  and  Peter  Bours.  A  deed  was  obtained 
from  the  Seneca  Turnpike  Company  of  that  part  of  the  turn- 
pike lying  east  of  the  Supreme  Court  clerk's  office,  and  a  fresh 
committee  was  empowered  to  treat  with  landholders  along  the 
line  of  Bleecker  street  continued.  And  this  was  all  the  import- 
ant work  of  the  trustees  of  1821. 

The  sons  of  St.  Patrick  were  now  numerous  enough,  and 
their  enthusiasm  ardent  enough  to  prompt  them  to  a  public  ob- 
servance of  his  natal  day.  About  seventy  persons,  Irishmen 
and  their  guests,  sat  down  to  an  elegant  repast,  during  which 
much  conviviality  prevailed. 

The  society  of  Utica  gained  at  this  time  in  the  Eev.  Henry 
Anthon,  the  new  rector  of  Trinity,  a  cultivated  and  desirable 
member,  and  the  church  itself  an  able  and  affectionate  pastor, 
widely  distinguished  in  after  years  for  his  evangelical  sentiments 
and  his  amiable  and  earnest  character.  His  father.  Dr.  C.  G. 
Anthon,  though  a  German  by  birth,  rose  to  the  rank  of  surgeon - 
general  in  the  British  army,  in  which  he  served  during  the 
greater  part  of  the  old  Anglo-French  war,  and  before  resigning 
his  commission,  married  the  orphan  daughter  of  a  French  officer, 
when  he  settled  in  New  York.  Among  his  six  sons  were  the- 
well-known  Charles  Anthon,  the  classical  scholar,  John  Anthon, 
the  lawyer,  as  well  as  the  no  less  distinguished  subject  of  this 
notice.  The  latter  was  born  in  New  York,  on  the  11th  of 
March,  1795.  Having  completed  his  school  instruction,  he  en- 
tered Columbia  College,  and  four  years  afterward,  in  1813,  he  left 


THE  THIRD  CHARTER.  517 

it  with  his  bachelor's  degree.  He  entered  at  once  upon  the 
study  of  divinity,  under  the  direction  of  Bishop  Hobart,  and,  in 
■September  1S19,  was  ordained  to  the})riesthood.  Commencing 
his  ministry  at  Eed  Hoolc,  Ulster  county,  he  labored  there  three 
years.  The  very  high  regard  which  Bishop  Hobart  always  en- 
tertained for  him,  commending  him  to  young  men  as  a  pattern 
for  their  imitation  in  the  ministry,  gave  him  a  widely-spread 
acceptance  among  the  churches  of  his  diocese.  His  health  be- 
coming impaired,  he  passed  the  two  succeeding  winters  in  South 
■Carolina,  officiating  in  St.  Bartholomew's,  Colleton,  but  declin- 
ing to  permanently  settle.  At  his  departure,  the  vestry  de- 
clared, in  their  letter  to  him,  that  "words  were  inadequate  to 
express  the  high  opinion  they  entertained  of  his  meritorious 
services,  and  that  his  eloquence  and  zeal  in  the  ministrations  of 
the  church  had  not  more  adorned  his  public  character  than  his 
virtues,  and  admirable  deportment  in  private  life,  had  endeared 
him  to  his  parishioners." 

It  was  at  this  time,  the  spring  of  1821,  when  the  call  having 
been  renewed  by  the  church  at  Utica,  which  had  been  unsuccess- 
fully extended  to  him  during  his  ministry  at  Red  Hook,  that  he 
accepted  an  invitation  to  its  rectorship.  He  was  called  in  May, 
came  the  following  month  with  a  wife  and  two  children,  and 
began  his  labors.  From  the  first  his  success  was  assured.  Slight 
of  figure  and  youthful  of  aspect,  there  was  in  his  manner  an 
open  frankness,  and  in  his  countenance  a  grave,  thoughtful  and 
determined  air,  which  impressed  and  won  the  beholder.  His 
sermons  were  marked  by  purity,  beauty  and  finish  of  style, 
and  in  both  them  and  his  conversation  there  was  a  racy  flavor 
of  strength  that  betokened  ability  of  a  high  order.  A  riper 
acquaintance  confirmed  the  earlier  impression,  and  showed  that 
while  he  was  ingenuous  and  agreeable,  yet  without  levity, 
he  was  also  inflexible  in  purpose  and  fearless  in  duty.  His 
ministry  was  characterized  by  the  sam.e  energy  and  singleness 
of  aim  which  he  had  evinced  in  his  previous  labors.  He  was 
an  attentive  and  indefatigable  pastor,  and  a  genial  and  faithful 
friend.  As  might  be  expected,  he  was  successful  in  securing 
the  good  opinion  of  the  community,  and  the  love  of  all  classes 
of  his  people.  Their  devotion  to  him  may  be  inferred  from  a 
resolution  which  they  passed  in  1828,  when  he  received,  but  de- 
clined, a  call  to  the  Church  of  St.  Thomas,  in  New  York  City.    It 


518  THE   PIONEERS  OF  UTICA. 

was  as  follows :  "  Resolved^  by  the  Congregation,  That  our  highly- 
respected  and  esteemed  pastor  is  entitled,  in  a  preeminent  degree, 
to  the  increased  affection  and  confidence  of  the  vestry  and  con- 
gregation of  this  church  for  this  unequivocal  proof  of  genuine 
attachment  which  he  has  shown  for  their  prosperity  and  peace, 
and  for  their  future  and  eternal  welfare,  in  declining  a  call  so 
honorable  to  himself  and  the  highly-respected  church  which 
made  it."  It  was  during  the  pastorate  of  Mr.  Antlion  that  a 
rectory  of  Trinity  was  built  on  the  school  lot  in  the  rear  of  the 
church.  Repeated  movements  were  made,  likewise,  toward 
effecting  some  alterations  in  the  church  itself,  such  as  enlarging 
the  galleries  and  increasing  the  number  of  pews,  so  as  to  fit  it  to 
receive  a  greater  number  of  worshippers ;  plans  were  even  pre- 
pared for  a  new  building.  Nothing  of  the  kind  was  executed 
until  a  few  years  afterward.  The  communion  service  still  in 
use  by  the  church  was,  however,  now  purchased,  and,  in  part, 
from  the  avails  of  a  sacred  concert.  Such  a  concert  was  given 
about  Christmas,  1821,  when  an  organ  was  placed  in  the  church. 
The  new  organist  was  George  Dutton,  and  he  was  assisted  in  the 
singing  by  Mrs.  Satterlee  Clark,  Mrs.  Hackett.  Mrs.  Sanger, 
Thomas  S.  Williams,  Henry  Green  and  others.  The  concert 
was  a  novelty,  which  drew  together  a  crowd  from  all  the  sur- 
rounding country,  and  was  so  popular  that  it  was  repeated  for 
several  successive  holy-day  seasons. 

But  it  w^as  for  no  long  time  that  the  church  of  Utica  were  tO' 
enjoy  the  services  of  their  beloved  minister.  His  naturally  quick 
parts,  his  thorough  education  and  his  zealous  piety  attracted  early 
ecclesiastical  preferment.  Already  he  was  largely  concerned  in 
the  official  business  of  the  diocese,  as,  in  the  course  of  years,  he 
received  all  its  leading  trusts,  next  to  the  Episcopate.  In  Janu- 
ary 1829,  a  year  after  he  had  dechned  the  call  to  St.  Thomas', 
he  accepted  one  to  St.  Stephen's,  in  the  same  city.  Two  years 
later,  after  the  death  of  Bishop  Hobart,  he  was  chosen  one  of 
the  assistant  ministers  of  Trinity,  and  in  December  1836,  he 
was  made  rector  of  St.  Mark's.  There  for  twenty  years  he  ful- 
filled the  office,  and  there  he  closed  his  useful  career,  on  the  5th 
of  January,  1861.  For  a  fuller  characterization  of  Dr.  Anthon 
we  must  depend  on  those  who  knew  him  closely  in  his  later 
life,  who,  from  their  position  and  their  I'ohitions  to  the  subject, 
wx're  most  competent  to  judge,  and  who  were,  moreover,  con- 


THE  THIRD  CHARTER.  619 

versant  with  the  circumstances  which  tended  most  to  establish 
his  name  and  endear  him  to  the  church.  Dr.  Tyng,  in  his 
funeral  sermon,  speaks  as  follows:  "I  have  no  doubt,  from 
some  ver}^  satisfactory  testimony,  that  his  religious  character 
was  constantly  enlarging  and  deepening,  from  the  earliest  years 
of  his  ministry.  My  first  acquaintance  with  him,  more  than 
thirty  years  ago,  impressed  me  with  a  peculiar  pleasure,  from 
his  manifest  earnestness  of  conscience,  and  his  extremely  frank 
and  friendly  manners ;  and  from  that  time,  every  year,  but  the 
more  engaged  my  respect  for  him,  as  a  truly  earnest,  religious 
man.  But  when,  from  1880,  the  semi-popish  doctrines  of  the 
Tractarian  school  began  their  procession  among  our  churches, 
though  his  feelings  and  opinions  were  very  strongly  on  the  old 
High  Church  ground,  it  was  impossible  for  him  to  sustain  the 
new  errors,  which,  as  it  appeared  to  him,  were  now  to  be  en- 
grafted upon  the  sentiments  of  his  youth.  He  instantly  opposed 
them,  and  contended  with  increased  earnestness  against  them, 
as  a  S3'stem  which  he  knew  and  felt  to  be  thoroughly  wrong. 
He  maintained  this  opposition  till,  in  July  1843,  the  great  con- 
vulsion of  the  Carey  ordinance  threw  him  completely  off  from 
all  his  old  ecclesiastical  connections,  and  placed  him  necessarily 
and  finally  upon  the  opposing  side.  His  High  Church  stand  he 
had  taken  as  a  faithful  man,  and  one  who  feared  God  above 
many ;  and  he  was  slow  and  reluctant  to  cast  it  off.  But  never 
was  there  a  man  of  a  more  frank  and  candid  spirit,  more  open 
to  conviction,  or  more  unhesitating  and  instant  in  renouncing 
and  retracing  his  path,  however  chosen,  when  he  saw  it  to  be 
erroneous  or  unsafe."  In  further  reference  to  the  results  of  that 
memorable  day,  in  July  1843,  when  Drs.  Smith  and  Anthon,  in 
opposition  to  the  bishop  and  a  large  majority  of  the  examining 
committee,  firmly  protested  against  the  ordination  of  the  candi- 
date, Arthur  Carey,  because  he  "  held  things  contrary  to  the 
doctrines  of  the  Protestant  Episcopal  Church,"  Dr.  Tyng  thus 
continues  :  "And  that  stand  was  triumphant.  Ten  thousand 
hearts  awoke  with  earn,estness  at  their  trumpets'  sound.  From 
end  to  end  of  our  land  the  fidelity  of  these  witnesses  for  God, 
attracted  new  affection  for  our  church,  w^on  new  friends  for  the 
Saviour's  truth,  awakened  new  hearts  of  love  and  prayer  for 
themselves,  and  gave  them  a  name  of  renown,  which  generations 
will  honor  with  dehght."  The  widow  of  Dr.  Anthon  died,  at  an 
advanced  age,  in  February  1877. 


620  '  THE  PIONEERS  OF  UTICA. 

Three  lawyers,  who  opened  offices  in  the  village,  bMt  soon 
closed  them  for  a  residence  elsewhere,  were  Daniel  Wardwell, 
Julius  Pond  and  James  McCall.  Mr.  Wardwell  removed  to 
Rome  and  from  thence  to  Manns ville  in  Jefferson  county,  where 
he  was  judge  of  Common  Pleas,  member  of  Assembly  and  a 
person  of  influence.  Mr.  Pond,  while  his  office  was  here,  still 
lived  in  Clinton,  though  he  subsequently  lived  a  year  or  two  on 
Main  street.  And  Mr.  McCall  a  cousin  of  Dr.  McCall  and  em- 
plo3^ed  in  the  Supreme  Court  clerk's  office,  lived  both  in  Deer- 
tield  and  in  Utica,  but  not  long  in  either  place,  taking  his  de- 
parture for  the  far  West. 

In  March  1821,  Dr.  A.  Gr.  Hull,  "being  desirous  to  lessen  his 
labors  in  the  various  branches  of  his  profession,  offers  to  take 
into  partnership,  on  favorable  terms,  a  physician  of  experience, 
who  possesses  more  than  ordinary  celebrity  in  his  profession, 
and  of  good  moral  character, — or,  if  preferred,  he  will  surrender 
entirely  his  extensive  circle  of  business  to  a  person  of  the  above 
description,  with  this  condition  only,  that  he  will  purchase  his 
establishment,  which  consists  of  a  well-finished  two-story  brick 
dwelling  house  and  adjoining  building's,  with  a  superior  garden 
spot"  A  physician  to  his  mind  soon  presented  himself  in  the 
person  of  Dr.  Theodore  Pomeroy ;  and  he  sold  him  his  house 
and  his  ride.  Dr.  Pomeroy,  who  came  last  from  CoojDerstown 
was  born  at  South  Hampton,  Mass.,  !March  l-l,  17S5,  was  grad- 
uated at  Yale  College,  in  ib08,  studied  medicine  with  Dr.  James 
of  Albany  and  afterwards  of  Utica,  and  also  with  Dr.  Chester 
of  Hudson,  attended  lectures  at  Pittsfield,  and  had  made  a  suc- 
cessful stand  in  Cooperstown.  His  new  venture  in  Utica  was  a 
fortunate  one,  for  he  soon  fell  into  a  large  and  profitable  busi- 
ness, and  for  ten  or  a  dozen  years,  at  least,  w^as  the  medical  ad- 
viser of  some  of  the  best  families  of  the  place.  Without  the 
pretention  of  Dr.  Hull,  he  laid  claim  to  no  more  than  he  really 
was ;  and  his  simple,  straightforward  manner  was  in  keeping 
with  his  sincere  and  straightforward  character.  He  was  emi- 
nently courteous  and  conciliatory,  and  was  also  mild  and  amia- 
ble at  heart.  His  pleasant  manner  and  his  engaging  exterior 
attracted  admirers,  who  were  changed  to  friends  when  they 
realized  the  j)urity  and  uprightness  of  his  life.  Not  remarkable 
for  depth  of  acquirement  or  originality  of  observation,  he  was 


THE  THIRD  CHARTER.  521 

-sufficiently  informed  to  practice  his  art,  and  loved  it  as  an  art 
more  than  as  a  science.  He  cared  less  for  brilliant  exploits  in 
surgery  than  to  relieve  the  common  ailments  of  humanity,  and 
win  the  rewards  of  his  exertion,  as  well  as  the  gratitude  of  those 
on  whom  he  waited.  Toward  them  he  was  kind  and  attentive, 
and  they  clung  to  him  with  confident  tenacity.  Next  after  Dr. 
Hull, — his  earliest  partner,  from  the  3- ear  1824,  was  Dr.  Edward 
Aikin.  He  was  succeeded,  in  1828,  by  Dr.  John  P.  Batchelor. 
An  epidemic  among  lying  in  women  that  j^revailed  about  the  year 
1830  was  peculiarly  fatal  within  Dr.  Pomeroy's  special  circle  of 
practice.  Tliis  made  inroads  upon  his  popularity,  with  which 
rivals  were  only  too  glad  to  avail  themselves.  Other  pursuits, 
alien  to  medicine,  into  which  he  was  shortly  afterward  drawn, 
tended  to  lead  him  more  and  more  from  -his  chosen  calling,  and 
eventually  took  him  wholly  out  of  it.  With  Thomas  R.  Walker, 
he  had  become  interested  in  an  oil  cloth  factory,  from  their  having 
loaned  money  to  J.  D.  Edwards,  its  founder,  and  which  the  latter 
was  unable  to  reimburse  them.  They  assumed  the  charge  of 
the  factoiy,  and  for  many  years  continued  its  management. 
After  Mr.  Walker  withdrew,  about  the  year  1854.  Dr.  Pomeroy 
kept  on  in  the  concern  in  company  with  his  son,  Theodore  If  not 
very  gainful  to  those  who  first  conducted  it,  the  factory  has  been 
and  still  remains  of  value  to  the  city,  and  the  goods  made  there 
have  a  high  repute  in  the  market  for  beauty  of  pattern  and 
durability  of  wear. 

As  a  citizen,  neighbor  and  friend,  the  rank  of  Dr.  Pomeroy 
was  among  the  liberal,  the  useful  and  the  trusted.  Calm  and 
unruffled  in  temperament,  he  met  life  without  repining  or  con- 
tention ;  sound  in  judgment  and  unswerving  in  principle,  he 
gained  respect  without  seeking  it.  Too  modest  to  covet  pro- 
motion, he  filled  with  credit  the  duties  that  were  laid  upon  him  ; 
and  in  the  church,  as  in  spheres  strictly  secular  or  educational, 
he  was  confided  in  because  he  deserved  to  be.  His  residence, 
on  Main  street,  he  exchanged,  in  time,  for  the  one  on  Fayette 
street,  now  known  as  No.  71,  and  which  is  still  occupied  by 
his  widow.  Dr.  Pomeroy  died  at  St.  Anthony,  June  26,  1860. 
His  first  wife  and  the  mother  of  three  of  his  children  was  Mary, 
daughter  of  Dr.  Thomas  Fuller  of  Cooperstown.  His  second 
was  Miss  Cornelia  Voorhees,  of  New  Brunswick,  N.  J.  His 
children  were  Thomas  F.,  a  physician  now  of  Detroit ;  Theodore, 


522        .  THE   PIONEERS  OF  UTICA. 

his  successor  in  business  in  Utica ;  Mary,  (Mrs.  Davidson  of  De- 
troit;) James  B.,  of  Colorado  :  Edward,  deceased  ;  John  W.,  of 
Minneapolis;  George,  deceased;  Cornelia,  (Mrs.  Ladue,  of  Detroit.) 

Dr.  Samuel  Tuttle  was  likewise  a  physician  who  inaugur- 
ated at  this  time  a  lengthened  and  eventful  career.  But  as 
only  six  years  of  it  pertained  to  Utica,  and  these  were  devoid 
of  much  that  was  out  of  the  line  of  common  professional  ser- 
vice, we  cannot  dwell  long  upon  its  details,  but  must  leave  his 
later  manifold  experiences  to  the  readers  of  the  biography  he 
has  published  of  himself.  He  was  born  in  Monkton,  Vt.,  Au- 
gust 14,  1798,  and  was  the  son  of  a  farmer  who  was  in  comfort- 
able circumstances  and  the  head  of  a  numerous  household. 
An  accident  that  befdl  the  son  when  he  was  nine  years  old, 
made  him  permanently  lame,  and,  by  unfitting  him  for  labor  on 
the  farm,  led  him  to  seek  his  livelihood  in  a  profession.  He 
was  graduated  at  Middlebury  University,  studied  medicine  un- 
der Dr.  John  Pomeroy  of  Burlington,  attended  lectures  in  the 
Medical  School  of  New  Hampshire,  and  those  of  Valentine 
Mott  and  others  in  New  York,  and  then  came  on  horseback  to 
Utica.  Despite  some  opposition  from  other  competitors  for  the 
public  favor,  practice  soon  opened  upon  him.  Within  a  yeai\ 
as  he  tells  us,  his  office  was  crowded  with  patients,  and  his  bus- 
iness both  in  medicine  and  in  surgery,  taxed  him  by  night  and 
by  day.  It  was  the  latter  that  chiefly  commanded  his  atten- 
tion. "He  was  called  on  to  amputate,  and  to  remove  cataracts 
as  well  as  cancers  and  tumors.  His  most  important  operation 
was  trephining  the  spine  and  elevating  one  of  its  processes  that 
pressed  upon  the  nervous  cord  and  suspended  its  functions." 
The  operation,  which,  as  Dr.  Mott,  in  a  complimentary  letter, 
informed  him,  was  the  first  of  its  kind  tliat  had  been  done  in 
America,  the  public  amply  rewarded  by  noising  him  abroad  as 
a  successful  surgeon.  Such  at  least  is  his  own  account.  Over- 
taken by  the  Finney  revival,  while  in  the  midst  of  his  absorb- 
ing prosecution  of  wealth  and  reputation,  he  became  a  convert, 
united  with  the  Methodist  Church  and  cordially  contributed  to 
its  prosperity.  He  was  marr.ed  also,  to  Miss  Frances  E.  White 
of  liome,  purchased  two  lots  and  erected  a  neat  and  conven- 
ient house.  When  his  happiness  seemed  complete,  and  when, 
as  he  says,  all  was  joj'ous,  "  our  prospects  were  marred  and  our 


THE  THIRD  CHARTER.  523 

hopes  were  blighted  by  the  intrigues  and  sudden  bankruptcy 
of  a  professed  friend  and  brother  in  the  church,  for  whom  I  had 
pledged  my  name  to  the  bank,  and  all  my  property  was  swept 
from  my  possession  by  process  of  law."  This  reverse  severely 
afflicted  him.  "And  although"  he  continues,  "I  had  a  good 
reputation  and  prospects  of  a  successful  practice,  yet  the  health 
of  the  city"  (village)  "  had  greatly  improved  by  artificial  means, 
and  the  people,  having  become  acclimated,  the  business  was  so 
reduced  that  I  felt  now  the  burden,  or  rather  the  tax,  of  my 
family  so  great,  I  became  discouraged,  and  resolved  on  a  trial 
in  Western  New  York,  where  climate  disease  of  a  bilious  char- 
acter extensively  prevailed." 

In  thus  enumerating  the  causes  of  his  removal,  he  fails  to 
relate  what  common  report  was  accustomed  to  assign  as  an  addi- 
tional one.  Zeal  in  his  calling,  and  a  desire  to  ground  himself 
more  fully  in  one  of  the  elements  of  surgerj-,  led  him  into 
measures  of  more  than  doubtful  propriety  and  which  an  indig- 
nant community  never  fails  to  visit  with  the  severest  of  pun- 
ishment. A  colored  boy  well  known  in  the  village  while  skat- 
ing on  the  river  in  the  winter  of  1826,  fell  into  an  air  hole,  and 
was  drowned.  The  body  was  recovered  and  properly  buried. 
It  was  shortly  missed  from  its  grave,  and  suspicion  fixed  on 
Dr.  Tuttle  as  the  robber.  The  friends  of  the  deceased  were 
greatly  excited,  and  ere  long  a  motley  crowd  gathered  about 
the  office  of  the  doctor,  which  was  on  Genesee  street,  nearly 
opposite  the  Ontario  Bank.  In  his  absence  they  made  a  search 
of  the  premises,  and  not  finding  the  body  within,  descended  to 
the  cellar.  It  was  buried  beneath  the  soil,  but  unfortunately 
one  heel  of  it, — the  vulnerable  part  of  the  renowned  Achilles, 
the  unmistakable  part  of  the  negro, — was  not  wholly  covered. 
The  dark  designs  of  the  doctor  were  brought  to  light,  and  sj^m- 
pathy  with  his  love  for  science  was  wholly  lost  in  condemna- 
tion of  the  mode  of  its  pursuit.  He  was  committed  for  exam- 
ination, was  released  on  giving  bail,  but  was  never  tried.  The 
whole  town  was  in  a  blaze,  and  the  second  funeral  of  "  Kip's 
nigger"  was  as  numerously  attended  as  had  been  the  funeral  of 
the  "  great  man"  of  the  village.  Colonel  Walker,  a  few  years 
previous.  Dr.  Tuttle  removed  to  Eochester,  was  quite  successful 
in  the  treatment  of  the  cholera  in  the  course  of  its  visitation  to 
that  city,  but  soon  after  went  westward,  was  concerned  in  the 


524  THE  PIONEERS  OF  UTICA. 

founding  and  building  up  of  two  or  three  towns,  made  two 
overland  journeys  to  California,  was  ricli  and  poor  by  turns, 
and  at  last  accounts  (1868)  was  a  substantial  and  leading  citi- 
zen of  a  thriving  village  in  Michigan. 

One  who  was  a  doctor  in  purpose,  but  in  purpose  only, 
was  George  Dutton,  born  in  Millington.  East  Haddam,  Conn., 
August  20,  1789.  His  first  professional  studies  were  in  medi- 
cine, but  concluding  that  he  was  too  nervous  for  the  practice 
of  it,  he  apphed  himself  to  the  law.  Before  finishing  he  met 
the  lady  who  was  to  be  his  wife,  and  was  married.  Forced  to 
resort  to  some  more  immediate  means  of  support,  he  took  to 
teaching,  and  was  for  four  years  employed  in  the  English  de- 
partment of  two  French  boarding  schools  in  Philadelphia,  But 
this  was  not  to  be  his  following.  Born  wdth  an  instinctive  pas- 
sion for  music,  he  had  played  on  several  instruments  from  his 
boyhood,  and  had,  when  quite  young,  taken  an  organ  to  pieces 
and  reconstructed  it.  Moreover  he  had  the  high  wrought  organ- 
ization, the  lively  susceptibilities  of  the  enthusiast  in  musical 
art,  his  keen  delights  and  his  proneness  to  melancholy.  In 
Philadelphia,  he  received  a  quarter's  lessons  on  the  organ, 
and  this  was  all  of  the  instruction  he  ever  had ;  his  taste  was 
innate,  his  skill  wholly  self-acquired.  While  there  his  inclina- 
tion showed  itself  so  strongly  that  he  was  supplied  by  a  house 
of  that  city  with  the  goods  to  furnish  a  musical  store  in 
Utica.  His  was  the  first  of  the  kind  that  had  been  opened 
here,  and  his  pianos  were  a  curiosity  to  most  of  its  citizens  ; 
probably  not  six  of  them  could  be  found  in  the  place.  His 
store  was  situated  on  the  east  side  of  Genesee  street,  next  be- 
low Anson  Thomas.  There  he  sold  to  A.  B.  Johnson,  in  1821, 
the  first  piano  that  was  sold  in  the  village.  There,  for  twenty 
years  and  upward,  he  dealt  in  all  kinds  of  instruments  of  music. 
On  Sundays  he  handled  the  organ  of  one  of  the  churches,  at 
first  of  Trinity,  and  afterwards  of  the  Presbyterian  Church. 
In  concerts,  in  the  rehearsals,  private  and  public,  of  the  Musi- 
cal Academy,  and  in  all  musical  exhibitions,  where  the  piano 
or  the  violin  accompanied  a  chorus  or  a  solo,  he  directed  the 
entei'tainment,  for  his  skill  was  unrivalled,  and  his  taste  was 
law.  He  trained  two  sons  till  they  attained  unusual  musical 
excellence,   and  lived  to  see  one  of  them  succeed  him  in  the 


THE  THIED  CHARTER.  525 

trade,  and  become  as  much  of  an  oracle  in  the  art  as  he  him- 
self had  been. 

Fishing  was  another  art  he  loved  to  practice,  and  in  this,  too, 
he  was  a  determined  enthusiast.  Yet  with  him  it  was  not  so 
much  the  dearly  bought  captures  of  the  patient  angler,  that  he 
coveted  and  was  willing  to  toil  for.  Nor  was  it  the  loitering 
alone  by  the  river's  side,  the  musing  on  "  flood  and  fields,  and 
all  the  charms  which  nature  yields," — delights  in  which  the 
poet  of  fishermen  was  wont  to  revel.  With  him  fishing  was 
followed,  mostly  for  its  social  jo_ys,  for  the  exuberant  life  that 
animates  men  released  from  confinement  and  city  drudgery 
and  the  broad  fun  in  which  they  are  inclined  to  disport  them- 
selves, for  the  give  and  taiie  of  jolly  companions,  the  smart 
speech  and  the  happy  rejoinder,  the  interchange  of  anecdote 
and  story,  the  relish  of  adventure,  and  the  contented  mood  that 
can  turn  mishaps  and  disappointments  into  sources  of  merri- 
ment. For  Mr.  Dutton  was  social  in  temperament,  liked  good 
fellowship,  and  was  liked  of  his  fellows.  His  spirits  when  not 
pitched  on  a  minor  key,  were  jovial  or  extatic.  As  a  citizen 
he  was  praisew^orthy,  and  in  morals  without  reproach.  His 
death  occurred  December  21,  1854.  His  widow,  whose  name 
was  Sarah  Dwight  Day,  died  September  2,  1877.  Of  his  two 
sons,  George  at  first  a  music  dealei*,  afterwards  a  Presbyterian 
minister  is  deceased ;  and  William  H.  lives  in  Philadelphia ; 
His  daughter  Mary  is  the  wife  of  Theodore  Pomeroy  the  sec- 
ond ;  Sarah  is  wife  of  Kev.  J.  H.  Mcllvaine,  of  Newark, 
N.  J.     Elizabeth  is  deceased. 

On  the  removal  of  Major  Allbright,  in  ls21,  he  \v;i.s  succeeded 
in  the  office  of  paymaster  of  the  United  States  troops  by  Major 
Satterlee  Clark,  who,  with  his  family,  abode  many  years  in 
Utica.  Major  Clark  was  a  native  of  Vermont,  and  well  con- 
nected, and  if  he  was  not  the  possessor  of  much  wealth,  he  had 
a  claim  upon  government  which  justified  him  in  the  indulgence 
of  great  expectations.  He  had  served  in  the  war  of  1812,  and 
otherwise  had  had  experience  in  life.  Large  and  imposing  in 
person,  genteel  in  address,  and  in  all  respects  an  elegant  man, 
he  was  fond  of  society,  and  disposed  to  style  in  living.  His 
wife,  whom  he  had  married  in  AVashington,  was  the  daughter 
of  Burton  Whitcraft ;  she  was  handsome,  highly  accomplished 


526  THE   PIONEERS  OF  UTICA, 

as  a  singer  and  a  pianist,  and  had  moved  in  fashionable  circles. 
With  them  came  a  niece  or  adopted  daughtei',  three  children, 
and  the  excellent  maiden  sister  of  Major  C,  who  was  their  house 
keeper  and  factotum.  A^ter  boarding  for  a  time,  he  took  the 
Yan  Eensselaer  mansion,  when  its  proprietor  left  it,  and  a  year 
or  two  later,  lived  in  the  house  that  had  \)een  recently  vacated 
by  the  Manhattan  Bank.  Unknown  in  a  business  way,  in  soci- 
ety he  and  his  family  were  courted  and  admired.  But  Major 
Clark,  with  the  elegancies  of  fashionable  life,  had  also  some  of 
its  vices.  Some  time  before  his  death  his  eldest  son  and  name- 
sake obtained  from  government  a  position  as  sutler,  at  Green 
Bay.  The  adopted  daughter  became  the  wife  of  Henry  Green, 
and  many  years  later,  after  the  death  of  its  head,  the  family  re- 
moved to  Fredonia,  in  this  State,  and  subsequently  to  Ann 
Arbor  in  Michigan,  having  obtained  something  from  govern- 
ment in  satisfaction  of  their  demand.  The  eldest  daughter, 
Rosina,  a  lady  of  considerable  style  of  appearance  and  manners, 
remained  unmarried,  and  died  quite  recently.  Three  of  her 
sisters  married  army  oflficers,  who  took  part  in  the  late  war,  viz. : 
Charlotte,  Mrs.  General  Masten  Fanny,  Mrs.  General  Plum- 
mer;  and  Mary.  Temple,  the  youngest  son,  was  also  in  the  war. 
Burton,  the  second  son,  died  many  years  ago. 

Four  brothers  Thurber,  Philip,  Isaiah,  Ira  A.  and  Pascal, 
natives  of  New  Hampshire,  and  men  of  worth  and  standing, 
made  their  advent  in  1821,  and  two  of  them  remained  some 
time  in  the  j^lace.  The  two  former  opened  a  grocery  store  and 
bakery.  The  bakery  Isaiah  continued  man}-  years,  on  Liberty 
street  west  of  Seneca,  having,  after  Philip,  Ira  as  his  partner. 
From  about  1838  to  1845,  he  conducted  the  City  Mill.  He 
lived  in  Utica  until  1864,  and  died  in  Brooklyn,  March  20, 
1873,  at  the  age  of  eighty-four,  wanting  only  two  days.  His 
sons  were  Lansing,  (in  later  years  a  bookseller  in  Utica,  and  now 
a  resident  of  Brooklyn,)  and  Ira.  Philip  soon  became  a  dry- 
goods  and  hardware  merchant ;  was  in  partnership  with  James 
Sayre  in  1829,  and  with  Palmer  Townshend  in  1834,  between 
which  periods  he  was  again  associate  with  Isaiah  as  a  grocer  and 
fruiterer.  With  Mr.  Sayre,  he  built  the  first  brick  house  on 
Fayette  street, — the  one  on  the  east  corner  of  Madison  lane, — 
and  there  he  lived  until  his  removal  to  Detroit,  about  1835-7. 


THE  THIRD  CHARTER.  527 

He  is  still  in  Detroit.  In  contrast  with  his  brother  Isaiah,  who 
was  grave  of  demeanor,  he  was  lively  and  gay.  He  had  a  son 
and  two  daughters.  Ira  and  Pascal  Thurber  removed  much 
sooner  from  the  place,  and  made  their  abode  in  Syracuse.  The 
latter  died  in  December  1874. 

Robert  Jones  came  to  Utica,  from  Sauquoit,  and  was  some 
time  in  the  leather  store  of  David  P.  Hoyt.  In  1821  he  was 
village  collector,  an  office  which  was  followed  by  those  of  con- 
stable and  coroner.  Next,  he  went  into  the  grocery  and  pro- 
vision trade,  conducting  it  for  many  years  on  the  corner  of 
Genesee  and  Catherine.  His  home  was  on  Whitesboro  street, 
next  east  of  Jildge  Cooper,  until  he  purchased  the  house  on 
Broad  street,  now  occupied  by  D.  L.  Clarkson.  His  three  sons, 
two  of  whom  had  been  engaged  with  him  in  business,  are  de- 
ceased. A  daughter,  as  well  as  his  widow,  are  in  Utica.  and 
one  daughter  at  the  West.  His  own  death,  at  the  age  of  sev- 
enty-one, occurred  February  13,  1856.  William  J.  Buck,  who 
had  served  a  clerkship  with  James  Dana,  now  opened  a  store, 
and  continued  in  Utica  until  1830,  when  he  moved  to  New 
York.  Like  Mr.  Dana,  he  married  a  daughter  of  Seth  Dwight. 
Of  much  longer  continuance  was  Elisha  Wells,  who,  in  Febru- 
ary 1821,  had  lately  removed  from  Albany.  He  made  and  sold 
boots  and  shoes,  on  the  west  side  of  Genesee,  at  No.  84,  and 
then  at  No.  88,  until  1840  or  later,  when  he  went  across  the 
street  and  did  business  some  years  longer.  The  major  part  of 
his  career  was  prosjiered,  for  he  was  industrious  and  prudent, 
and  was  scarce!}^  exceeded  in  the  amount  of  his  custom  by  any 
in  his  line.  He,  however,  failed  ere  the  end,  and  was  subse- 
quently steward  at  the  asylum,  and  then  at  Graefenberg.  Ira 
Chase  had  been  a  journeyman  in  the  village,  but  now  began 
shoemaking  with  a  partner.  Feeble  health  forced  him  to  dis- 
continue it,  and  he  found  employment  as  constable,  bill  collector 
and  justice  of  the  peace.  He  survived  until  January  8,  1863. 
His  first  wife  was  a  daugliter  of  Elder  Abraham  Williams. 
Cyrus  Grannis,  successively  packet  captain,  tavern  keeper  and 
merchant,  was  but  a  few  years  in  the  place,  and  when  he  went 
away,  left  his  son  T.  0.  Grannis,  a  bank  clerk,  behind  him. 
He  returned  at  a  later  period  to  live  with  that  son,  and  died 
August  15,  1842. 


528  THE  PIONEERS  OF  UTICA. 

Edward  Bright,  from  Walton,  England,  brewer  and  malster. 
on  Varick  street  near  Nail  creek,  shortly  changed  his  buildings  to- 
a  tannery.  There  he  made  leather  until  1833,  two  of  his  sons 
being  associated  with  him,  and  Thomas  selling  leather  and  shoes 
on  Genesee  street.  About  the  time  above  mentioned,  Mr. 
Bright  and  his  family  removed  to  a  farm  in  Lebanon,  New 
York,  leaving  only  Edward,  Jr.,  who  was  a  printer.  The  latter, 
afterwards  a  bookseller,  became,  later,  a  Baptist  minister  of 
prominence,  and  is  now  the  well-known  editor  of  the  Examiner 
and  Chronicle^  in  New  York.  The  father,  as  well  as  the  sons 
were  influential  in  the  Baptist  Society  in  Utica,  and  generally 
esteemed.  Thomas,  also,  was  licensed  to  preach  b}^  the  church 
in  Lebanon,  and  as  a  preacher  in  Oswego  county,  and  after- 
wards, in  Wisconsin,  led  a  life  of  great  activity  and  of  unusual 
usefulness, — an  activity  of  a  quiet  and  unobtrusive  kind,  that 
reaches  results  without  bluster,  and  that  does  not  force  itself 
upon  the  notice  of  the  world.  He  is  represented  as  a  man  of 
power,  but  of  so  even  a  temperament  that  his  power  was  dis- 
guised by  the  uniform  control  of  himself.  He  was  beloved  by 
all  who  came  within  the  influence  of  his  affectionate  nature,  and 
by  his  family  he  was  idolized.  Of  this  family,  one  son,  William 
H.  Bright,  is  now  a  resident  of  Utica.     The  father  died  in  1876. 

Robert  E..  Rhodes,  carpenter  and  builder,  and  at  one  time 
partner  of  Abraham  Culver,  was  high  priest  of  the  Utica  Chap- 
ter of  Masons.  About  1837,  he  returned  to  River  Head,  Long 
Island,  whence  he  came,  and  where  he  died.  Henry  W.  Osburn, 
auctioneer,  constable,  deputy  sheriff,  &c.,  down  to  1840  or  later, 
was  next  engaged  in  marketing  in  New  York  City,  but  is  again 
here  and  acting  as  crier  of  the  courts.  Thomas  Sidebotham, 
butcher  in  company  with  Henry  Roberts,  went,  in  1836,  to 
Illinois.  James  T.  Lund,  bandbox  maker,  was  the  father  of 
the  better  remembered  James  G.  Lund,  as  well  as  of  Albert  and 
Charles.  WiUiam  Conklin,  painter  and  paper  hanger,  died  in 
the  place  about  1855.  Chester  Hyde,  stone-cutter  and  dealer 
in  marble,  took  part  in  the  making  of  the  canal,  but  died  early. 
Silas  Coburn,  fatlier  of  Mrs.  Hii'am  Greenman  and  other  daugh- 
ters now  here,  may  be  followed  to  1837 ;  Henry  Vanderlyn, 
painter,  to  1825.  John  P.  Bromle}^,  and  Ira  White,  grocers  ; 
Benjamin  Carpenter,   tavern-keeper ;    A.  B.  Skinner,   dentist ; 


THE  THIRD  CHARTER.  529 

Erasmus  Stone,  clerk,  were  brief  in  their  stay.  John  Green, 
farmer  and  tenant  of  Mi-s.  Malcom,  on  the  New  Hartford  road, 
died  in  the  city  in  1877.  A  printer's  apprentice  of  Seward  & 
WilUams,  though  but  a  little  time  in  Utica,  distinguished  him- 
self aftei'ward  as  a  devoted  missionary  in  India.  This  was 
Henry  R  Hoisington,  a  native  of  Vergennes,  Vt.  He  was  grad- 
uated at  Williams  College,  studied  theology  at  Auburn,  and 
became  pastor  of  the  church  in  Aurora ;  but  in  1838,  was  sent 
by  the  American  Board  to  Ceylon,  and  labored  there  for  twenty 
years.  After  his  return,  he  served  as  a  minister  until  his  death, 
May  16,  1868. 


1822. 

The  trustees  of  the  year  1822,  consisted  of  Benjamin  Ballou 
and  John  Baxter,  from  the  first  ward  ;  Ezekiel  Bacon  and  Rich- 
ard R  Lansing,  from  the  second  ward  ;  Thomas  Walker  and 
David  R  Hoyt,  from  the  third  ward ;  Ezra  S.  Cozier  was  the 
president ;  Erastus  Clark,  supervisor ;  Thomns  Walker,  over- 
seer of  the  poor :  the  clerk  and  treasurer  remaining  as  before. 
In  June,  it  was  resolved  that  Genesee  street  be  paved  from  the 
canal  to  the  south  line  of  Whitesboro  and  Main  streets,  and  a 
committee  of  five  prominent  citizens  was  appointed  to  make 
the  necessary  estimates  and  assessments.  In  July,  the  street 
commissioner  was  authorized  to  contract  for  materials,  and  to 
take  measures  for  carrying  into  effect  the  resolution  of  the 
board.  At  the  same  time  the  committee  reported  that  the 
assessment  was  complete,  when  the  clerk  was  directed  to  make 
out  a  tax  listj  and  the  collector  to  collect  one-fourth  of  the 
amount  of  the  assessment  within  ten  days.  The  paving  was 
done  in  the  course  of  the  season.  Simon  Cramond  of  Albany,  had 
the  contract,  and  was  assisted  by  men  he  brought  with  him  as 
well  as  by  David  Scott,  who  was  thus  trained  for  future  work 
of  the  same  kind.  The  cobble-stone  used  at  that  time  were 
larger  than  those  now  used,  and  this  first  pavement  was  well 
laid  and  of  a  durable  character.  The  board  determined  tO' 
open  a  new  street  from  Broad  to  Catlierine.  This  likewise  was 
done,  and  in  October  the  new  street  was  recognized  by  the  name 
of  Franklin  street.  The  project  broached  two  years  before,  of 
continuing   Bleecker   street  westward  to  the  intersection  with 

K-1 


530  THE   PIONEERS  OF  UTICA. 

the  Whitesboro  road,  was  attended  with  more  difficulty  and  delay. 
A  committee  that  was  appointed  to  treat  with  the  owners  and 
occupants  of  land  along  the  line  of  the  proposed  road,  found 
that  a  majority  of  them  were  unwilling  to  treat,  or  else  asked 
more  for  their  land  than  the  committee  deemed  reasonable.  A 
jury  of  twelve  men  were  then  called  together  to  assess  the  dam- 
ages they  thought  each  person  might  sustain,  and  their  assess- 
ment was  ratified  by  the  trustees.  From  this  adjudication  sev- 
ei'al  of  the  land-holders  appealed  to  the  Court  of  Common 
Pleas, — the  appellants  being  Abraham  Yarick,  Elizabeth  Brinck- 
erhoff,  Alexander  B.  Johnson,  and  John  R  Bleecker,  by  their 
attorney,  Edmund  A.  Wctmore,  and  Morris  S.  Miller,  and 
David  W.  Childs.  Their  appeal  was  sustained  by  the  Court, 
so  far  as  respected  tliat  portion  of  the  intended  road  lying  be- 
tween Genesee  and  Seneca  streets,  inasmuch  as  it  involved  the 
removal  of  a  building  standing  on  Genesee  street,  and  in  the 
line  of  the  proposed  road.  The  Court  having  confirmed  the 
appraisal  as  to  the  remainder  of  the  road,  and  such  a  road 
being  deemed  essential  to  the  prosperity  of  the  place,  a  new 
committee  of  free  holders  was  created  to  prepare  a  fresh  assess- 
ment on  a  line  slightly  varying  from  the  former  one.  Their 
assessment  was  ratified  May  6,  1823,  and  on  the  28th  of  the 
same  month,  Messrs.  Cozier  and  Ballon,  of  the  board  of  1823, 
were  authorized  to  contract  for  the  making  of  the  road.  Other 
proceedings  of  the  trustees  of  1822,  were  the  ordering  of  side- 
walks on  the  south  side  of  Jay  street,  the  fixing  of  the  assess- 
ment for  the  support  of  the  poor  at  four  hundred  dollars,  that 
for  contingent  expenses  at  one  thousand  and  twenty-nine  dol- 
lars, and  that  for  the  common  school  at  sixty-five  dollars.  An- 
drew L'Amoreux,  was  again  appointed  teacher. 

With  the  opening  of  the  season  of  1822,  the  packet  boats 
Montezuma  and  Oneida  Chief  renewed  their  trips,  and  there 
was  also  started  by  Bildad  and  Isaac  Merrell,  a  new  boat  called 
the  Utica  Packet.  It  had  already  done  service  on  the  river  as 
the  Commodore  Perry,  and  was  dragged  thence  to  its  new  chan- 
nel. The  canal  had  now  become  so  great  a  curiosity  that  by 
midsummer  the  public  houses  were  crowded  with  strangers 
from  the  East,  on  their  way  to  see  it  and  to  ride  iij)on  its  waters. 
Mcllen  Battle  was  building  a  steamboat  for  the  Mohawk,  de- 


THE  THIRD  CHARTER.  531 

signed  to  plj  between  Schenectad}^  and  Little  Falls.  It  was 
quite  peculiar  in  construction,  its  steam  being  used  not  for  tbe 
working  of  paddles,  but  to  put  in  motion  poles  that  were  to 
reach  the  bottom  of  the  river  and  push  the  boat  onward.  These 
poles,  of  which  there  were  two  on  a  side,  were  jointed  to  the 
upper  extremity  of  upright  beams,  and  were  made  by  means 
of  cranks  to  rise  alternately  out  of  the  water,  and  to  set  them- 
selves again  on  the  bottom.  The  boat  was  a  failure,  and  never 
made  more  than  a  single  trip.  This,  or  another  like  it,  was 
also  tried  on  the  canal.  A  new  line  of  post  coaches  from  Al- 
bany to  Utica,  was  likewise  announced.  Miller's  bridge,  at  the 
foot  of  Bridge  street,  which  had  been  swept  away  a  year  or 
two  after  its  construction,  was  rebuilt  the  present  season  or  the 
following  one. 

Utica  was  visited  this  year,  though  not  for  the  first  time,  by 
Lorenzo  Dow,  the  eccentric  itinei-ant  preacher,  whose  ungainly 
appearance  and  fervid  delivery  attracted  great  crowds.  He 
held  forth  from  a  wagon  that  stood  on  the  side  hill  below  Court 
street,  and  east  of  the  line  of  State  street,  on  the  borders  of  a 
black  ash  swamp  which  lay  beyond.  He  likewise  preached  in 
the  Methodist  Chapel. 

I  have  before  quoted  the  record  of  prices  of  many  articles 
of  daily  use  which  was  made  by  a  traveller  of  1811.  Another 
foreign  visitor  who  was  at  Utica  in  September  1822,  gives  also 
its  market  prices.  These  with  some  other  particulars  he  fur- 
nished to  a  Magazine  published  in  Wales.  They  are  as  follows : 
"  A  barrel  of  196  pounds  of  white  wheat  flour,  $5.00 ;  of 
medium  flour  $4.50  ;  Indian  meal,  3s. ;  oats  Is.  9d.  per  bushel; 
beef  and  mutton,  5c.;  cheese,  6  a  7c. ;  potatoes.  Is.  Od.  a  2b.  per 
bushel ;  best  tobacco,  2s.  per  lb. ;  beer,  $4.50  per  barrel ;  cider 
$1.00  a  barrel ;  rum  $1  ;  brandy  $1.25  a  gallon  ;  whisky,  2s.  a 
gallon;  tea,  5s.;  coffee,  2s.  6d.;  white  sugar,  2s.,  and  best  brown 
Is.  Wages:  carpenters,  from  $1.00  to  1.25  a  day;  masons, 
$1.37|-;  laborers,  6s.  as  a  rule,  but  sometimes  more;  servant 
girls,  from  10s.  to  16s.  a  week,  though  many  get  twice  as  much; 
servant  men,  about  the  same  as  laborers.  They  can  be  taught 
any  trade  and  paid  for  their  work  ;  I  know  some  who  are  learn, 
ing  trades  and  earning  $8.00  a  month.  Shoes  from  12s.  a  20s. 
per  pair ;  a  tailor  for  making  a  good  suit  of   clothes,  $6.00 ; 


532  THE  PIONEEES  OF  UTICA. 

blacksmiths  for  shoeing  a  horse,  $1.00,  iron  being  about  the 
same  as  with  ns.  Instead  of  coal,  they  generally  use  coke, 
which  is  very  cheap."  By  the  word  coke  the  writer  probably 
means  charcoal,  for  coke  was  not  made  iintil  the  introduction 
of  gas,  being  a  product  of  its  manufacture.  In  stating  the 
wages  of  servant  girls  at  10s.  a  IBs.  a  week  it  is  reasonable  to 
surmise  that  the  writer  was  influenced  by  a  desire  to  encourage 
emigration  among  his  countrywcmien  and  has  presented  matters 
in  the  most  favorable  light,  since  it  is  a  fact  that  very  many 
girls  received  at  that  time  only  about  half  that  amount  of  wages, 
8s.  a  week  being  common  and  6s.  not  a  rare  amount. 

It  has  not  fallen  to  me,  thus  far  in  the  course  of  these  sketches,. 
to  record  a  more  estimable  and  esteemed  individual  than  Ed- 
mund A.  Wetmore,  one  more  exemplary  and  attractive  in  a 
personal  aspect,  more  thoroughly  and  unselfishly  identified  with 
public  and  private  interests,  and  whose  life  was  a  more  con- 
tinued and  unbroken  series  of  benedictions.  He  was  born  in 
Middletown,  Conn.,  August  6,  1798,  and  was  the  eldest  son  of 
Eev.  Oliver  Wetmore,  a  conscientious,  uncompi-omising  and 
honored  minister  of  the  Presbyterian  Church,  a  Puritan  of  the 
strictest  type,  in  whose  veins  were  mingled  the  blood  of  Elder 
Brewster  of  the  Mayflower,  and  of  Edwards,  the  divine.  Eev. 
Mr.  Wetmore  was  settled  in  Holland  Patent,  in  1805  or  1806, 
when  his  son  was  still  a  child,  and  subsequently  held  a  pas- 
torate in  Trenton,  whence  he  moved  to  Utica,  in  his  declining 
years,  and  died  in  1852. 

The  son  was  graduated  at  Hamilton  College,  in  1817,  and 
entered  the  law  office  of  Gold  &  Sill,  at  Whitesboro,  where  he 
completed  his  studies.  He  was  admitted  to  the  bar  in  October 
1820,  and  not  long  after  became  the  partner  of  Judge  Morris 
S.  Miller.  After  the  premature  death  of  the  latter,  he  formed 
a  partnership  with  Hiram  Denio,  which  continued  nearly  thirty 
years,  and  was  ended  by  the  elevation  of  Judge  Denio  to  the 
Bench  of  the  Court  of  Appeals,  in  June  1853.  Mr.  Wetmore 
now  gradually  withdrew  from  the  active  duties  of  his  profes- 
sion, though  he  kept  himself  informed  in  the  current  legal  lore, 
and  was  in  all  respects  a  sound,  judicious  and  trustworthy  coun- 
sellor. Soon  after  the  organization  of  the  State  Lunatic  Asylum, 
he  was  elected  its  treasurer,  a  ])osition  of  much  responsibility 


THE  THIRD  CHARTER.  533 

and  care.  The  duties,  discharged  as  they  were  with  unsur- 
passed fidelity,  filled  up  a  large  measure  of  his  time  throughout 
the  remainder  of  his  life. 

"  Public  honors  might  well  have  been  his  had  he  aspired  to 
them,  for  no  man  would  have  more  faithfully  served  his  con- 
stituents.    His  fellow-citizens  sought  him  more  than  once,  and 
in  1845  he  was  elected  to  the  mayoralty  of  the  city,  and  re- 
elected the   following  year  with  great  unanimity.     After  this 
he  declined  all  public  life  and  devoted  himself  to  other  interests, 
in  which  he  rendered  invaluable  service.     On  the  organization, 
in  1848,  of  the  admirable  public  school  system  of  Utica,  he  was 
elected  as  one  of  the  original  six  commissioners,  and  continued 
to  be  re-elected  as  long  as  he  could  be  prevailed  on  to  serve, 
performing  duties  little  appreciated,  but  of  the  most  important 
and  far-reaching  character.     He  was  elected  a  trustee  of  Ham- 
ilton College,  in  1849,  and  continued  in  that  office  while  he 
lived,  rendering  the  institution  a  large  amount  of  valuable  and 
gratuitous  service."     As  trustee  of  the  Female  Academy,  the 
attention  he  gave  to  its  duties,  and  the  work  he  performed, 
during  a  long  series  of  years,  were  surpassed  by  those  of  scarce 
another  member  of  the  board,  while  outside  of  it  he  was  the 
special  and  trusted  adviser  of  the  principal  and  her  teachers.    In 
the  Cemetery  Association,  the  Water  Works  Company  and  the 
Cotton  and  Woolen  Mills,  he  took  an  active  part  from  their  in- 
cipiency,  concurred  heartily  in  the  management  of  them,  and 
was  much  depended  on  by  reason  of  the  cautious  and  discreet 
advice  he  gave.     One  of  the  most  important  offices  he  held  was 
that  of  trustee  of  the  Utica  Savings  Bank.     He  was  named  as 
a  trustee  in  the  original  charter,  and  after  the  death  of  Judge 
Denio,  was,  by  the  common  voice  of  his  associates,  elected  to 
the  presidency,  which  he  held  at  the  time  of  his  death.     Ab- 
sorbed in  the  daily  cares  pertaining  to  his  personal  and  official 
duties  and  seeking  for  nothing  outside  of  them,  it  may  well  be 
that  in  his  history  there  are  no  events  of  moment  to  relate  and 
little  that  is  in  any  wise  striking  or  peculiar.     But  in  the  man- 
ner of  his  performance,  in  the  assemblage  of  admirable  qualities 
which  shaped  and  controlled  his  life,  there  is  abundant  room 
for  descant.     At  a  meeting  of  the  managers  of  the  New  York 
State  Lunatic  Asylum,  held  shortly  after  his  death,  a  minute 
was  entered  on  their  records,  which  sets  forth  the  nature  of  his 


534  THE  PIONEERS  OF  UTICA. 

relations  to  that  institution.  In  showing  this,  it  reveals  also 
the  character  of  his  fidelity  and  usefulness  to  other  trusts,  and 
details  some  of  the  personal  traits  which  rendered  him  so  in- 
valuable as  a  citizen.     I  quote  it,  therefore,  nearly  in  full : 

"  His  was  no  common  clerical  service,  confined  to  a  routine 
of  mere  official  duty,  for  a  stipulated  compensation.  It  was  the 
service  of  an  earnest,  conscientious  and  devoted  man,  whose 
heart  and  soul  were  engaged  in  a  noble  purpose  of  humanity. 
It  began  with  the  very  foundation  and  organization  of  this  most 
beneficent  charity,  and  continued  for  thirty  years,  the  best  and 
most  valuable  part  of  his  protracted  life,  with  an  order,  a  system, 
a  scrupulousness,  a  prudence,  a  fidelity,  a  disinterestedness, 
now  far  to  seek,  and,  we  are  most  conscious,  difficult  to  find. 
From  first  to  last,  he  was  the  intimate  and  confidential  friend 
and  adviser  of  all  concerned  in  the  management  and  superin- 
tendence of  the  asylum  ;  and  his  suggestions  and  counsels  were 
regarded  by  all  with  a  respect  equal  to  the  modesty  and  wisdom 
with  which  they  were  invariably  given.  Assuming  nothing 
beyond  the  strict  line  of  his  official  duty,  from  which  no  influ- 
ence could  swerve  him,  he  was  still  felt  and  acknowledged  to  be 
a  balance  wheel  that  preserved  uniformity  of  action  and  move- 
ment, and  an  umpire  to  resolve  all  doubts.  His  unpretending 
good  sense,  his  sound  legal  knowledge,  his  unquestioned  integ- 
rity, his  amenity  of  temper,  his  purity  of  life,  and  his  intimate 
experience  in  the  affairs  of  the  institution  to  their  minute  de- 
tails, all  combined  to  give  him  a  position  which,  now  that  he  is 
gone,  no  man  can  exactly  fill.  With  superintendents  and  man- 
agers he  was  associated  on  terms  of  great  intimacy,  and  was 
consulted  and  trusted  in  all  embarrassments  and  emergencies, 
as  freely  as  if  he  were  officially  entitled  to  that  consideration. 
It  was  their  respect  to  the  man,  his  judgment,  his  caution,  his 
sense,  his  singleness  of  heart,  his  humanity  and  tenderness,  and 
every  good  quality  that  becomes  a  man  and  a  gentleman,  that 
prompted  this  peculiar  confidence  and  relationship,  and  that 
preserved  the  same  feeling  among  his  survivors  in  this  great 
trust,  who  now  seek  to  perpetuate  the  memory  of  his  worth  and 
service. 

"  He  was  not  only  faithful  to  this  particular  trust ;  he  was 
faithful  to  all  trusts,  and  they  wei*e  many  and  important.  His 
hfe  was  made  up  of  trusts,  not  one  of  which,  that  could  be  ful- 
filled in  his  life-time,  remained  unfulfilled  at  his  death.  It  was 
thus  completely  rounded  ;  and,  although  he  did  not  seem  until 
lately  to  be  old,  he  had  survived  his  three  score  and  ten  before 
his  fatal  disease  first  prosti'ated  him  ;  when  the  feeling  of  ven- 
eration for  his  years  was  added  to  that  of  love  and  i-espect  for 
his  high  persorial  character  and  his  unsullied  official  integrity. 

"  He  lived  within  bis  means  and  shaped  his  wants  and  his 
chai'ities  to  them,  and  yet  he  was  generous  and  hos])itablc ;  fol- 


THE  THIRD  CHARTER.  535 

lowing  models  of  an  antique  mould,  of  which  he  was  almost  a 
solitary  relic.  There  are  indeed  few  men  left  of  that  stamp ;  so 
sincere,  so  friendly,  so  courteous,  so  liberal,  so  serviceable,  so 
strict  to  duty,  so  exemplary,  so  worthy  of  respect,  honor  and 
lasting  remembrance." 

To  the  above  well-pictured  delineation  I  subjoin  an  extract 
equally  just  from  one  of  the  obituary  notices  of  Mr.  Wetmore: 

"  His  opinions  were  strong  and  decided — few  things  could 
ever  shake  his  purpose  deliberately  formed  and  adopted  from 
conscientious  principle  and  conviction  of  the  right.  To  the 
very  close  of  his  life  this  inflexibility  of  purpose  and  tenacity 
in  pursuing  a  prescribed  object  were  conspicuous,  while  the  ten- 
derness that  was  enfolded  within  that  strong,  determined  and 
manly  heart,  and  the  consideration  that  ever  looked  after  the 
happiness  and  the  comfort  of  those  around  him,  shone  clearly 
to  the  last  moment  of  conscious  existence.  Very  marked  has 
been  his  inflvience  in  this  community — not  noisy,  nor  startling, 
not  courting  notice  or  applause,  but  quiet,  consistent,  unostenta- 
tious, diffusing  a  radiance  as  steady  as  the  sun  and  as  genial  as 
the  dews  of  heaven,  and  leaving  in  its  track  blessings  and  ben- 
dictions  that  will  crown  his  memory  with  an  unfading  wreath. 

"  The  domestic  life  of  Mr.  Wetmore  was  one  of  rare  felicity, 
which  none  perhaps  could  fully  appreciate  but  those  who, 
within  the  charmed  circle  of  his  daily  being,  witnessed  or  par- 
took of  its  peculiar  happiness.  They  who  loved  him  most  were 
those  who  stood  in  the  nearest  relations  to  him  of  affinity,  kin- 
dred blood  and  steadfast  friendship." 

After  recovering  in  a  measure  from  the  effects  of  a  paralytic 
seizure,  with  which  he  was  afflicted  four  years  previously,  Mr 
Wetmore  was  stricken  by  a  second  one,  from  which  he  died  on 
the  1-ith  of  January,  1873.  The  devoted  partner  of  his  life, 
Mary  Ann,  daughter  of  John  H.  Lothrop,  still  survives.  Their 
children  are  Mary,- wife  of  Dr.  John  P.  Gray,  and  Cornelia  of 
Utica ;  Edmund,  of  New  York  City. 

Three  graduates  of  Hamilton  College,  of  the  class  of  1819, 
who  all  studied  law  and  were  admitted  in  July  1822,  now 
entered  upon  practice  in  Utica.  Of  these,  Thomas  Skinner 
Williams,  second  son  of  Nathan  Williams,  was  born  in  the 
place,  May  4,  1801.  After  completing  his  professional  course 
in  the  office  of  his  father,  he  began  its  exercise  in  company 
with  him.  A  year  later,  when  his  father  was  made  circuit 
judge,  he  joined   Samuel  Beardsley.     They  had  a  large  and 


536  THE  PIONEERS  OF  UTICA. 

lucrative  practice,  and  he  gave  entire  satisfaction  to  bis  part- 
ner. But,  ere  long,  Mr.  Williams  left  Utica,  to  establish 
himself  in  Nashville,  Tenn.  As  a  yonng  man,  be  possessed  a 
good  deal  of  st3de  in  manner  and  appearance,  was  bright  and 
cheerful  in  temper,  sang  a  good  song,  and  was  a  general 
favorite  in  societ}'.  He  was  firm  and  decided  in  character, 
-and  gave  promise  of  a  distinguished  career,  but  died  in  1837, 
-at  the  earh'-  age  of  thirty-six. 

Thomas  Hunt  Flandrau  was  the  son  of  Elias  F.  Flandrau  of 
New  Rochelle,  Westchester  county,  N.  Y.,  w^hose  ancestors  liad 
been  living  in  that  place  since  the  immigration  of  Jacques 
Flandrau,  a  Huguenot  from  Rochelle  in  France,  in  1686.  Elias 
F.  died  within  a  year  after  his  removal  to  Oneida  county,  when 
his  widow  and  children  took  up  their  residence  in  Utica.  His 
son,  who  was  born  at  New  Rochelle,  September  8,  1801,  was 
fitted  for  college  in  the  Juvenile  Academy  of  Mr.  White,  and 
entered  Hamilton  in  the  sophomore  year.  His  collegiate  course 
was  chiefly  distinguished  by  his  attainments  in  mathematics, 
though  his  standing  as  a  classical  scholar  and  a  writer  was  more 
than  ordinary,  while  among  his  companions,  he  was  noted  also 
for  his  remarkable  powers  as  a  talker.  After  leaving  the  insti- 
tution, wnth  one  of  its  highest  honors,  he  bent  himself  to  the 
law  in  the  office  of  Nathan  Williams.  Tliese  studies  completed, 
he  united  in  its  practice  with  Roderick  Morrison,  the  next  to  be 
noticed,  in  the  second  stor}^  of  a  building,  on  the  east  side  of 
Genesee  street,  nearly  opposite  the  Post  Office.  They  were  not 
there  over  two  years,  when  Colonel  Aaron  Burr,  who,  in  the 
course  of  his  attendance  on  the  courts  had  made  the  acquaint- 
ance of  Mr.  Flandrau,  and  was  impressed  with  his  superior  gifts, 
invited  him  to  join  him  in  business  in  New  York  City.  He  at 
once  entered  upon  this  new  connection,  and  reaped  a  few  3'ears 
of  valuable  discipline,  in  which  his  mental  and  industrial 
capacities  were  thoroughly  tasked,  wherein  he  was  often  placed 
in  opposition  with  such  men  as  David  B.  Ogden  and  Chancellor 
Jones,  and  where  his  intellectual  and  professional  accomplish- 
ments procured  him  a  high  reputation.  In  1825,  lie  was  mar- 
ried, and  not  long  afterward  came  back  to  Utica.  But  about 
the  time  its  city  charter  took  effect  he  withdrew  from  the  place, 
and  made  his  home  in  Waterville,  for  he  distrusted  a  city  gov- 


THE  THIRD  CHARTER.  537 

eminent,  and  was  wary  of  liolding  property  tliat  was  subject  to 
the  taxation  of  a  council  of  aldermen.  After  years  of  absence, 
clouded  by  turns  of  sickness  and  wanting  in  the  displays  of 
genius  he  liad  before,  and  which  he  subsequently  manifested, 
he  returned,  in  1845,  to  his  earlier  residence ;  and  then,  having 
passed  three  busy  years  in  practice  he  fixed  himself  at  Whites- 
boro.     There  he  died  rather  suddenly  January  2,  1855. 

From  the  estimate  of  his  professional  characteristics,  prepared 
by  the  late  Benjamin  F.  Cooper,  I  extract  the  following:  "As 
a  writei',  Mr.  Flandrau  was  distinguished  for  his  method,  for 
his  singularly  precise,  felicitous  and  appropriate  language. 
Whatever  fell  from  his  pen  was  classical  and  finished.  He  was 
rarely  under  the  necessity  of  correcting  an  expression  ;  his  ideas 
fell  unconsciously,  as  it  were,  into  line,  and  when  committed  to 
paper  were  ready  for  the  press.  He  had,  too,  the  rare  capacity 
of  writing  a  short  article  at  the  moment,  and  needed  not  the 
labor  of  curtailment  and  condensation.  These  characteristics 
of  his  miscellaneous  writings  are  to  be  seen  also  in  his  legal 
papers.  In  the  preparation  of  them  he  had  few  equals.  His 
bills  in  Chancery  and  his  pleadings,  and  even  his  drafts  of  affi- 
davits, M^ere  so  impressed  with  the  above  mentioned  qualities, 
that  they  might  be  studied,  not  only  as  specimens  of  legal  skill, 
but  even  as  models  of  composition.  As  a  speaker,  also,  Mr. 
Flandrau  was  noted  for  his  rapid  anah^sis,  acute  discrimination, 
uncommon  method  and  clear  and  happ}^  expression.  In  fact, 
so  simple  was  he  in  his  clearness,  so  orderly,  so  accurate,  and 
yet  so  strong,  that  most  men  might  be  deceived,  and  think  that 
in  his  forensic  displays  there  was  nothing  extraordinary.  It 
was  left  to  the  circle  of  his  professional  brethren  to  judge  of 
him  with  a  juster  appreciation.  It  Avas  these  traits  which  made 
him  eminently  successful  with  juries,  while  at  the  same  time 
his  correct  taste,  well-balanced  mind  and  high  cultivation  pre- 
vented his  obtaining  that  degi'ce  of  popularity  with  the  multitude 
which  was  sometimes  accorded  to  men  who  were  greatly  his  in- 
feriors. Methodical  as  he  was  mentally,  he  was  so  in  few  other 
respects.  In  reference  to  most  matters  of  life  he  had  all  the 
want  of  order  that  has  too  often  been  the  attendant  of  exalted 
genius.  In  his  earlier  years  it  seemed  as  if  he  never  ate  nor 
slept  when  others  did.  Often,  says  Mr.  Cooper,  have  I  known 
him  to  keep  his  companions  awake  to  the  small  hours  of  the 


638  THE   PIONEERS  OF  UTICA. 

night  with  his  extraordinary  colloquial  powers ;  and  when,  at 
length,  they  began  to  think  of  their  pillows,  he  would  rise  from 
his  seat  with  the  remark  that  he  thought  he  would  go  and  visit 
some  one  of  his  associates,  deeming  them  apparently  as  sleep- 
less in  their  nature  as  he  was  himself.  When  and  where  he 
read  it  was  difficult  to  ascertain ;  yet  he  never  seemed  to  be 
wanting  in  a  knowledge  of  facts.  How  he  studied  it  was  not 
so  difficult  to  understand,  for  that  was  done  by  thinking,  and 
much  of  it  too  when  he  lay  in  his  bed.  Yet  his  acquirements 
were  by  no  means-  small,  even  outside  of  the  range  of  his  legal 
ones.  The  classical  authors  he  conned  in  his  youth  and  the 
other  studies  in  which  he  delighted  formed  the  solace  of  his 
later  years.  He  was  a  mathematician,  a  mechanician,  a  classical 
scholar  and  a  poet.''  At  his  death  the  lawyei's,  residing  at 
Utica,  declared  in  a  resolution  that,  in  gentlemanly  deportment 
in  his  profession,  in  rigid  and  accurate  investigation  of  legal 
questions,  in  logical  reasoning,  in  precision  and  force  of  Ian- 
gauge,  and  in  the  zealous  performance  of  his  professional  duties, 
he  left  no  superior  at  the  bar  of  Oneida  county.  Mr.  Flandrau's 
wife,  who  was  Elizabeth  Maria,  daughter  of  Alexander  M.  and 
half-sister  of  General  Macomb,  died  March  26,  1873,  at  the  age 
of  79.  His  children  are  Charles  E.  Flandrau,  United  States 
district  judge  for  Minnesota,  and  Dr.  Tliomas  M.  Flandrau  of 
Rome,  late  surgeon  of  the  5th  Oneida  Regiment,  New  York 
volunteers. 

The  early  partner  of  Mr.  Flandrau,  Roderick  N.  Morrison, 
was  born  January  8,  1800,  in  Westmoreland,  in  this  county, 
where  his  father  was  a  farmer  and  a  magistrate.  He  read  law 
with  Judge  Morris  of  Otsego  county.  After  parting  with  his 
first  legal  associate,  he  formed  a  like  connection  with  Benjamin 
F.  Cooper,  but  a  connection  as  brief  as  the  preceding,  for  he  soon 
left  the  place.  He  lived  afterwards  at  Penn  Yan,  and  then  re- 
moved to  New  York.  There  he  practiced  until  1849,  when  he 
established  an  office  in  San  Francisco,  and  was  soon  after  ap- 
pointed judge  of  the  County  and  Probate  Courts.  He  died 
January  14,  1856.  It  is  remembered  by  the  acquaintances  of 
his  younger  years  that  he  was  a  companionable  person  and 
could  tell  a  good  story.  His  wife  was  a  daughter  of  Dr.  Elizur 
Moseley  of  Whitesboro.     He  left  one  child,  Dugald  C.  Morrison. 


THE  THIRD  CHARTER.  539 

Dr.  I.  N.  Meacham  came,  in  1S22,  from  the  limits  at  Whites- 
boro,  and  settled  in  Utica.  Confinement  for  debt  was  still  in 
accordance  with  law,  and  it  was  only  a  few  years  before,  that  a 
widow  lady  of  Utica,  progenitress  of  some  who  now  roll  in  lux- 
ury, having  failed  in  her  attempts  at  self-support,  was  cantoned 
for  a  while  at  Whitesboro.  Dr.  Meacham  was  then  a  spruce 
and  showy  young  man,  fond  of  a  good  horse  and  riding  him 
gracefully,  fond  of  his  flowers  and  delighting  to  cultivate  them. 
Sharp  and  sagacious,  acute  in  diagnosing  disease,  and  bold  in 
the  treatment  of  it,  he  won  the  public  confidence  and  a  good 
circuit  of  practice.  By  many  he  was  thought  to  be  unusually 
well  informed  and  more  than  ordinarily  skillful ;  and  he  knew 
how,  by  a  wise  and  unoffending  self-assertion,  to  keep  them  in 
this  opinion.  He  was  social  in  his  tastes,  and  with  his  inti- 
mates truly  companionable.  These  intimates  were  not,  how- 
ever, among  his  fellows  in  the  healing  art.  Toward  them  he 
was  distant,  if  not  discourteous,  and  felt  not  a  throb  of  esprit 
du  corps.  In  fact,  he  was  much  of  an  Arab,  and  bore  a  hostile 
hand  against  them  all.  His  love  of  society  led  him  into  habits 
that  were  loose,  and  as  these  became  entangling,  he  was  drawn 
by  degrees  into  a  low  grade  of  companionship,  and  his  practice 
declined  in  proportion,  A  few  continued  to  call  upon  him,  in 
spite  of  the  fact  that,  when  in  ill  humor,  he  would  drive  them 
with  curses  from  his  door.  Immethodical  in  business  and  in- 
different to  money,  he  was  rarely  ready  to  take  his  dues  and  with 
difficulty  pressed  to  a  settlement.  Separated  from  his  family, 
he  lived  some  years  alone  in  his  office,  but  died  in  the  New 
York  State  Lunatic  Asylum.  His  first  wife,  Marcia  M.  Tilden 
of  Whitesboro,  who  was  a  woman  of  beauty,  died  February  19, 
1835.  His  second  was  a  daughter  of  Todd  Dewey  of  Walesville. 
He  had  one  son  and  one  daughter. 

Among  the  new  comers  of  the  year,  there  is  one  who  was  in 
fact  a  re-comer,  having  already  passed  his  youth  and  learned 
his  trade  in  the  place ;  now  settling  anew,  he  maintained  from  • 
this  time  forward  a  conspicuous  part  in  the  political  and  busi- 
ness concerns  of  town  and  county.  Augustine  G.  Dauby,  was 
born  in  Mansfield,  Bristol  county,  Mass.,  December  17,  1795. 
His  father,  a  native  of  France,  accompanied  La  Fayette  to  this 
country,  during  our  Revolutionary  struggle,  and,  after  the  war, 


540  THE   PIONEERS  OF  UTICA. 

established  an  iron  furnace,  near  Mansfield.  He  died  when  his 
son  was  atout  three  months  of  age.  The  widow  removed,  in 
1800,  to  Oneida  county,  New  York.  Augustine  she  placed  at 
school  with  Mr.  Halsey  of  Whitesboi'o,  and  in  1810  apprenticed 
him  to  Ira  Merrell  of  Utica,  that  he  might  learn  the  trade  of 
printing.  Having  learned  it,  he  went,  in  1816,  to  Rochester 
then  a  struggling  settlement  of  three  hundred  and  fifty  or  four 
hundred  people,  and  there  set  up  the  Rochester  Gazette.  There, 
on  the  20th  of  Januaiy,  1818,  he  married  Miss  Mary  E.  Parme- 
lee.  And  there,  on  the  5th  of  December,  1819,  his  printing 
oflQce  was  destroyed  by  fire.  He  struggled  on  for  a  couple  of 
years  in  a  vain  effort  to  reinstate  himself,  and  then  came  back 
to  Utica.  Eliasaph  Dorchester,  who  was  managing  the  Utica 
Observer^  employed  him  to  print  that  sheet.  He  also  frequently 
oalled  on  him  for  an  article,  which  he  was  himself  too  indolent 
to  write.  Mr.  Dorchester  failed  presently,  when  Mr.  Dauby  was 
persuaded  by  Judge  Miller,  Judge  Beardsley  and  Truman  Enos, 
who  all  had  a  pecuniary  as  well  as  political  interest  in  the  pa- 
per, to  take  it  in  hand.  He  did  so,  about  1823,  though  desti- 
tute of  means,  and  succeeded  in  paying  for  the  paper  within 
the  year.  He  entered  zealously  into  the  partizan  contests  of 
the  times,  and  became  a  leader  in  the  canvass  which  placed 
Andrew  Jackson  in  the  presidential  chair.  His  acumen  as  a 
politician,  and  his  force  and  ability  as  a  writer,  gave  him  rank 
with  men  like  Edwin  Croswell  and  Thurlow  Weed.  The 
Observer  he  continued  to  edit  until  1834,  taking  into  partnership 
E.  A.  Maynard,  in  April  1826.  At  the  same  time  he  publish- 
ed the  Baptist  Register^  and  the  Universalist  Magazine.  After 
the  Observer  was  sold  to  Mr.  Maynai'd,  Mr.  Dauby  continued 
his  relations  with  it,  and  at  intervals  and  duriug  special  cam- 
paigns he  was  its  j-espousible  head  for  some  time  longer.  "  He 
liked  to  wield  the  pen,  and  in  his  hand  it  was  'miglitier  than 
the  sword.'  His  style  was  full,  elaborate  and  im])rcssive.  His 
mind  was  so  clear  that  his  writings  could  not  be  confused. 
They  always  wore  a  courtly  bearing,  unless  he  chose  to  cut 
close  and  severe,  when  his  blade  was  like  the  steel  of  Damas- 
cus.'' Like  Croswell,  and  in  common  with  him,  he  was  a  power 
in  the  days  of  Jackson,  and  they  both  contributed  largely  to 
the  success  and  long  ascendancy  of  the  Democi-atic  party  in  the 
Empire  State. 


THE  THIRD  CHARTER.  541 

At  a  dinner  party  given  by  Montgomery  Hunt  in  the  latter 
part  of  the  year  1827,  there  were  present,  Martin  Van  Buren, 
then  Senator  in  Congress,  Samuel  Beardsley,  Greene  C.  Bronson, 
Thomas  H.  Hubbard,  Mr.  Dauby  and  others.  The  question  of 
a  nomination  for  postmaster  came  up,  Mr.  Hitchcock,  the  in- 
cumbent of  the  office,  being  thought  to  be  a  defaulter.  After 
some  names  had  been  proposed,  Mr.  Van  Buren  asked  to  be 
permitted  to  nominate  a  candidate,  when  he  named  Mr.  Dauby. 
The  nomination,  which  was  satisfactory  to  the  gentlemen  pres- 
ent, obtained  shortly  afterward  the  approving  signatures  of  all 
the  democrats  of  the  county,  and  many  leading  ones  elsewhere. 
In  the  meantime,  Henry  R  Storrs,  then  in  Congress,  wrote  home 
to  some  of  the  leaders  of  the  National  Republican  party,  to 
select  a  candidate  on  their  side,  as  Mr.  Hitchcock  had  now  re- 
signed. They  suggested  James  Piatt,  and,  through  the  agency 
of  Mr.  Storrs,  Mr.  Piatt  was  appointed  on  the  21st  of  January, 
1828.  The  following  year  Andrew  Jackson  became  President, 
and  the  adherents  of  his  rival  who  bore  office  were  soon  ousted. 
Mr.  Dauby  was  now  made  postmaster.  But  though  he  had  the 
office  he  did  not  so  easily  get  possession  of  the  building  with 
its  appurtenances  wherein  to  conduct  it.  Mr.  Piatt  was  but 
just  warmed  to  the  place,  and  was  loth  to  give  it  up.  He  de- 
clined to  let  his  successor  have  the  office  and  fixtures  at  cost,  but 
demanded  a  bonus  besides.  After  a  little  delay  and  some  ebul- 
lition of  feeling,  the  difficulty  was  got  over  by  Mr.  Dauby's 
beginning  his  term  in  the  new  brick  building  on  the  north-west 
corner  of  Broad  and  John  streets.  Some  years  later  he  trans- 
ferred himself  and  his  charge  to  its  present  site  on  Hotel  street 
His  incumbency  lasted  full  twenty  years,  and  through  the  ad- 
ministration of  four  different  Presidents,  viz.:  from  the  22d  of 
May,  1829,  to  the  17th  of  May,  1819.  It  was  marked  by  fidel- 
ity to  his  trust,  diligence  and  attention  to  its  duties,  and  unfail- 
ing courtesy  toward  those  for  whose  benefit  it  was  adminis- 
tered. "  During  much  of  this  period  he  was  a  controlling  j)ower 
in  the  Democratic  party  of  Oneida.  His  management  was  dex- 
trous, conciliatory,  constructive.  He  did  not  care  to  push  him- 
self into  prominence,  but  his  will  was  strong,  and  of  the  able 
men  who  were  his  associates  all  recognized  his  sagacity  and  his 
skill  in  leadership.  As  divisions  came  into  the  party,  he  stood 
with  his  life  long  friends,-  and  with  Judges  Beardsley  and  Bron- 


542  THE  PIONEERS  OF  UTICA. 

son  and  Mr.  Croswell,  became  the  champion  of  the  Hards. 
He  was  one  of  those  who  earlj  won  for  Utica  its  political  emi- 
nence. He  distributed  prizes ;  he  did  not  seek  them.  He  set 
up  men,  and  pnt  them  down ;  he  assisted  in  constructing  poli- 
cies and  parties.  He  was  an  ally  to  be  sought  and  an  adver- 
sary to  be  feared."  When  the  scheme  was  on  foot  of  setting 
up  the  Oneida  Bank,  he  was  zealous  in  promoting  it.  It  was 
mainly  by  liis  personal  exertions  that  the  charter  was  procured, 
and  when  the  bank  was  organized,  he  became  its  president. 
As  chief  officer  he  was  active  in  ferreting  out  the  robbers  who 
entered  the  bank  the  night  before  the  day  when  it  was  to  go 
into  operation,  and  despoiled  it  of  a  portion  of  its  funds;  with 
another  director  he  went  to  Canada,  secui-ed  the  chief  culprit, 
and  brought  him  to  punishment.  Though  he  did  not  long 
remain  president,  he  was  a  director  from  that  time  to  the  day 
of  his  death,  and  a  regular  attendant  at  its  board.  At  the  first 
approach  of  the  attack  which  terminated  his  life,  he  made  his 
way  to  the  bank,  saying:  "  if  I  am  to  die,  I  want  to  die  there." 
"  For  long  years  he  pursued  no  avocation  which  kept  him  in 
business  relations  with  the  community,  but  was  able  to  enjoy 
the  leisure  of  modest  competence.  He  was  content  to  walk 
the  quiet  paths  of  a  studious  gentleman,  to  look  upon  the 
busy  scenes  of  these  latter  days  as  a  critic  and  a  judge,  with 
the  calmness  of  a  philosopher,  with  the  kindliness  of  a  Christian. 
His  habits  of  composition,  which  he  kept  up  in  private,  must 
have  produced  volumes  valuable  and  interesting.  Kegularly 
he  committed  to  paper  his  thoughts  and  observations — his  judg- 
ments of  men,  his  reflections  on  events,  his  theories  of  history. 
He  knew  many  of  our  public  men,  and  he  weiglied  them  wisely. 
He  reflected  much  on  abstruse  as  well  as  obvious  themes,  and 
he  delighted  to  ponder  upon  the  soul  and  religion  and  the  fu- 
ture." "No  other  man  bore  the  weight  of  eighty  winters  so 
lightly  and  blithely.  His  kindly  heart  and  his  genial  manners 
never  permitted  him  to  be  separated  from  his  kind,  and  to  the 
very  last,  he  kept  up  his  interest  in  current  events,  and  his 
neighborly  intercourse  with  the  friends  whom  he  cherished. 
Full  often  his  ho|)cful  words  cheered  desponding  natures,  and 
carried  sunshine  into  darkened  homes."  His  attack  was  sudden, 
and  with  little  })rcliminai'y  warning,  he  passed  away,  on  the 
27th  of  November,  1876.     He  was  the  father  of  three  daughters 


THE  THIRD  CHARTER.  543 

and  two  sons,  of  wliom  Helen,  (Mrs.  John  Gaines  of  New  Or- 
leans), Mary,  (Mrs.  James  Harrison  of  Irvington),  and  Van  Buren 
have  passed  awa}^  The  survivors  ai-e  Lewis  of  New  York,  and 
Cornelia  (who  was  Mrs.  Hiram  T.  Jenkins  and  is  now  Mrs. 
David  P.  Ludlow.) 

As  a  principal  of  the  Utica  Academy  there  appeared  in  the 
summer  of  1822,  a  truly  remarkable  man,  the  mention  of  whose 
name  will  awaken  some  pleasant  recollections  with  many  now 
tending  toward  the  decline  of  life.  This  was  Captain  Charles 
Stuart.  He  was  of  Scotch  descent,  and  a  retired  half-pay  offi- 
cer of  the  British  East  Lidia  service,  who  had  been  many  years 
in  the  east,  and  had  travelled  extensively  throughout  the  civi- 
lized, as  well  as  the  heathen  world.  His  strange  ways  and 
seemingly  paradoxical  character  have  been  already  so  well  de- 
picted, by  two  accomplished  annalists  of  the  place,  that  I  cannot 
do  better  than  to  piece  together  what  they  have  written.  To 
say,  remarks  Mr.  Seward,  *  that  he  was  eminently  pious,  ac- 
tively benevolent,  unsurpassedly  kind,  rigidly  austere,  and 
wildly  eccentric,  is  to  give,  after  all,  but  a  faint  idea  of  what 
the  man  really  was.  In  the  language  of  Mr.  Williams, f — he 
was  a  peculiar  mixture  of  the  severe  and  the  playful ;  tremen- 
dous in  his  wrath,  and  hilarious  in  his  relaxed  moods ;  with  a 
most  attractive  smile  and  a  thunderous  volcanic  fi'own,  in  which 
there  seemed  to  be  a  struggle  to  put  down  some  violent  pas- 
sion; withal  of  the  most  humane  and  tender  feelings ;  fond  of 
children  and  youth,  and  of  joining  boyishly  in  their  sports, 
but  strict  with  them,  and  often  bitter  in  his  reproofs  and  terri- 
ble in  his  punishments  of  casual  offences,  of  which  they  did  not 
always  know  the  exact  enormity ;  particularly  of  those  against 
religion,  purity  and  good  manners.  He  was  an  earnest,  ener- 
getic, enthusiastic  man  ;  every  way  uncompromising;  conscien- 
tious to  morbidness ;  and  altogether  one  of  the  most  eccentric 
and  mystical  men  I  ever  knew."  He  was  eccentric  in  his  dress 
and  in  his  ways.  He  wore  on  all  occasions,  and  at  all  seasons, 
a  Scotch  plaid  frock,  with  a  cape  reaching  nearly  to  the  elbows. 
And  as  with  stalwart  stride  he  moved  along  the  way,  his  quaint 
garb,  his  sun-browned  face  and  gentle  mien  drew  every  eye. 
"  His  rooms  in  the  academy  building  were  as  scantily  furnished 
*  Sunday  School  Jubilee.       f  Address  before  the  Utica  Academy. 


544  THE  PIONEERS  OF  UTICA. 

as  the  cell  of  an  anchorite.  His  bed  was  a  pallet  of  straw,  but 
those  rooms  were  always  redolent  of  flowers.  He  daily  deluged 
himself  with  water,  externally  and  internally.  It  was  reported 
that  he  often  slept  out  of  doors  summer  nights ;  and  he  walked 
four  or  five  miles  to  get  an  appetite  and  a  digestion  for  his 
bread  and  milk,  which  he  took  at  a  distant  farm  house.  Al- 
though many  thought  him  fanatical,  none  ever  questioned  bis 
thorough  sincerity."  His  eccentricities,  says  Mr.  Seward,  were 
a  part  of  that  growth  which  comes  of  the  highest  religious  cul- 
ture. It  seemed,  says  Mr.  Williams,  as  if  God  were  in  all  his 
thoughts,  and  all  that  he  did  was  done  with  his  might,  and  as 
if  under  the  "  Great  Task  Master's  Eye."  To  quote  again  from 
Mr.  Seward  :  "  Of  course  this  man  was  the  children's  friend,  for 
with  the  tenderness  of  a  woman,  he  had  the  spirit  of  a  child. 
How  they  would  flock  around  him.  How  they  clung  to  him. 
They  made  him  the  willing  partner  of  all  their  joys  and  sorrows, 
and  of  their  sports  as  well.  The  hour  before  the  opening  of 
morning  school  was  usually  one  of  hilarious  mirth,  in  which 
there  was  no  sport  too  boisterous  for  him  to  engage  in.  Often^ 
of  a  Saturday  afternoon,  I  have  known  him  to  marshal  the 
academy  boys  in  mimic  warfare,  on  the  open  common,  which 
now  makes  Chancellor  square.  At  such  times  it  was  a  matter 
of  equal  indifference  to  him  whether  he  took  the  part  of  leader, 
private,  or  musician."  But  it  was  not  the  boys  alone  whom  he 
delighted  with  his  presence  and  emulated  in  their  play.  Mr. 
Stuart  was  the  founder  and  patron  of  a  society  among  the  girls 
of  the  village,  whom  he  met  statedly  for  instruction  in  the 
Scriptures  and  in  the  duties  of  practical  goodness.  At  the  same 
time  he  took  occasion  to  reward  them  for  proofs  of  industry 
and  commendable  depoitment.  On  holidays  he  would  sti'oll 
with  them  into  the  country,  entertain  them  with  musical  per- 
formances, and  regale  them  with  nuts  and  candies. 

Captain  Stuart  joined  himself  to  every  good  work  in  the- 
town.  In  the  Sunday  school  he  assisted  the  superintendent, 
and  was  most  impressive  when  he  talked  to  the  children  of  the 
moral  wastes  of  the  East,  and  explained  to  them  the  rites  of  the 
Hindoos.  Commissioned,  at  his  own  request,  by  the  Bible 
Society  of  Oneida,  he  traversed  the  county  on  foot  and  at  his 
own  expense,  and  ascertained  the  number  of  families  in  every 
one  of  its  towns  who  were  destitute  of  the  Holy  Scriptures  and 


THE  THIRD  CHARTER.  545 

desirous  of  being  furnished  with  them.  At  the  academy,  as  in 
the  Sunday  school,  his  system  of  instruction  was  eminently  re- 
lio-ious,  and  it  was  so  spontaneously  and  naturally.  It  is  believed 
that  he  was  the  first  teacher  in  this  country  to  introduce  the 
practice  of  singing  a  hymn  in  school  worship.  His  appearance 
when  in  prayer  Mr.  Seward  thus  feelingly  recalls :  "  Do  you 
not  even  now  see  the  noble  form  of  our  venerable  friend,  with 
hands  meekly  folded  on  tlie  breast  ?  Do  you  not  again  hear 
thosp  pleading  tones  for  merey,  as  with  rapt,  irradiate  gaze,  he 
seemed  to  behold  the  mercy  seat  ?"  This  irradiate  gaze,  remarks 
another,  was  a  fact,  not  a  fancy  ;  we  all  took  notice  of  it.  And 
when,  not  many  years  ago,  he  was  praying  at  the  house  of  Mr. 
Arthur  Tappan,  one  of  the  servants  observed  his  countenance, 
and  afterwards  told  her  mistress  that  his  face  was  like  an  angel's 
looking  up  into  heaven.  Mr.  Stuart  remained  some  three 
years  in  Utica.  He  became  a  minister  ;  was  for  some  years  en- 
gaged in  missionary  enterprises,  connected  with  the  questions  of 
slavery  and  temperance,  married  late,  and  finally  retired  into 
Canada,  where  he  died,  about  the  year  1864.  His  interest  in 
anti-slavery  brought  him  as  a  delegate  to  the  noted  convention 
of  the  early  adherents  of  that  cause,  held  in  Utica,  in  1835. 
And  when  the  assembly  was  dissolved  by  the  ruthless  prejudi- 
ces of  the  people  among  whom  it  was  convened,  and  its  mem- 
bers took  their  way  to  Peterboro,  in  such  conveyances  as  they 
could  procure,  Mr.  Stuart,  in  accordance  with  his  early  habits, 
trudged  on  afoot  through  mud  and  rain.  Besting  over  night  at 
Vernon,  he  was  aroused  from  his  sleep  by  the  landlord,  with 
the  information  that  a  mob  was  at  the  door,  threatening  violence 
to  him  and  the  other  guests  from  the  convention,  and  that  he 
must  arise  and  arm  himself  for  defence.  His  reply,  so  truly 
characteristic,  was  simply  an  assurance  to  the  '^hrethren^'  that 
if  they  would  wait  until  the  morning,  he  would  meet  them  with- 
out fail ;  and  then  he  composed  himself  again  to  sleep. 

Another  school  of  this  date  was  less  memorable  for  the  Chris- 
tian graces  of  its  head  than  for  the  worldly  grace  and  mannered 
rules  of  fashion  which  were  there  imparted.  It  was  kept  by 
Mdme.  Despard,  wife  of  Bichard  Despard,  and  in  one  of  those 
houses  on  Broad  street  already  mentioned  as  occupied  in  succes- 
sion bv  James  Lynch,  James  H.  Hackett,  and  Justus  H.  Eath- 
"l-I 


546  THE  PIONEERS  OF  UTICA. 

bone.  Not  so  skilled  in  grounding  her  pupils  in  the  elements 
of  English  scholarship,  she  could  teach  them  French  and  music, 
as  well  as  how  to  enter  or  leave  a  parlor,  how  to  receive,  and  to 
deport  themselves  au  saloii,  and  in  general  how  to  shape  their 
conduct  to  the  etiquette  of  the  most  conventional  and  elite  of. 
circles.  But  neither  the  place  nor  the  time  was  propitious  for 
a  fashionable  boarding  school,  and  so,  after  one  or  two  changes 
of  the  site  of  it,  its  mistress  went  elsewhere.  Meanwhile,  her 
husband,  an  Irishman,  who  had  been  in  the  British  armj,  super- 
intended the  garden  on  Garden  street,  and  that  not  very  profit- 
ably to  the  corporation  who  employed  him. 

A  dealer  in  dry  goods,  lively,  cheerful  and  social,  was  Sam- 
uel Thompson,  once  in  business  in  Connecticut,  and  then  briefly 
employed  in  the  store  of  his  brother-in-law,  Oren  Clark.  He 
started  a  few  doors  below  the  Ontario  Branch  Bank,  his  place 
being  known  by  the  sign  of  "  the  green  door  and  brass  knocker," 
The  door  was  in  the  second  story  over  the  entrance,  as  was  com- 
mon with  other  stores  of  the  time,  and  as  may  be  seen  at  this 
day  in  this  identical  store  of  Thompson,  and  it  was  embossed 
with  a  gigantic  knocker  in  gilt.  As  a  friendly,  and  many- 
friended  merchant,  he  was  there,  or  else  for  a  short  time  near 
the  canal,  until  after  the  finding  of  gold  in  California  drew 
thither  its  eai'lier  seekers,  when  he  joined  in  the  train.  And 
there,  at  Oakland,  he  and  his  wife  are  wearing  out  their  years. 

William  Walker,  son  of  Thomas  Walker,  the  editor  and 
printer,  was  himself  an  editor  in  his  youth,  but  only  in  his 
youth.  In  company  with  Philo  White,  one  of  his  father's  ap- 
prentices, he  started,  in  1817,  the  Youth's  Monitor^  Mr.  White 
doing  the  printing.  The  paper  was  of  the  largest  cap,  and  was 
made  up  chiefly  of  stories.  Among  its  contributors  were 
Albert  Backus,  S.  DeWitt  Bloodgood  and  Thomas  H.  Flandrau. 
After  a  time  the  last  two  left  it,  and  set  up  the  Auroi^a.  These 
two  papers  abused  one  another  and  brought  in  collateral  mat- 
ter relating  to  the  citizens,  when  the  elders  of  the  young  editors 
interposed  and  stopped  them.  Mr.  Walker  served  a  clerkship 
in  New  York,  and  in  1822  joined  his^rother-in-law,  Mr.  Hardy, 
in  hardware,  but  within  a  very  few  years  was  doing  business 
in  the  metropolis,  as  one  of  the  firm  of  Field,  Walker  &  Co., 


THE  THIRD  CHARTER.  647 

•wherein  Mr.  Hardy  was  also  interested.  Then  he  became  a 
banker,  and  has  been  more  recently  president  of  a  life  insurance 
company.  While  in  Utica,  Mr.  Walker  was  active  in  the  Sun- 
day school,  and  was  secretary  of  the  Oneida  Sunday  School 
Union.  In  New  York  his  name  is  still  associated  with  religious 
and  benevolent  enterprises. 

A  Field, — though  in  no  wise  connected  with  the  one  just 
mentioned, — opened  a  crockery  store  in  September  of  this  year. 
This  was  Thomas  F.  Field,  who  remained  here  about  ten  years, 
a  part  of  the  time  having  a  partner  named  Clark,  when  he  re- 
turned to  the  great  commercial  emporium.  He  built  a  pottery 
on  the  bank  of  the  canal,  near  Schuyler  street,  and,  in  com- 
memoration of  the  completion  of  the  great  work  of  his  genera- 
tion, he  imported  and  sold  pieces  of  white  ware,  plates,  pitchers, 
&c.,  emblazoned  with  pictures  of  the  canal  and  boats  in  pro- 
gress along  it. 

James  Murdock  and  Elon  Andrews  had  been  apprentices  of 
Joseph  Barton,  while  he  was  still  a  watchmaker  and  jeweller, 
the  former  as  early  as  1810,  and  the  latter  from  1813.  They 
now  joined  forces  and  set  up  a  watchmaker's  shop  of  their  own. 
They  continued  it  many  j^ears,  and  marked  their  trade  and 
themselves  by  honest  dealing  and  blamelessness  of  personal 
character.  Mr  Murdock  was  from  Houseville  in  Lewis  county, 
and  the  son  of  a  Presbj^terian  minister.  For  thirty  years  he 
was  treasurer  of  the  Utica  Lodo-e  of  Free  Masons.  His  later 
residence  was  at  57  Fayette  street,  and  there  he  died,  January 
27,  1850,  at  the  age  of  fifty-eight.  His  wife,  whose  name  was 
Hope  House,  is  still  living,  as  are  also  two  of  his  daughters.  His 
son  is  deceased.  Elon  Andrews  built  and  occupied  the  brick 
house  on  the  north  side  of  Main  street,  just  east  of  Second  street. 
He  was  alwaj^s  well  spoken  of  by  all  who  knew  him,  yet  these 
were  few,  so  shy  was  he  of  general  intercourse.  He  lived  a  lit- 
tle longer  than  his  partner,  and  was  buried  at  Holland  Patent, 
where  he  had  obtained  his  wife. 

Two  other  early  apprentices  were  Owen  O'Neil  and  Eobert 
Disney,  who  had  been  some  years  at  work  at  copper  and  tin- 
ware for  James  Delvin.  Their  announcement,  in  June  1822, 
that  thc}^  are  in  want  of  apprentices,  is  the  first  intimation  we 


548  THE   PIONEERS  OF  UTICA. 

have  of  their  setting  up  for  themselves.  Owen  O'Ncil  was  a 
native  of  the  county  of  Wexford,  Ireland,  and  was  born  in  1798. 
He  came  to  this  country  at  the  age  of  eighteen,  and  shortly 
after  engaged  himself  to  Mr.  Delvin.  He  labored  so  faithfully 
that  his  employer  made  him  a  gift  of  one  year  of  his  apprentice- 
ship, and  a  handsome  present  beside.  Then  for  a  short  time 
he  found  employment  at  Norfolk,  Va.,  and  by  careful  saving  of 
his  earnings  acquired  a  small  capital.  Returning  to  Utica,  he 
entered  into  business  with  Mr.  Disney,  on  Liberty  street.  After 
a  few  years  they  bought  out  Mr.  Delvin.  William  Martin,  a. 
relative  of  tlie  latter,  now  became  Mr.  O'Neil's  partner,  and 
they  purchased  the  store  No.  84  Genesee  street.  There,  with 
successive  partners,  Mr.  O'Neil  contiued  to  carry  on  copper  and 
"iinsmithing  with  general  hardware  until  his  death,  July  29, 1875. 
By  ceaseless  labor  and  untiring  attention  to  all  the  details  of 
the  business  he  gained  prosperity.  By  bis  accurate  and  honor- 
able dealings  he  gained  the  confidence  of  his  associates  in  trade, 
and  of  all  who  traded  with  him.  His  liberality  to  the  poor  and 
the  distressed  gave  him  the  affections  of  this  class.  His  clear,, 
practical  sense,  his  conversance  with  business  and  his  fidelity 
in  executing  it,  made  him  serviceable  to  his  fellows  in  associated 
trusts.  While  his  interest  in  w^hatever  aimed  at  the  public 
good  conspired  with  excellence  of  personal  character  to  secure 
him  the  respect  and  esteem  of  all  his  fellow  townsmen.  St. 
John's  Church,  and  all  its  institutions  of  charity,  had  in  him  a 
devoted  friend.  He  was  one  of  its  trustees,  and  its  treasurer 
so  long  as  the  trustee  system  continued  in  its  management,  and 
was  also  treasurer  of  the  Hibernian  Benevolent  Society.  He 
was  a  director  of  the  Utica  Savings  Bank,  almost  from  its  com- 
mencement, was  a  director  of  the  Ontario  Branch,  and  among 
the  originators  and  directors  of  the  Oneida  County  Bank. 
Socially,  Mr.  O'Neil  was  one  of  the  most  companionable  of  men. 
He  was  fond  of  the  company  of  the  old  and  the  young.  The 
former  esteemed  him  for  his  tried  and  well  known  merits,  and 
the  latter  were  invariably  interested  in  the  experiences  of  his 
life,  and  his  suggestions  and  advice.  He  was  twice  married 
and  the  father  of  eight  children,  of  whom  Mrs.  Quin  of  New 
York,  and  Thomas  B.  of  this  city,  alone  remain  ;  as  does  also 
his  second  wife,  whose  maiden  name  was  Manahan. 


THE  THIRD  CHARTER.  549 

Augustus  Hurlburt  had  been  for  some  years  living  in  New- 
Hartford,  carrying  on  chairmaking.  In  the  year  1814,  in  com- 
pany with  a  man  named  Maurice,  he  opened  a  shop  in  Utica, 
for  the  sale  of  these  articles,  but  did  nor  remove  hither  until 
1822.  A  native  of  Eichmond,  Berkshire  county,  Mass.,  and 
born  in  1788,  he  had  settled  in  this  county  when  young,  and 
by  his  excellence  as  a  business  man  he  had  already  obtained 
a  directorship  in  the  Ontario  Branch  Bank,  before  he  fixed  him- 
self in  Utica.  His  furniture  ware  houses  were  on  Bleecker 
street,  and  also  on  Genesee,  above  Bleecker.  In  company  with 
other  parties  he  erected  the  Battey  block,  and  for  his  residence, 
the  house  No.  239  Genesee,  now  occupied  by  N.  C  Newell. 
For  one  or  two  terms  he  served  as  alderman,  was  a  man  of  ex- 
cellent sense,  independent  and  irreproachable.  About  1835  he 
took  to  farming,  in  Clinton,  continuing  it  afterward  at  New 
Hartford,  where  he  died,  December  8,  1871.  His  wife  was  a 
Miss  Remington  of  that  place.  > 

The  William  Tillman,  quondam  partner  of  Rudolph  Snyder, 
and  who  with  him  was  in  the  line  of  cabinet  ware  sixteen  years 
before,  and  later  was  selling  hardware  with  Charles  E.  Hardy, 
now  reverted  to  his  first  employment,  and  had  as  a  partner  Eli 
F.  Benjamin.  So  confident  were  the  new  firm  of  the  excellence 
of  their  furniture  as  to  declare  that  if  it  was  not  equal  in  style 
and  finish  to  any  in  the  city  of  New  York,  they  were  willing 
to  give  it  away.  Together  they  continued  to  make  and  to  sell 
it  until  1833.  Benjamin  was  afterward  still  more  vacillating 
than  his  partner  had  been,  and  though  his  course  in  Utica  was 
a  somewhat  lengthy  one,  he  was  "everything  by  turns  and 
nothing  long."  Surviving  wife  and  children,  he  died  an  old 
and  an  unhappy  man. 

Hiram  Green  man  came  to  Utica  from  Oxford,  and  was  at 
first  a  steward  on  one  of  the  packet  boats.  In  1823,  he  was 
keeping  the  public  house  which  stands  on  the  canal  bank  near 
Washington  street  bridge.  Afterwards  he  was  a  packet  cap- 
tain, and  largely  interested  in  the  stock  of  one  of  the  boat  com- 
panies, wherein  the  bulk  of  his  property  was  made.  He  was 
among  the  foremost  in  all  public  undertakings,  had  a  share  in 
steam  boats  on  Lake  Ontario,  and  in  the  earlier  telegraph  lines, 


550  THE  PIONEERS  OF  UTICA. 

possessed  a  remarkable  degree  of  enterprise  and  energy,  and 
practically  knew  not  the  meaning  of  the  word  fail.  Whatever 
he  turned  his  hand  to  was  sure  to  succeed.  His  success  culmi- 
nated in  the  possession  of  a  handsome  estate.  As  a  friend  he 
was  frank,  generous  and  true.  As  a  neighbor  he  never  tired  of 
doing  good  ofltices,  as  to  watch  with  the  sick,  and  to  comfort 
the  afflicted.  For  seven  years  he  was  the  victim  of  a  fearful 
malady,  against  which  he  bore  up  with  indomitable  spirit.  This 
was  a  cancer  that  in  the  end  destroyed  the  whole  of  one  side 
of  his  face,  and  took  away  his  life  on  the  11th  of  November, 
1850.  His  genuine  pluck  is  well  illustrated  by  the  experience 
of  a  neighbor,  who  having  the  previous  night  overheard  the 
sufferer  groaning  with  pain  as  he  walked  up  and  down  the  side- 
walk, accosted  him  in  the  morning  with  the  inquiry,  "How  are 
you,  Captain  Greenman?"  To  which  the  latter,  with  a  cheerful 
smile,  replied,  "  First-rate,  I  thank  you."  It  is  by  such  men 
that  the  material  interests  of  communities  are  fostered,  the 
means  of  intercommunication  brought  into  being,  and  towns 
and  cities  sustained.  Mrs.  Greenman,  a  daughter  of  Silas  Co- 
burn,  is  still  in  Utica.     Their  two  sons  are  deceased. 

James  McGregor,  Scotch  in  descent  if  not  a  Scotchman  by 
birth,  and  whose  former  liorne  had  been  among  the  Scotch 
Presbyterians  of  Montgomery  county,  had  been  a  teamster 
during  the  war,  and  after  it  had  worked  as  a  mason,  under 
Robert  McBride.  As  a  mason  he  accomplished  a  good  deal  in 
the  place,  building,  besides  other  structures,  the  earlier  edifice 
held  by  the  Reformed  Dutch  Church,  on  Broad  street,  and  the 
public  house  on  Whitesboro  street  that  succeeded  to  the  Burch- 
ard  tavern,  known  at  first  as  the  McGregor  House,  and  now  as 
the  Dudley  House.  This  he  himself  conducted  for  a  time,  and 
lived  afterward  in  a  house  of  his  erection  near  the  south-cast 
corner  of  Chancellor  square.  He  removed  to  Brooklyn,  and 
from  thence  to  Ballston.  His  conduct  warranted  the  regard 
that  was  felt  for  him  and  his  family. 

Francis  Dwight  Grosvenor,  was  from  Rome,  where  he  had 
been  a  clerk.  He  was  police  constable,  tavern-keej^er,  grocer^ 
&C.J  was  about  everywhere,  and  concerned  in  a  good  many 
things ;  but  more  than  all  beside,  he  was  a  military  man,  and  a 


THE  THIRD  CHARTER.  551 

mason.  His  wife  was  daughter  of  Barnard  Coon,  an  early  set- 
tler. His  son  Thomas  W.,  who  served  with  credit  in  the  war 
of  secession,  and  was  brevetted  brigadier  general,  was  at  the 
time  of  his  death  prosecuting  attorney  of  the  city  of  Chicago. 
During  the  confusion  following  the  great  fire,  and  when  the  city 
was  placed  under  martial  law,  he  refused  to  stop  at  the  chal- 
lenge of  the  sentry,  and  was  shot  dead.  Another  son,  Edward 
P.,  an  editor  in  Chicago,  died  September  2,  1877. 

John  Lloyd,  Welshman  and  Baptist,  learned  wagon  making 
in  the  village,  and  practiced  it  where  Washington  Hall  now 
stands.  But  when,  by  the  aid  of  twelve  or  fifteen  ox  teams, 
his  shop  was  dragged  away  to  make  room  for  the  hall,  a  new 
brick  one  was  put  up  for  him  on  the  corner  of  John  and  Cath- 
erine streets ;  and  there  he  toiled  until  he  was  made  overseer 
of  the  poor.  Tender  in  his  sympathies,  and  tender  in  his  con- 
science, he  was  a  faithful  almoner,  esteemed  alike  by  the  givers 
and  the  receivers  of  the  people  s  money.  No  half-way  officer 
was  he ;  but  earnest,  single-minded  and  trae,  he  never  tired  in 
seeking  out  and  dispensing  to  the  needy,  and  had  not  words 
enough  to  complete  his  denunciations  of  the  impostor  and  the 
lazy.  His  latter  years  were  passed  in  Marcy.  One  of  his 
daughters  is  wife  of  Professor  Lewis,  of  Madison  University ; 
another  is  Mrs.  Curry,  of  Trenton. 

Three  other  Welshman  denizened  at  this  date,  and  who  en- 
tered together  on  shoemaking,  having  a  shop  on  the  east  side 
of  Genesee,  a  little  below  Catherine,  were  Evan  Roberts,  David 
E.  Morris,  and  Thomas  L.  Morris.  Neither  adhered  exclusively 
to  the  business,  for  Roberts,  who  was  a  lastmaker  as  well,  and 
the  first  named  of  the  Morrises  were  grocers  also,  and  the  latter 
was  for  years  the  faithful  and  obliging  sexton  of  the  First  Pres- 
byterian Church,  while  Thomas  L.  Morris  succeeded  "  Bill 
Dick,"  as  the  letter  carrier  of  the  place.  Evan  Roberts  took 
part  in  establishing  the  Welsh  Church  on  Seneca  street.  He 
was  the  father  of  the  present  hardware  merchants,  John  E.,  and 
Henry  Roberts.  The  children  of  David  E.  Morris,  were  the 
Rev.  Edward  D.  Morris,  professor  in  Lane  Seminary,  Ohio,  Mrs. 
Ellis  H.  Roberts  of  Utica,  Professor  John  L.  Morris  of  Cornell 
University,  and  Mrs.  Sutton  of  Utica.     Henry  Roberts,  butcher, 


552  THE   PIONEERS  OF  UTICA. 

bought  in  182-4,  the  lot  on  the  corner  of  Court  and  Garden 
streets,  where  he  has  carried  on  his  trade  until  i-ecently,  and 
where  he  and  his  family  are  domiciled  still.  Still  another  of  the 
■compatriots  of  the  foregoing,  was  Evan  Ellis,  carpenter,  who  died 
while  on  a  visit  to  Wales,  but  whose  daughter,  Mrs.  Jones,  is  yet 
in  the  place. 

An  Irisliman  named  John  Hasson,  in  a  singularly  didactic 
advertisement  of  February  22,  1822,  descants  through  a  quarter 
of  a  page  on  the  mischiefs  arising  from  an  ill-kept  orchard,  and 
ends  by  telling  the  public  that  he  is  conversant  with  the  man- 
agement of  fruit  trees,  and  may  be  found  near  the  corner  of 
Washington  and  Liberty  streets.  Again  in  August,  he  acquaints 
them  with  the  fact  that  the  season  has  arrived  for  budding 
peaches,  nectarines,  apples  and  pears ;  also  apricots  on  peach  or 
almond  stock,  &c.,  and  that  he  will  promptly  attend  to  any 
applications  in  his  line.  Grreat  as  may  have  been  the  skill  of 
Mr.  Hasson,  he  found  small  scope  for  its  exercise  in  Utica,  and 
few  of  the  dainty  fruits  he  talks  of  on  which  to  manipulate. 
And  so  we  are  not  surprised  to  see  him  the  next  spring,  installed 
in  tlie  southeast  room  of  the  Academy  as  its  janitor,  with  only 
its  rear  yard  for  a  garden,  where  he  might  at  least  grow  pota- 
toes and  cabbage  if  he  could  not  exhibit  a  higher  order  of  hor- 
ticultural accomplishment.  "  Frequent,  "  says  Mr.  Williams, 
"  were  the  small  strifes  that  kept  up  confusion  between  the  pets 
of  the  household,  (bestial  and  human,)  and  the  boys  of  the 
school ;  to  say  nothing  of  tlie  ]:)rivate  family  contentions,  with 
which  no  stranger  might  intermeddle,  that  were  breaking  out 
discordantlj'  at  unseemly  liours.  The  janitor's  powers  of  silence 
were  of  a  stentorian  sort,  and  the  attempt  at  quieting  a  hubbub 
as  overpowering  as  the  drums  and  trumpets  that  stifle  the  voices 
of  martja-s  at  the  stake.  He  was  for  a  long  time  master  of  the 
premises,  until  he  had  acquired  such  an  indefeasible  right  of 
occupancy  that  he  felt  entitled  to  stay  without  rent  or  service, 
and  finally  compelled  a  resort  to  legal  measures  to  oust  him." 
Driven  thence,  he  turned  again  to  the  ground  for  a  living,  and 
had  a  garden  on  the  northeast  corner  of  the  lot  now  occupied 
by  the  St.  Vincent's  Orphan  Asylum.  From  there  he  used  to 
give  out  that  he  was  prepared  to  supply  vargin  sile  for  the 
ladies'  flower  pots.      He  afterwards  enlisted  for  a  soldier,  and 


THE  THIRD  CHARTER.  553 

was  pi'omoted  to  a  sergeantcy,  which  to  him  was  what  a  lieu- 
tenant general's  buttons  might  be  to  another.  Great  on  the 
muster  roll  of  swelling  martinets  was  sergeant  John  Hasson. 
When  last  at  Utica  he  told  his  acquaintances  that  he  was 
"  doing  gariison  djooty'  in  the  United  States  service. 

Other  residents  of  this  date,  for  the  most  part  of  briefer  stay, 
must  be  shortly  noticed ;  these  were :  Lyman  Preston,  mer- 
chant and  dealer  in  shoes,  afterwards  better  known  as  the  au- 
thor of  one  of  the  best  book  of  interest  tables  ever  published  ; 
it  came  out  about  1827,  and  was  followed  by  another  edition,, 
containing  also  discount  tables ;  his  book-keeping  is  also  well 
known ;  C.  W.  Drake,  merchant ;  Gr.  S.  Willey,  dealer  in  Leghorn 
hats;  Samuel  Darling,  tobacco  manufacturer;  George  Swan,  quite 
recently  living  in  Cleveland;  William  Wilbur  and  his  brother 
Isaac,  carpenters ;  Lyman  Nolton,  blacksmith ;  William  Franks, 
brushmaker;  Lansing  Wall,  tailor;  Henry  Brown,  painter; 
James  Long  and  John  Dale,  laborers;  Josiah  Wright,  farmer, 
was  much  longer  a  citizen,  and  has  daughters  here  still ;  and 
Penelope  Conkling,  nurse,  had  already  been  several  years  in  the 

neighborhood  ; Parmeley,  dentist,  and  considered  a  good 

one,  soon  found  a  home  in  New  York  ;  Morgan,  a  singing 

teacher ;  C.  Juliet,  French  teacher ;  Charles  C.  Hazard,  nephew 
of  Peter  Bours,  was  a  clerk,  and  a  companionable  acquaintance ; 
Gerry  Sanger,  also  a  clerk,  was  afterward  a  hardware  merchant 
of  protracted  residence  ;  Timothy  Burr,  another  clerk,  was  brief 
of  stay 


1823. 

The  village  trustees  of  the  year  1823  were  Benjamin  Ballou 
and  James  Hooker  from  the  first  ward  ;  Ezekiel  Bacon  and 
Daniel  Stafford  from  the  second ;  aiid  Thomas  Walker  and 
Jesse  W.  Doolittle  from  the  third.  The  assessors  were  Benja- 
min Ballou,  John  Bradish  and  Apollos  Cooper.  Jolm  H. 
Ostrom  was  clerk,  and  Thomas  Walker  treasurer  and  overseer 
of  the  poor.  The  following  streets  were  paved ;  Liberty,  from 
Genesee  to  the  west  line  of  Hotel;  Catherine,  from  Genesee  to 
John ;  Broad,  from  Genesee  to  John ;  and  Genesee  from  the 
termination  of  the  pavement  of  the  previous  year,  viz.  :  the  line 


554  THE  PIONEERS  OF  UTICA. 

of  Wliitesboro  street  to  the  river  bridge.  The  street  lately 
laid  out  from  Genesee  to  Nail  creek,  received  the  title  of 
Rome  street,  and  a  new  one  running  southerly  from  it — the 
modern  Pine, — was  ordered  to  be  opened.  Fourteen  hundred 
and  twenty  dollars  was  the  sum  voted  for  contingent  expenses, 
ninety-four  for  school  expenses,  and  four  hundred  for  the  sup- 
port of  the  poor.  Early  in  January  1824,  the  board  learned, 
"  with  deep  regret,  that  Ezra  S.  Cozier,  president  of  the  village, 
had  been  superseded  in  office  by  the  act  of  the  Governor  and 
Senate  of  the  State."  They  resolved  unanimously  that  "  the 
secret  and  clandestine  manner  in  which  this  object  had  been 
effected,  evinces  a  disregard  of  the  intei'ests,  and  an  indiffer- 
ence to  the  wishes  of  the  citizens,  which  is  disreputable  to  those 
by  whose  agency  it  has  been  effected,  and  they  conclude  with 
presenting  their  thanks  to  the  retiring  officer  for  the  ability  and 
pei'severance  with  which  he  has  discharged  the  unpleasant  du- 
ties of  president  of  the  village.  His  successor  was  Captain  Wil- 
liam Clarke.  However  aggrieved  the  trustees  may  have  been 
by  the  "clandestine  manner"  in  which  the  change  was  brought 
about,  it  was  the  result,  doubtless,  of  political  sympathies  and 
influence,  and  the  agents  at  work  in  it  were,  notwithstanding, 
most  worthy  men.  For  these  were  the  individuals  who  repre- 
sented to  his  Excellency,  the  Governor,  "that  Captain  William 
Clarke  is  a  suitable  person  to  fill  the  office  of  j^resident  of  the 
village, — and  that  his  appointment  would  be  satisfactory  to  the 
republicans  of  the  village  of  Utica,"  viz. :  N.  Williams,  C.  C. 
Brodhead,  E  Dorchester,  H.  Seymour,  S.  Beardsley,  M.  S.  Mil- 
ler, T.  M.  Francis.  The  fact  that  this  was  the  only  petition, 
and  these  all  the  signatures  annexed,  seems  to  have  been  deemed 
sufficient  ground  of  offence  to  warrant  the  issuing  of  a  handbill 
briefly  setting  forth  the  petition  and  its  appended  names.  It 
was  intended,  doubtless,  to  appeal  thereby  to  the  wronged  self- 
esteem  of  the  numerous  adherents  of  the  opposing  faction. 
Viewed,  however,  in  the  light  of  after  years,  the  petition  can- 
not be  regarded  otherwise  than  as  a  strictly  inoffensive  one, 
and  its  signers  representative  men,  whose  character  and  stand- 
ing entitled  them  to  consideration  from  the  Governor  and  Senate. 

As  we  have  seen,  it  was  ordered  by  the  trustees  that  the 
public  square  should  be  paved.     Ere  the  soil  is  upturned  and 


THE  THIRD  CHARTER.  555 

its  scattered  spots  of  greenness  disappear  forever,  let  us  not 
omit  to  note  some  of  its  bygone  uses  and  experience.  I  do  not 
allude  merely  to  the  fact  that  it  was  a  play  ground  for  the  boys, 
a  trysting  place  to  which  they  came  from  various  parts  of  the 
town.  Nor  yet  that  it  was  the  focus  for  occasional  gatherings 
of  the  people,  such  as  the  mob  that  filled  it  at  one  time  during 
the  war,  when  a  soldier,  having  been  struck  by  the  heavy  whip 
of  a  teamster,  and  his  friends  rallying  to  revenge  the  wrong, 
there  was  drawn  together  a  formidable  body  of  angry  citizens. 
Public  assemblages  of  many  kinds  it  has  witnessed  in  later  days. 
There  was  one  use,  however,  to  which  the  square  was  sometimes 
put  that,  after  cobble  was  substituted  for  softer  ground,  was 
practiced  no  longer.  It  is  as  a  horse-breaker's  ring,  as  the  chief 
manege  of  that  successful  trainer,  Peter  Collins,  that  I  would>| 
now  recall  it.  Peter  was  a  simple-minded,  good-hearted  negro,  j 
with  some  drollery,  but  more  amusing  from  his  simplicity  than 
from  anything  especially  acute  in  what  he  said  or  did.  During 
the  war  he  had  been  body-servant  to  General  Oliver  Collins  of 
New  Hartford,  and  when  asked  who  he  was,  used  to  say  that 
he  was  half  General  Collins,  half  rinio^  and — then  pausing, — 
half  Peter.  He  did  not  live  in  the  place,  but  spent  a  good  deal 
of  time  in  it ;  he  was  recognized  by  every  body,  and,  as  one 
might  say,  enjoyed  the  freedom  of  the  village.  On  one  occa- 
sion, at  least,  he  was  rather  too  free,  and  appeared  most  unex- 
pectedly where  invited  guests  alone  were  looked  for.  It  was  at 
the  wedding  of  one  of  the  daughters  of  Watts  Shearman,  an  oc- 
casion of  much  state  and  ceremon}^  When  others  advanced  to 
congratulate  the  married  pair,  Peter  came  too,  dressed  in  his 
best,  and  with  his  hat  under  his  arm.  Approaching  in  his  turn, 
he  addressed  them  in  some  such  words  as  these :  "Well  you 
are  the  handsomest  couple  Peter  has  ever  laid  eyes  on ;"  and  then 
presently  added,  "  Peter  is  dry."  But  it  is  of  his  skill  in  breaking 
horses  that  I  intended  chiefly  to  speak.  This  was  remakable, 
and  hardly  surpassed  by  the  science  of  the  modern  Rarey.  He 
would  take  a  young  and  wholly  unbroken  colt,  and,  by  dint  of 
gentle,  but  persevering  and  determined  management,  would,  in 
a  few  hours,  bend  him  completely  to  his  control.  More  than 
once  have  1  seen  him  begin  at  school  time  with  his  undisci- 
plined charge,  and  when  school  was  out  for  the  day  the  animal 
would  be  lying  on  the  ground  and  Peter  lying  between  his  legs> 


556  THE  PIONEERS  OF  UTICA. 

or,  rising  at  command,  he  would  follow  his  subjugator  about 
the  square,  would  walk,  trot  or  halt  at  the  instant  the  word  was 
given.  There  was  some  pretence  of  whispering  to  the  colt 
and  considerable  foolish  talk,  but  the  skill  depended  chiefly 
on  the  mingled  gentleness  and  firmness  of  tlie  master,  and  the 
assurance  he  impressed  upon  his  pupil  of  the  necessity  and  the 
propriety  of  obedience.  But  the  square  was  now  paved,  and 
Peter  left  it  to  return  no  more. 

The  village  was  at  this  time  growing  rapidly,  its  population 
having  been  computed  by  its  citizens  at  four  thousand.  The 
chief  cause  of  its  increase  was  doubtless  the  gradual  extension 
of  the  Erie  canal,  and  the  consequent  improved  facilities  of 
transportation,  together  with  the  sanguine  hopes  that  were  enter- 
tained of  the  much  larger  influx  of  business  when  this  great 
woi'k  should  be  perfected.  The  progress  of  the  canal  was 
therefore  the  theme  of  chief  interest  to  the  citizens  of  that 
date,  as  it  must  be  to  those  who  would  realize  their  condition. 
The  Erie  Canal  Navigation  Company  announced  in  April,  that 
in  addition  to  their  last  year's  establishment,  they  had  incorpo- 
rated into  their  line  four  new  spacious  and  beautiful  boats,  and 
that  they  liad  commenced  running  regular  trips  between  Utica 
and  Eochester.  A  boat  left  Utica  every  day,  Sundays  excepted, 
at  six  A.  M.,  and  arrived  at  Rochester  in  forty-eight  hours, 
where  post  coaches  were  in  readiness  to  take  the  passengers  to 
Lewiston,  on  the  evening  of  the  third  day  from  their  leaving 
Utica.  From  Rochester  a  boat  started  at  the  same  hour  daily, 
and  at  Utica  found  boats  and  coaches  to  convey  the  traveller 
eastward.  A  new  line,  entitled  the  Western  Passage  Boat  Com- 
pany, and  owning  five  packets,  began  in  September,  to  run  one 
of  them  every  evening  from  Utica  to  Rochester ;  the  trip  to  be 
made  in  forty-five  hours.  "  The  whole  course  of  the  great  work 
from  Utica  to  Rochester,  exhibits,"  says  the  Albany  Argus^  "the 
bustle  and  stir  of  business.  The  amount  and  variety  of  the 
productions  which  are  constantly  passing  and  repassing  upon 
it,  fill  the  mind  with  astonishment.  It  is  the  flux  and  reflux 
of  the  great  tide  of  western  wealth  and  western  enterprise." 
At  a  late  period  in  the  previous  season,  water  liad  been  let  into 
the  cliannel  of  the  eastern  district.  And  now  on  the  10th  of 
June,  1823,  we  read  that  "a  line  of  elegant  packet  boats  is  pre- 


THE  THIRD  CHARTER.  557 

paring  and  will  be  ready  to  run  between  this  village  and  Schen- 
ectady, on  the  opening  of  the  canal,  which,  it  is  expected,  will 
take  place  about  the  20th  inst."  This  company,  of  which  the 
trustees  were  E.  Bacon,  Ej)hraira  Hart  and  E.  B.  Shearman, 
started  a  boat  at  eight  o'clock  every  morning,  which  it  was  ex- 
pected would  arrive  at  Schenectady  at  the  same  hour  the  fol- 
lowing morning.  And  on  the  8th  of  October,  was  celebrated 
at  Albany,  with  imposing  ceremony,  the  completion  of  the 
whole  eastern  section,  and  the  ingress  of  waters  to  the  Hudson. 
Thus  in  little  more  than  six  years,  two  hundred  and  eighty 
miles  of  this  great  artery  of  commerce  were  opened,  and  its 
healthful  influences  already  widely  felt.  An  influence  that 
was  at  once  produced  to  diminish  former  more  inconvenient 
modes  of  transportation  deserves  our  notice.  The  Seneca  Turn- 
pike Company,  in  addition  to  its  usual  semi-annual  dividend, 
declared  in  April,  1823,  a  surplus  dividend  of  like  amount. 
The  reasons  for  so  doing  they  thus  stJite :  previous  to  the  com- 
pletion of  the  middle  section  of  the  canal,  the  proprietors  of 
the  road  apprehended  a  great  diminution  in  the  value  of  their 
stock  by  the  eiTect  the  canal  would  have  upon  the  travel  of  this 
road, — which  runs  its  whole  length  of  one  hundred  and  twelve 
miles  parallel  with  the  canal.  The  experiment  has  proved  the 
canal  to  be  very  beneficial  to  the  interest  of  the  Road  Company. 
The  heavy  teams,  with  six  to  eight  horses,  are  now  mostly  re- 
moved from  the  road  in  consequence  of  the  reduced  price  of 
transportation,  and  the  light  travel  increased  by  the  natural  in- 
crease of  business,  produced  by  the  facility  of  intercoui'se  with 
New  York. 

The  whole  civilized  world  was,  in  1823,  aroused  to  sympathy 
for  the  Greeks,  who,  like  the  Servians  of  to  day,  were  the  vic- 
times  of  Turkish  oppression  and  cruelty.  Utica  was  moved, 
in  common  with  other  places,  to  do  something  in  behalf  of  the 
sufferers.  A  meeting  was  held  on  the  30th  of  December,  at 
which  an  address  and  resolutions  were  adopted,  and  a  committee 
appointed  to  procure  funds  in  aid  of  the  Greeks.  Early  in 
January,  a  concert  was  given  with  tlie  design  of  raising  money 
for  the  same  purpose,  and  at  this  a  poem  was  read  by  Samuel 
D.  Dakin,  then  a  student  of  law.  The  amount  realized  from 
the  avails  of  the  concert  was  $163.57. 


568  THE  PIONEERS  OF  UTICA. 

Another  concert,  that  was  given  on  the  6th  of  February,  was 
for  a  purpose  unlike  to  any  that  influences  our  modern  Utica, 
and  intimates  a  state  of  society  still  primitive  and  dependent, 
when  denominational  diflferences  were  subordinate  to  the  actual 
needs  of  ecclesiastical  existence.  It  was  for  the  joint  benefit 
of  the  Presbyterian  and  Episcopal  Churches,  and  took  place  in 
Trinity.  The  choir  was  led  by  Thomas  Hastings,  and  the 
orchestra  by  George  Button,  the  singing  being  done  by  volun- 
teers. The  committee  in  charge  consisted  of  James  Cochrane, 
John  H.  Lothrop,  Peter  Bours,  Jason  Parker,  William  Wil- 
liams and  Montgomery  Hunt,  being  chosen,  one  alternately, 
from  each  societ}^ 

The  village  was  favored  in  the  summer  of  1823,  by  the  sojourn 
of  William  Bunlap,  the  historical  and  portrait  painter.  He  ex- 
hibited, at  the  court  room,  his  picture  of  Christ  Kejected,  a  copy 
from  West,  and  it  was  very  generally  visited.  Mr.  Bunlap 
remained  several  weeks,  afnd  executed  a  few  portraits.  Henry 
Inman,  a  native  of  the  village,  but  now  settled  in  New  York, 
came  also  in  November  in  the  exercise  of  his  profession,  as  a 
painter  of  miniatures. 

A  literary  enterprise  of  the  era  was  the  Utica  Lyceum,  which 
was  formed  on  the  27th  of  November,  1823,  its  purpose  being 
to  encourage  the  study  and  disseminate  a  knowledge  of  nat- 
ural history  and  other  useful  sciences.  Its  constitution  was 
drafted  by  William  H.  Maynard,  and  the  following  constituted 
its  earlier  officers,  viz. :  Jonas  Piatt,  president ;  Nathan  Wil- 
liams, first  vice-president;  Morris  S.  Miller,  second  vice-presi- 
dent ;  Thomas  Goodsell,  secretary ;  A.  B.  Johnson,  treasurer ; 
Messrs.  Maynard,  Beardsley,  Skinner,  Kirkland  and  William 
Williams,  curators.  The  following  year  Mr.  Johnson  was 
elected  president,  and  delivered  an  address  which  was  printed 
and  received  much  praise.  Anything  like  a  continuous  history 
of  the  society  it  is  impossible  to  give  as  its  records  are  now  lost. 
It  was  incorporated  January  21,  1826,  and  lasted  until  1832  or 
1833,  when  it  was  succeeded  by  the  Young  Men's  Associatioa 
It  comprised  as  its  members  the  educated  young  men  of  the 
time,  chiefly  lawyers  and  teachers,  and  became  practically  a 
society  for  debate.  Its  discussions  were  attended  by  the  pub- 
lic, including  the  lady  friends  of  the  speakers.     The  president, 


THE  THIRD  CHARTER.  559 

in  1829,  was  William  H.  Maynard,  in  1832,  Charles  A.  Mann. 
The  last  secretary  was  Horatio  Seymour.  At  first  the  meetings 
were  held  in  James  Hooker's  hall  at  the  lower  end  of  Grenesee 
street,  the  building  being  the  same  that  has  of  late  been  used 
by  John  Beston.  Subsequently  the  society  met  in  Knicker- 
bocker Hall,  on  Catherine  street,  where  is  now  Eockwell  & 
White's  clothing  store. 

The  first  on  the  list  of  new  arrivals  of  the  year  is  one  who, 
while  his  memory  is  cherished  as  that  of  a  valued  citizen  of 
Utica,  has  also  a  wider  reputation,  and  a  history  which  belongs 
rather  to  the  State  and  nation  than  to  the  town  which  was  his 
dwelling  place.  Indeed,  says  Proctor,  the  history  of  our  State 
would  be  wanting  in  one  of  its  chief  ornaments,  if  deprived  of 
the  character  of  Samuel  Beardsley, — the  profound  jurist,  the 
acute  advocate,  the  eloquent  parliamentarian,  the  dignified, 
learned  and  impartial  judge.  He  was  the  last  of  the  great 
judges  who  presided  as  chief  of  that  time-honored  tribunal,  the 
Supreme  Court  of  Judicature  of  the  people  of  the  State  of  New 
York,  and  if  there  is  one  among  them  to  whom  the  langauge 
of  eulogy  and  even  panegyric  is  due,  it  is  Samuel  Beardsley. 

He  was  born  at  Hoosic  in  Eensselaer  county,  February  6, 
1790,  bat  while  an  infant,  his  parents  removed  to  Monticello  in 
Otsego  county.  His  father,  who  was  a  farmer,  had  other  chil- 
dren of  unusual  capacity,  of  whom  Levi  became  a  State  Sena- 
tor, and  exerted  much  influence  in  Cherry  Valley,  where  he 
lived.  Samuel  attended  a  common  school  in  winter,  while  in 
summer  he  worked  on  the  farm.  But  his  love  of  knowledge 
was  strong,  and  he  sought  every  opportunity  of  acquiring  it. 
His  amusement  and  recreation  were  in  books.  For  a  while  he 
engaged  in  teaching,  but  at  length  decided  to  enter  the  medical 
profession,  and  began  his  studies  with  Dr.  Joseph  White  of 
Cherry  Valley.  While  thus  employed,  it  was  his  fortune  to  be 
present  at  some  important  trials  which  took  place  at  Coopers- 
town.  He  watched  them  with  the  deepest  interest,  and  was  so 
fascinated  as  to  lose  all  love  for  medicine,  and  to  direct  his 
hopes  and  his  ambition  toward  the  bar.  At  one  of  these  trials 
he  made  the  acquaintance  of  Judge  Hathaway  of  Eome,  signi- 
fied to  him  his  desire  to  study  law,  and  was  invited  to  enter 
his  ofiice.     He  was  then  eio-hteen.     Fortunate  in  the  choice  of 


560  THE  PIONEERS  OF  UTICA. 

a  preceptor  of  learning  and  skill,  and  who  became  deeply  inter- 
ested in  him,  the  young  student  made  rapid  proficiency,  sup- 
porting himself  meanwhile  b}^  teaching  a  select  school.  With 
the  patriotic  impulses  natural  to  a  young  man  of  his  spirit,  he 
became  one  of  the  volunteers,  who,  in  1813,  went  from  Eome 
to  the  defence  of  Sacketts  Harbor,  and  he  held  the  rank  of 
judge  advocate  in  the  State  militia.  Having  been  admitted  to 
practice  in  1815,  he  located  at  Watertown,  but  only  remained 
there  one  year,  when  he  returned  to  Eome  to  pursue  his  profes- 
sion. For  a  time  he  was  the  partner  of  James  Lynch,  and  was 
afterwards  alone.  The  industry  and  energy  of  the  student  he 
kept  up  when  he  became  a  lawyer.  From  the  commencement, 
he  was  distinguished  for  unusual  vigor  of  intellect,  constant 
labor  and  untiring  perseverance.  In  the  language  of  one  of  his 
eulogists,  he  began  with  study,  he  continued  with  study,  he 
ended  with  study.  These  qualities  at  once  placed  him  m  the 
highest  rank  of  the  profession,  and  this  position  he  steadily 
maintained  to  the  time  of  his  death.  Method  and  order  marked 
the  preparation  of  his  causes;  hence  his  labor  was  effective, 
and  each  step  was  the  firm  foundation  for  another.  He  never 
addressed  the  fancy  of  his  audience.  Clear  argumentation,  and 
a  bold,  indignant  denunciation  of  wrong  were  his  chief  weapons, 
and  in  his  hands  they  were  almost  uniformly  fatal  to  an  unde- 
serving adversary. 

In  February  1821,  Mr.  Beardsley  was  appointed  district  attor- 
ney of  Oneida  county,  succeeding  to  Nathan  Williams,  and  he 
continued  to  discharge  the  duties  until  October  1825,  when  his 
term  of  office  expired.  As  an  evidence  of  his  familiarity  with 
all  the  forms  and  technicalities  which  then  formed  a  part  of  the 
system  of  law  and  of  the  modes  of  procedure  in  criminal  cases, 
Mr.  Proctor  relates  the  following :  ''  On  one  occasion,  in  draft- 
ing an  indictment  for  arson  in  the  first  degree,  the  district  attor- 
ney omitted  an  allegation  which  the  lawyer  defending  believed 
to  be  fatal ;  but  having  some  doubt,  he  consulted  Joshua  A. 
Spencer  on  the  point.  That  sagacious  man,  after  examining  it 
some  time,  replied:  'Well,  I  think,  though  Archbold  and  Cbitty 
may  both  sustain  you,  yet  if  Beardsley  insists  that  he  is  correct, 
I  should  prefer  his  opinion  to  theirs.'  The  lawyer,  however, 
made  his  motion  to  quash  the  indictment.  A  long  and  inter- 
esting argument  followed ;  but  Mr.  Beardsley's  knowledge  of ' 


THE  THIRD  CHARTER.  561 

the  criminal  law  gave  him  a  decided  advantage.  The  authori- 
ties were  as  familiar  to  him  as  the  schoolboy's  every  day  lesson, 
and  he  sustained  the  indictment.  Exceptions  were  taken  to  the 
ruling  of  the  court  and  the  case  was  carried  to  the  general  term, 
where  Mr.  Beardsley  was  again  sustained."  In  comparing  him 
with  Mr.  Spencer,  his  great  and  frequent  antagonist,  Ju.dge 
Bacon  *  uses  the  following  language :  "When  he  came  to  deal 
with  the  weightier  matters  of  the  law,  to  defend  a  principle,  or 
to  discuss  a  question  relating  to  the  admissibility  of  evidence, 
or  the  pertinency  and  bearing  of  a  particular  line  of  testimony, 
his  vast  superiority  came  out  conspicuously,  for  he  was  the  bet- 
ter lawyer,  as  Spencer  was  far  the  most  successful  advocate.'" 

At  the  first  election  held  under  the  constitution  of  1822,  Mr. 
Beardsley  was  chosen  Senator  for  the  Fifth  District,  and  took 
his  seat  on  the  first  of  the  ensuing  January ;  but  in  the  arrange- 
ment of  classes  by  lot,  he  fell  into  that  class  whose  term  of  ser- 
vice was  limited  to  a  single  year.  It  was  this  year  (1823,)  that 
he  transferred  his  residence  to  Utica,  taking  as  his  partner 
Thomas  S.  Williams.  On  the  death  of  Morris  S.  Miller,  in 
November  1824,  the  position  of  first  judge  of  the  county  was 
tendered  to  him,  but  he  preferred  to  retain  the  more  active 
labors  of  prosecuting  attorney.  The  field  of  his  attorneyship 
had  in  the  meantime  been  changed,  for  his  reputation  as  a  crim- 
inal lawyer,  brought  him,  from  President  Adams,  in  March  1823, 
the  appointment  of  United  States  Attorne}^  for  the  Nortliern  Dis- 
trict of  New  York.  It  was  an  appointment  which  gave  great 
satisfaction  to  the  bar,  as  well  as  to  the  judiciary  of  the  State.. 
He  held  the  post  until  November  1830,  when  he  was  elected 
by  the  Democrats  to  represent  them  in  Congress.  As  Repre- 
sentative he  was  four  times  elected,  in  1830,  in  1832,  in  1834, — 
thus  occupying  a  seat  for  six  successive  years, — and  again  in 
1842.  In  all  the  exciting  questions  that  were  agitated  during 
the  administration  of  General  Jackson,  he  was  the  uncompro- 
mising friend  of  the  President,  and  enjoyed  his  intimate  confi- 
dence, as  he  was  also  the  recognized  leader  of  the  Democratic 
party  in  the  delegation  from  New  York.  His  leading  princi- 
ples of  political  policy  were  simple  and  uniform,  and  maintained 
with  firmness.  He  believed  that  the  existence  of  a  moneyed 
institution  like  the  United  States  Bank,  in  a  government  such 

*  Early  Bar  of  Oneida. 
M-1 


562  THE   PIONEERS  OF  UTICA. 

as  ours,  was  at  war  with  the  principles  upon  which  the  govern- 
ment was  founded  ; — "  that  the  bank  had  set  itself  up  as  a  great 
irresponsible  rival  power,  assuming  to  regulate  the  finances  of 
the  country,  and  to  control  the  whole  policy  of  government  in 
the  regulation  of  its  moneyed  concerns ;  that  it  assumed,  in 
elfect,  to  dictate  to  the  country  liow  its  government  should  be 
administered,  and  that  the  question  was  whether  we  should 
have  the  re}»ublic  without  the  bank,  or  the  bank  without  the 
republic."  In  April  183-i,  he  delivered  a  speech  on  the  cur- 
rency, which  attracted  great  attention  throughout  the  country 
from  its  vehemence  and  fiery  denunciation.  In  the  course  of 
it  he  said:  "Sooner  than  extend  the  existence  of  the  Bank  of 
the  United  States,  let  it  perish,  and  in  its  fall  carry  down  every 
bank  in  the  Union.  I  say,  for  one,  perish  credit,  perish  com- 
merce, perish  the  State  institutions :  give  us  a  broken,  decayed, 
worthless  currency,  rather  than  the  ignoble  and  corrupt  tyi'anny 
of  an  irresponsible  corporation.''  His  opponents  seized  on  the 
striking  alternative  he  presented,  and  were  long  and  bitter  in 
their  denunciations.  Niles'  Eegister,  while  commending  the 
ability  displayed  in  the  speech,  laments  the  expression,  by  a 
man  of  Mv.  Beardsley's  poise,  ability  and  moderation,  of  senti- 
ments such  as  those  above  quoted,  as  dangerous  in  their  influ- 
ence. It  was,  in  truth,  bold  language,  yet  characteristic  of  its 
author,  and  uttered  in  the  spirit  of  a  Spartan  virtue,  which  pre- 
ferred liberty  with  poverty  to  the  gi-andest  luxurj^  of  despotism 
and  corruption.  In  January  previous,  in  a  .speech  of  great  lib- 
erality, he  opfiosed  a  measure  to  restrain  freedom  of  speech  by  the 
reporters  of  Congress.  He  stood  by  the  right  of  petition  in  the 
face  of  the  power  which  then  controlled  party  politics,  and  even 
against  some  of  his  colleagues  from  this  State;  he  maintained 
the  combat  with  all  the  ardor  and  energy  of  which  he  was  mas 
ter,  and  he  had  the  satisfaction  of  knowing  that  his  efforts  were 
of  service  in  preserving  this  sacred  right  unimpaired. 

In  January  1834,  Nathan  Williams,  judge  of  the  fifth  cir- 
cuit, became  dis(|ualified  by  reason  of  age,  and  he  therefore  resign- 
ed. Governor  Marcy  immediately  nominated  Mr.  Beardsley  as 
his  successor,  and  the  Senate  promptly  confirmed  the  nomina-" 
tion.  As  soon  as  the  intelligence  reached  Washington,  Mr. 
Beardsley  signified  his  intention  to  resign   his  seat  in  Congress. 


THE  THIRD  CHARTER.  563 

He  was  sent  for  by  General  Jackson,  and  in  the  presence  of  his 
Cabinet  and  some  of  the  most  eminent  members  of  both  houses 
was  ui-ged  to  remain.  Pie  at  length  consented.  No  circum- 
stance in  his  congressional  life  more  strongly  exhibits  his  stand- 
ing as  a  statesman,  and  his  importance  to  the  administration 
and  the  party.  Early  in  January  1836,  a  vacancy  occurred  on 
the  bench  of  the  Supreme  Court  of  New  York,  which  was 
filled  by  the  appointment  of  Greene  C.  Bronson,  who  was  at 
that  time  Attorney  General.  Mr.  Beardsley  was  at  once  appoint- 
ed to  succeed  Mr.  Bronson.  The  office  of  Attorney  General 
was  at  that  time  one  of  great  labor  and  responsibility.  There 
was  an  unusual  amount  of  criminal  business,  while  the  civil 
business  required  the  exercise  of  the  ablest  talents.  Nothing 
intrusted  to  Mr.  Beardsley  was  left  undone :  all  things  pro- 
ceeded sure  and  certain,  and  with  rapidity,  yet  according  to  law. 
His  official  term  expired  on  the  last  day  of  December  1838, 
when  he  resumed  practice,  and  was  in  a  short  time  in  the  midst 
of  a  prosperous  business. 

Having  been  once  more  chosen  to  Congress,  in  1842,  he  with- 
drew in  February  18-41:,  to  accept  the  appointment,  at  the  hands 
of  Governor  Bouck,  of  Justice  of  the  Supreme  Court,  a  seat 
made  vacant  by  the  death  of  Eseck  Cowan.  For  a  judicial 
position  he  was  remarkably  adapted.  His  habits  of  patient 
and  impartial  investigation,  his  quick  perception  and  accurate 
judgment,  seemed  to  have  formed  him  by  nature  for  a  judge. 
On  the  bench  he  was  dignified  and  courteous  ;  his  manner  of 
listening  to  an  argument  elicited  the  confidence  of  the  speaker, 
and  drew  from  him  all  that  he  desired  the  court  to  understand. 
He  rose  with  great  rapidity  in  public  opinion  and  in  the  estima- 
tion of  both  bench  and  bar.  On  the  retirement  of  Chief  Jus- 
tice Bronson,  in  June  1817,  Judge  Beardsley  succeeded  him, 
and  was  the  last  Chief  Justice  of  the  old  Supreme  Court,  as  he 
was  also  the  chief  of  the  judges  under  the  organization  created 
to  close  up  the  business  of  the  earlier  tribunal. 

After  retiring  from  the  bench  he  pursued  his  profession  for  a 
year  or  two  in  New  York,  though  his  domicil  was  still  in  Utica, 
and  to  it  he  shortly  returned.  His  efforts  were  now  limited, 
for  the  most  part,  to  arguments  in  important  cases  in  the  Court 
of  Appeals.  Here  he  maintained  the  very  foremost  rank,  being 
second  to  none  in  compactness,  vigor  and  comprehensiveness. 


564  THE   PIONEERS  OF  UTICA. 

Though  from  this  time  forward,  Judge  Beardsley  held  no  pub- 
He  ofhce,  he  remained  prominent  in  poUtics,  and  impressed  an 
influence  on  his  party  such  as  more  pretentious  and  noisy  men 
could  never  have  exerted.     It  was  he  who  carried  the  Hard 
delegation  into   the  Cincinnati   Convention,   in   1856,  and  he, 
more  than  any  other  single  person,  controlled  the  final  choice  of 
that  body,  and  made  James  Buchanan  President.      As  to  the 
ability  of  Judge  Beardsley,  his  learning  in  the  law,  the  pains- 
taking faithfulness  of  his  judicial  functions,  and  the  able  decis- 
ions he  uttered,  all  those  most  competent  to  speak  united  in 
declaring.     "  I  think  it  could  be  safely  said,''   remarks  Judge 
Bacon,  "  there  was  not  at  the  close  of  his  life  a  more  thoroughly 
read  and  firmly  grounded  lawyer  in  this  State,   nor  one  whose 
opinion  carried  greater  weight  with  the  courts."     Nicholas  Hill 
was  once  retained  as  counsel  in  a  very  important  cause,  with 
liberty  to  choose  his  colleague  from  the  ablest  in  the  country. 
Without  hesitation,  he  says,  I  chose  Samuel  Beardsley.     As  an 
able  and  upright  judge  he  cannot  be  forgotten,  remarked  Judge 
Hilton,  while  the  records  of  our  judicial  history  exist.     But 
without  derogating  from  these  merits,   "  I  think,"  says  Governor 
Seymour,  "  that  he  evinced  his  highest  qualities  in  statesmanship. 
In  public  life  he  was  bold,  invasive  and  self-reliant,  and  showed 
that  he  had  resources  and  inventive  genius  to  meet  the  varying 
exigencies  of  passing  events.     Here  he  sought  no  authorities, 
nor  did  he  lean  upon  the  assertions  or  opinions  of  others.     I 
have  known  many  of  the  prominent  men  of  our  land,  and  none 
of  them  excelled  him  in  power  of  acting  upon  the  public  mind, 
or  in  the  high  qualities  demanded  for  leadership.     His  correct 
views  of  life,  business  and  public  morals,  kept  him  from  falling 
into  questionable   positions.      His   bearing,    person  and   mind 
fitted  liim  to  command,  and  he  always  had  a  strong  power  over 
those  with  whom  he  acted  ;  those  who  may  have  differed  from 
him  felt  the  force  and  strength  of  his  antagonisms."      In  a  let- 
ter of  advice   addressed  to  a  young  friend   at  college.  Judge 
Beardsley  makes  use  of  language  so  much  in  keeping  with  his 
own    character  that  I  cannot  better   illustrate   this   character 
than  by  an  extract  from  it :  "  Extend  your  knowledge,"  he  writes, 
"  of  men,  things,  subjects,  as  far  and  wide  as  possible,  that  you 
maybe  prepared  to  judge  accurately.      But  always  have  an 
opinion,  an  independent  opinion,  founded  on  your  own  views^ 


THE  THIRD  CHARTER.  565 

reasons  and  convictions.  Express  that  opinion  frankly  and  de- 
cidedly, yet  modestly,  and  adhere  to  it  with  unshaken  firmness, 
unless  you  can  discover  reasons  for  a  change.  Never  express 
or  qualify  an  opinion  to  oblige  any  one.  It  cannot  be  done 
honestly.  An  opinion  is  a  sentiment  of  justice  or  propriety,  or 
of  the  fitness  or  unfitness  of  a  particular  thing.  You  cannot 
change  it  at  will.  It  is  what  is  felt  to  be  right  or  just  or  cor- 
rect. It  cannot  be  taken  off  or  put  on  at  pleasure :  and  no  man, 
duly  appreciating  his  rights  and  duties  as  a  man,  should  or  can 
■ever  falsify  or  qualify  his  opinions  to  oblige  any  one.  Honest 
.and  intelligent  men  will  not  always  harmonize  in  their  views, 
but  neither  is  expected  to  abandon  his  own  for  the  reason  that 
the}?-  do  not  think  alike.  Differences  in  these  respects  are  to 
be  tolerated ;  thus  all  are  left  free,  and  no  offence  is  given. 
But  as  many,  very  many,  never  think,  have  no  opinions,  no 
views  of  their  own,  the  man  who  makes  up,  expresses,  and 
adheres  to  an  enlightened  opinion  will  find  that  those  who  are 
too  indolent  or  too  imbecile  to  think  for  themselves,  will  usu- 
ally adopt  and  follow  his  opinion.  Thus  he  builds  up  influence 
and  insures  success.'"  The  honest,  outspoken,  and  firm  inde- 
pendence of  sentiment  here  inculcated,  and  the  deference  from 
others  which  these  traits  always  command,  were  eminently  his 
own.  On  all  subjects,  political,  social,  moral  and  religious,  he 
had  clear  and  well-defined  opinions,  and  to  these  he  held  with 
unvarying  tenacity.  To  say  that  he  was  honest,  remarks  Proc- 
tor, conveys  no  adequate  conception.  Fidelity  to  truth  was 
one  of  the  elements  of  his  nature,  in  which  servility,  sham  or 
hypocrisy  had  no  part.  In  inflexibility  and  self-reliance,  he 
was  remarkably  like  his  friend  General  Jackson.  And  like 
him  he  created  public  opinion  rather  than  adopted  it,  and  tri- 
umphed through  his  convictions,  not  by  sacrificing  them.  He 
never  coveted  office  or  sought  power  by  personal  ingratiation. 
Office  sought  him  because  of  his  known  competence  and  faith- 
fulness in  the  discharge  of  the  duties  with  which  he  was  en- 
trusted, and  from  which  no  man  supposed  he  could  be  swei'ved 
by  persuasion  or  interest.  As  a  public  speaker  he  always  im- 
pressed his  hearers  with  a  conviction  that  he  believed  in  the 
justice  of  his  advocacy.  In  this  capacity  he  was  ready  and 
effective,  though  his  manner  was  a  little  constrained,  and  his 
^diction,  while  clear  and  forcible,  was  not  flowing  or  graceful. 


666  THE  PIONEERS  OF  UTICA. 

His  writino-s  for  the  press  were  prepared  with  evident  labors 
and  much  care  was  expended  in  selecting  the  most  befitting 
words  and  phrases. 

As  a  private  citizen  he  was  exemplar}^  in  all  the  charities 
and  amenities  of  society,  both  civil  and  religious.  "I  know  of 
no  one,"  remarked  Governor  Seymour,  "  who  contributed  more^ 
by  speech  and  example,  to  form  and  enforce  the  unwritten  laws- 
of  just  moral  rectitude.  No  one  did  more  to  elevate  the  tone 
of  morals  in  this  city,  or  to  keep  up  the  standard  of  good  con- 
duct and  just  dealings."  As  a  fit  representative  of  the  higher 
interests  of  the  city,  he  was  not  unfrequently  called  to  preside 
over  assemblies  of  its  people  on  occasions  of  unusual  impor- 
tance, and  when  questions  of  vital  concern  were  subjected  to 
discussion.  Those  who  knew  him  best,  knew  how  kind  was  his 
heart,  how  friendly  his  disposition.  Judge  Bronson,  who  from 
the  year  1825,  was  the  business  partner  of  Judge  Beardsley  as 
long  as  he  himself  remained  in  Utica,  and  subsequently  sat  as 
his  associate  on  the  bench,  held  him  "as  dear  as  a  brother." 
When  he  announced  his  decease  in  the  United  States  Court, 
then  sitting  in  New  York,  he  was  affected  to  tears  and  unable 
to  give  expression  to  his  feelings.  Judge  Denio  did  not  hesi- 
tate to  assert  that  he  never  knew  a  man  having  so  many  qual- 
ities worthy  of  imitation.  And  yet  though  so  dear  to  his  inti 
mates,  so  kind  and  tender  to  his  family,  and  although  so  neigh- 
borly in  his  general  intercourse,  and  grateful  for  the  confidence 
of  private  friendship, — to.  his  enemies,  to  those  who  crossed  his 
path  in  hatred,  he  was  stern  in  his  wrath,  and  sometimes  aggres- 
sive in  his  resentments.  Too  generous  for  malice,  he  forgave 
when  solicited,  and  with  a  repentant  adversary  was  ready  to 
pass  over  by-gones.  Implacable  only  to  the  wicked,  he  could 
make  no  league  with  wrong  doing,  and  no  compromise  with 
baseness.  There  was  that  in  his  presence  which  evinced  supe- 
riority. In  person  he  was  tall  and  commanding ;  his  forehead 
was  high  and  expanded ;  his  features  Roman-like  in  their 
strength,  and  plainly  indicative  of  the  thought,  the  indepen- 
dence and  tlie  firmness  by  which  they  were  animated.  Yet 
there  was  no  chilling  reserve  or  repulsiveness  of  manner;  for 
though  the  brows  were  often  contracted  as  witli  a  frown,  it  was 
the  sensibility  to  light  (;f  a  weakened  vision  which  caused  this 
frown,  the  eye   itself  beamed    with  kindness,   and  on   tlie  lips 


THE  THIRD  CHARTER.  567 

there  was  an  expression  wholly  at  variance  with  anger  or  dis- 
dain. The  agony  of  his  short  but  distressing  sickness  was  en- 
dured with  the  fortitude  of  a  martyr,  and  he  expired  on  the 
6th  of  May,  1860. 

The  news  of  his  death  caused  a  profound  sensation  with  the 
members  of  the  bar  in  New  York  City,  and  all  the  courts  that 
were  then  in  session  were  suspended,  and  judges  and  lawyers 
concurred  in  praise  of  the  deceased,  and  in  grief  at  their  loss. 
A  meeting  for  a  similar  purpose  was  held  by  the  bar  of  Utica 
and  its  vicinity  soon  after.  Resolutions  were  passed  which  were 
offered  by  a  committee  of  which  Judge  Gridley  was  chairman. 
These  resolutions  contain  the  highest  testimony  of  respect  from 
his  associates,  and  embody  in  brief  all  of  the  great  qualities 
which  we  have  endeavored  to  set  forth.  His  wife  was  a  daughter 
of  Joshua  Hathaway,  his  preceptor  in  law.  His  only  living  son 
is  Arthur  M.  Beardsley  of  this  city.  James  died  some  years 
since. 

Simultaneously  with  the  arrival  in  Utica  of  a  future  judge  of 
the  Supreme  Court  of  the  State,  there  came  one  who  had  just 
descended  from  the  seat,  and  was  about  to  reenter  the  ranks  of 
practitioners  at  the  bar.  The  honored  name  of  Jonas  Piatt  has 
been  already  more  than  once  mentioned  in  these  sketches,  and 
especially  as  the  head  of  one  of  those  families  of  Whitesboro, 
who,  at  an  early  period,  helped,  by  their  cultivation,  their  hos- 
pitable intercourse  and  their  high-toned  purity,  to  elevate  the 
standing  of  their  neighbors  at  Utica.  The  leading  facts  in  his 
life  are  these :  The  son  of  Zephaniah  Piatt  of  Poughkeepsie.  he 
was  born  in  that  place,  June  30.  1769.  He  studied  law  with 
Colonel  Richard  Varick  of  New  York,  and  was  admitted  to 
practice  in  1790.  The  same  year  he  married  Helen,  daughter 
of  Henry  Livingston  of  Poughkeepsie,  and  sister  of  the  wife  of 
Arthur  Breese,  with  whom  he  was  soon  to  be  associated 
in  business.  Early  in  1791  he  located  in  Whitesboro.  seven 
years  after  its  lirst  settler,  Hugh  White,  had  planted  his  log 
cabin.  On  the  17th  of  February,  in  that  year,  he  was  appointed 
clerk  of  the  count}^  of  Herkimer,  and  held  the  oflfice  until  Oneida 
was  set  off  from  it,  in  1798,  and  was  also  the  first  clerk  of  the 
new  county.  At  the  first  court  of  record  held  within  the  pres- 
ent limits  of  Oneida,  which  was  a  term  of  the  Herkimer  Com- 


668  THE   PIONEERS  OF  UTICA. 

mon  Pleas,  held  in  January  1794,  he  was  clerk  of  the  coui't ; 
and  at  the  first  term  of  Oneida  Common  Pleas,  held  in  May 
1798,  he  was  placed  on  a  committee  to  prepare  rules  for  its 
guidance.  In  1796  he  represented  the  counties  of  Oneida  and 
Onondaga  in  the  State  assembly.  In  the  Sixth  National  Con- 
gress, that  of  1799-1801,  he  represented  the  ninth  district  of 
New  York.  During  the  years  1810,  '11,  12  and  '13  he  was 
State  Senator  from  the  Western  District.  His  success  as  a  can- 
didate for  Senator,  and  the  proof  it  afforded  of  his  personal  pop- 
ularity in  the  old  Western  District,  which,  until  the  previous 
election,  had  been  considered  the  stronghold  of  democracy,  or 
republicanism  as  it  was  then  termed,  led  to  his  being  selected  as 
a  candidate  for  Governor,  in  1810.  This  election  was  sharply 
contested,  and  Mr.  Piatt  was  defeated  by  his  rival,  Daniel  D. 
Tompkins. 

His  career  in  the  Senate  is  memorable  for  the  part  he  took  in 
the  first  legislative  action  on  the  subject  of  the  Erie  Canal. 
The  facts,  as  given  in  Eenwick's  Life  of  DeWitt  Clinton,  are  as 
follows :  Thomas  Eddy,  on  behalf  of  the  Western  Inland  Lock 
Navigation  Company,  visited  Albany,  in  1809,  for  the  purpose 
of  })rocuring  the  passage  of  a  law  authorizing  the  appointment 
of  commissioners  to  explore  a  route  for  a  canal  from  Oneida 
lake  to  Seneca  river,  with  a  view  to  the  execution  of  the  canal 
by  that  compan}^  To  Mr.  Piatt,  as  the  acknowledged  leader  of 
the  Federal  party,  and  its  nominated  candidate  for  the  office  of 
Governor,  he  applied  for  his  influence.  Mr.  Piatt,  who  knew 
the  wants  and  wishes  of  the  western  part  of  the  State  better, 
perhaps,  than  any  other  person,  and  who  had  long  considered 
the  policy  which  the  State  ought  to  pursue  in  the  premises,  re- 
plied at  once,  "  That  the  company  had  disappointed  public  ex- 
pectations, and  that  it  would  be  inauspicious  to  present  any 
project  which  should  be  subject  to  that  corporation.''  As  a  sub- 
stitute, he  pro]30sed  a  plan  for  instituting  a  board  of  commis- 
sioners to  examine  and  survey  the  whole  route  from  the  Hud- 
son to  Lake  Ontario,  and  to  Lake  Erie  also.  Mr.  'E^ddy  having 
been  satisfied  that  this  plan  was  to  be  preferred,  it  was  agi-eed, 
on  the  suggestion  of  Mr.  Piatt,  to  call  into  their  councils  De- 
Witt  Clinton,  who,  at  that  moment,  held  a  preponderating  in- 
fluence with  the  Democratic  party.  The  result  of  the  interview 
with  the  latter  was.  that  Piatt  foilhwith  presented  in  the  Sen- 


THE  THIRD  CHARTER.  569 

ate  a  resolution  for  the  appointment  of  commissioners,  and  the 
resolution  was  seconded  bj  Clinton.  By  the  aid  of  their  joint 
■efforts  the  resolution  passed  both  houses,  and  the  commissioners 
were  named  alternately  from  the  two  opposing  parties.  "  We 
■cannot  but  consider,'"  remarks  Kenwick,  "that the  public  mind 
would  have  been  more  easily  satisfied  of  the  feasibility  of  the 
project,  had  Mr.  Piatt  permitted  himself  to  be  named  on 
the  commission.  With  his  sound  and  steady  judgment,  it 
would  have  been  impossible  that  any  plan  bearing  imprac- 
ticability on  its  face" — as  was  true  of  the  scheme  entertained 
by  one  of  the  commissioners  appointed, — "  should  have  been 
laid  before  the  public.  Piatt,  however,  seems  to  have  shrunk 
with  innate  modesty  from  assuming  place  on  a  commission  es- 
tablished by  a  resolution  which  he  himself  had  drawn.  Here, 
therefore,  all  direct  agenc}^  on  his  part  in  the  canal  policy  of 
the  State  seems  to  have  ceased ;  yet  he  is  well  entitled  to  the 
merit  of  having  made  the  first  efficacious  step  towards  the 
attainment  of  the  great  object  of  uniting  the  lakes  with  the 
Atlantic." 

In  the  year  1814,  a  judge  of  the  Supreme  Court  was  to  be 
appointed  in  place  of  Smith  Thompson,  appointed  Chief  Justice. 
Mr.  Piatt  received  the  appointment.  "  He  had  at  this  time,  says 
Hammond,*  been  in  extensive  practice,  and  though  his  talents 
were  not  brilliant,  they  were  of  a  character  highly  respectable ; 
his  morals  were  perfectly  pure  ;  though  he  possessed  a  deep 
and  intense  tone  of  feeling,  and  a  high  sense  of  personal  honor, 
he  had  acquired,  apparently,  an  entire  control  over  his  passions ; 
his  quiet  and  calm  deportment  indicated  a  contemplative  and 
considerate  mind,  not  liable  to  be  hurried  into  the  adoption  of 
ill-adjusted  plans,  or  to  determjnations  which  might  lead  to 
actions  indiscreet  or  ill-advised.  His  address  was  unobtrusive, 
modest  and  conciliatory.  He  had  a  high  regard  to  courtesy  and 
propriety,  as  well  in  respect  to  political  conduct  as  in  the  pri- 
vate and  social  concerns  of  life."  The  opinions  he  delivered  on 
the  bench  are  represented  as  respectable,  but  never  brilliant,  nor 
distinguished  for  any  depth  of  learning.  He  retained  the  seat 
until  January  29,  1823,  and  was  "  constitutionalized  out  of 
office"  by  the  constitution  of  1821.  He  was  a  member  of  the 
convention  that  framed  this  constitution,  and  had  opposed  some 
*  Political  History. 


570  THE  PIONEERS  OF  UTICA. 

of  its  features,  by  reason  of  which  he  was  obnoxious  to  the 
party  then  in  the  ascendanc}-,  and  was  rejected  by  the  Senate 
when  nominated  by  Governor  Yates  on  the  reorganization  of 
the  court.  Upon  his  retirement  from  the  bench,  he  took  up 
his  residence  in  (Jtica  and  resumed  the  practice  of  his  profession, 
in  company  with  his  sen  Zephaniah ;  but  within  three  or  four 
years  he  removed  to  New  York.  There  he  prosecuted  his  pro- 
fession with  all  the  industry  of  youth,  and  by  his  coolness  and 
his  candor,  was  often  able  to  bear  away  the  palm  from  abler 
yet  more  ardent  competitors.  He  died  at  Peru,  Clinton  county, 
February  22,  1834. 

Judge  Piatt  was  a  finished  gentleman.  "  He  carried  his  cour- 
tesy at  times,"  says  Judge  Bacon,  "almost  beyond  the  bounds 
required  by  the  conventionalities  of  ordinary  life,  and  a  retort 
or  a  rebuke  from  his  lips  was  conveyed  in  terms  that  had  the 
similitude  of,  and  might  almost  have  been  mistaken  for  a  com- 
pliment." He  was  rather  slender  in  person,  with  dark  eyes  and 
complexion  ;  quite  thoughtful  and  dignified  in  demeanor,  and 
somewhat  reserved,  in  manner  and  speech.  He  had  eight  chil- 
dren, two  sons  and  six  daughters. 

Zephaniah  Piatt,  son  of  the  preceding,  after  graduating  at  Ham- 
ilton College,  in  1815,  pursued  his  legal  studies  with  his  father, 
and  united  with  him  in  practice.  With  him  he  removed  to 
Utica,  being  at  that  time  himself  the  head  of  a  family,  and  with 
him  he  withdrew  from  the  village.  He  lived  subsequently  in 
Detroit,  and  also  in  Jackson,  Michigan.  He  was  emploj'ed  by 
the  General  Government  in  settling  the  complicated  claims  of 
the  United  States  on  the  Pacific  coast,  and  also  served  with  dis- 
tinction as  Attorney  General  of  the  State  of  Michigan.  While 
in  Jackson,  he  accumulated  a  handsome  sum  by  supplying  the 
State  witli  stone  for  the  erection  of  its  State  prison,  which  was 
obtained  from  a  ledge  he  owned.  At  the  close  of  the  late  war 
he  settled  in  Aikin,  South  CaroHna,  and  in  1868  was  elected  by 
the  general  assembly  to  the  position  of  United  States  circuit 
judge  of  the  second  circuit  of  South  Carolina.  He  died  at 
Aikin,  April  20,  1871,  aged  seventy-five.  Though  represented 
as  a  somewhat  versatile  character,  and  one  who  was  competent 
to  do  more  than  he  ever  actually  ach-ieved,  yet  it  is  said  of  him 
that  in  all  the  relations  of  life  he  won  that  credit  which  attaches 
to  high  integrity  in  the  discharge  of  official  duty. 


C^^^^^c^/. 


THE  THIRD  CHARTER.  571 

Another  lawyer  whose  professional  life  was  closed  ere  he  set- 
tled in  Utica,  was  Thomas  H.  Hubbard,  though  he  lived  many 
years  longer  one  of  its  most  prominent  and  respected  citizens. 
He  was  born  at  New  Haven,  Conn.,  December  8,  1781,  and  was 
the  son  of  Kev.  Bela  Hubbard,  D.  D.,  first  rector  of  Trinity 
Church  in  that  city.  He  was  educated  at  Yale  College,  where 
he  graduated  in  the  class  of  1799.  Soon  after  receiving  his  de- 
gree, he  commenced  the  study  of  the  law,  in  the  office  of  John 
Woodworth  of  Troy,  N.  Y.,  afterwards  judge  of  the  Supreme 
Court.  As  soon  as  he  was  admitted  to  the  bar,  he  settled  in  the 
practice  of  his  profession  at  Hamilton  in  Madison  county.  His 
native  talents  and  his  thorough  training  won  for  him,  ere  long, 
an  extensive  business  in  that  and  the  adjoining  county  of  Che- 
nango. On  the  organization  of  Madison  county,  in  1806,  he 
was  appointed  surrogate,  and  discharged  its  duties  for  about 
ten  years.  In  1816  he  was  made  prosecuting  attorney,  next 
after  Joseph  Kirkland,  for  a  district  comprising  several  coun- 
ties, and  in  this  capacity  conducted  some  important  criminal 
trials.  As  an  accurate  and  intelligent  business  man  he  was 
unsurpassed,  and  as  an  advocate,  those  who  knew  him  at  that 
period  represent  him  as  able  and  effective.  The  same  year  he 
was  elected  to  represent  the  then  congressional  district  of  Mad- 
ison and  Herkimer  in  the  Fifteenth  Congress,  and  at  a  somewhat 
later  period  he  was  elected  to  serve  the  same  district  in  the  ses- 
sion of  1821-3.  Hamilton  is  justly  proud  to  claim  him  as  one 
of  her  early  law-givers,  as  well  as  efficient  and  honored  pioneers. 
The  period  of  Mr.  Hubbard's  removal  to  this  county  coincided 
with  the  organization  of  the  courts  under  the  constitution  of 
1822,  and  he  was,  in  June  1823,  appointed  the  first  clerk  of  the 
Court  of  Chancery  for  this  judicial  district.  This  office  he  held 
but  a  short  time,  and  was  then  selected  for  the  office  of  clerk  of 
the  Supreme  Court,  which  had  become  vacant  by  the  death  of 
Arthur  Breese.  The  duties  of  this  office  he  discharged  with 
faithfulness  until  the  year  1835.  After  his  retirement  from  it 
he  did  not  again  engage  in  public  employment,  but  devoted 
himself  to  the  management  of  his  now  ample  fortune. 

"  It  would  seem  as  if  the  rude  encounters  of  the  legal  forum 
could  have  been  little  congenial  to  the  temperament  of  Mr.  Hub- 
bard. His  gentleness  of  disposition,  and  his  liberal  and  char- 
itable habit  of  mind,  must  have  rendered  him  averse  to  the 


672  THE  PIONEERS  OF  UTICA. 

scenes  of  strife  and  contention  inseparable  from  a  life  spent  in 
the  courts.  No  kinder  or  gentler  spirit  ever  animated  a  mortal 
man.  Governed  by  the  most  pure  and  virtuous  intentions  him- 
self, he  was  unwilling  to  believe  evil  of  others,  and  always  con- 
strued their  motives  in  the  most  charitable  sense.  He  was 
greatly  respected  by  all,  and  those  who  knew  him  well  were  his 
warm  and  devoted  friends.  A  marked  feature  in  his  character 
was  his  liberality  towards  religious  and  charitable  objects.  No 
reasonable  appeal  for  such  purposes  was  ever  rejected  by  him, 
and  his  contributions  were  constant  and  large.  He  was  made 
a  vestryman  of  Trinity  at  the  first  Easter  after  his  arrival,  and 
he  continued  from  that  day  forward  to  be  a  conspicuous  and 
shining  pillar  in  the  spiritual  edifice." 

He  was  a  trustee  of  the  Utica  Academy,  as  he  had  been  one 
of  the  founders  of  that  of  Hamilton,  as  well  as  of  the  college  of 
that  name.  While  residing  in  the  latter  place,  he  was  one  of 
the  electors  who  cast  their  vote  for  James  Madison,  in  1812. 
He  was  twice  chosen  to  the  same  ofiice  from  this  county,  on 
the  occasion  of  the  elections  of  Mi'.  Polk  and  Greneral  Pierce. 
His  home  was  the  house  on  Chancellor  square,  built  and  occu- 
pied by  James  Lynch,  and  there  he  died,  May  21,  1857.  Mrs. 
Hubbard,  his  wife,  was  an  intelligent  lady  of  gentle  and  win- 
ning manners  and  lovely  character.  Of  his  rather  numerous 
family  there  survive  Bela  of  Detroit,  Frederick  of  New  York, 
Mrs,  John  Stryker  of  Eome,  Mrs.  Edwin  C.  Litchfield  of  New 
York,  Eobert  J.  of  Cazenovia.  Mrs.  S.  G.  Wolcott,  Mrs.  E. 
Darwin  Litchfield  and  three  brothers  are  deceased. 

Two  sons  of  Major  Benjamin  Hinman,  brought  up  in  the  vil- 
lage, were  at  this  time  engaged  in  the  practice  of  law.  William 
A.  was  admitted  to  the  bar  in  August  1823 ;  his  brother,  John 
Jay,  a  year  or  two  previous.  They  occupied  an  office  together, 
and  continued  in  practice  until  about  1835,  when  they  removed 
to  Springfield,  Illinois.  William  A.  was  much  interested  in 
military  matters,  and  rose  to  the  rank  of  brigadier  general  of 
militia. 

An  honored  minister  of  the  Welsh  church  came  at  this  time 
from  his  native  country,  in  response  to  an  invitation  of  the  Welsh 
Congregational  Church  of  LTtica,  and  after  serving  for  over  nine 


THE  THIKD  CHARTER.  573 

years  as  its  pastor,  continued  to  spend  within  the  county  a  life 
of  much  usefuhiess  as  a  preacher  and  a  writer.  Kev.  Kobert 
Everett  was  born  January  2,  1791,  at  the  village  of  Gronant  in 
Flintshire.  Uniting  with  the  church  at  the  age  of  seventeen, 
he  began  to  preach  almost  immediately,  but  soon  entered  Wrex- 
ham University  and  completed  a  course  of  study.  In  1815  he 
became  pastor  of  the  Congregational  Church  of  Denbigh,  one  of 
the  oldest  and  most  flourishing  of  the  Principality.  The  purity 
of  his  character  and  the  earnestness  of  his  ministry,  combined 
with  his  scholarship,  caused  him  to  be  beloved  and  admired 
by  his  own  people,  and  extended  his  reputation  throughout 
Wales.  After  the  lapse  of  fifty  years,  this  church  showed 
that  they  still  cherished  his  memory  by  addressing  him  an  affec- 
tionate letter.  His  standing  here  was  not  less  elevated,  and  his 
labors  fruitful  of  good.  His  course  was  quiet  and  undemonstra- 
tive, but  marked  by  seriousness  and  unfaltering  energy.  Zealous 
in  devotion  to  his  charge,  he  received  large  accessions  to  its  num- 
bers, and  at  the  same  time  he  was  in  harmony  with  the  other 
evangelical  clergy,  and  took  full  part  in  public  reforms  and  in 
general  schemes  of  benevolence.  He  was  not  eloquent,  but 
rather  diffident  in  the  pulpit ;  though  the  inspiration  of  his 
theme  made  him  impressive  and  pleasing.  His  convictions 
were  strong,  and  in  presenting  the  most  abstruse  of  subjects  he 
was  so  largely  sympathetic  as  always  to  be  near  to  those  he  ad- 
dressed. He  was  an  active  advocate  of  temperance,  and  the  first 
Welsh  society  to  advance  this  cause,  that  was  formed  in  Utica, 
was  created  through  his  instrumentality.  He  was  a  consistent 
abolitionist,  and  in  the  history  of  that  struggle  his  name  deserves 
an  honorable  place.  In  the  Welsh  Bible  Society  he  took  an 
eflicient  part  and  was  many  years  its  president.  Though  his 
residence  in  Utica  was  comparatively  brief,  his  labors  have  been 
continued  in  the  vicinity  until  a  recent  period  ;  and  his  influ- 
ence upon  his  people"has  been  considerable  and  always  for  their 
good.  He  relinquished  his  charge  in  the  fall  of  1832,  and  after 
supplying  for  a  time  the  pulpit  of  the  Second  Presbyterian 
Church,  then  vacated  by  the  departure  of  Rev.  Dr.  Lansing,  he 
was  settled  over  an  English  church  at  West  Winfield.  Thence 
he  removed  to  Westernville,  and  in  April  1838,  became  pastor 
of  the  Welsh  Congregational  Church  of  Steuben,  a  relation 
which  lasted  for  thirty-six  years,  and  where,  when  the  infirmi- 


674  THE  PIONEERS  OF  UTICA. 

ties  of  age  debarred  him  from  the  complete  performance  of  his 
pastoral  duties,  he  was  aided  hj  the  appointment  of  an  as- 
sistant. It  is,  however,  by  his  literary  labors  that  he  has  been 
most  useful  to  his  people  at  large.  Before  he  came  to  this 
country  he  published  a  little  book  for  the  use  of  Sunday  schools 
which  obtained  much  ])opularity.  In  January  1840,  he  issued 
the  first  number  of  a  monthly  periodical,  which  was  printed  for  a 
time  by  R  W.  Eoberts  in  this  city,  but  which  has  for  many  years 
been  issued  from  his  residence  in  Steuben.  "  Himself  a  chaste 
and  forcible  writer,  his  influence  has  been  great  in  developing 
the  literary  tastes  of  the  Welsh  people,  and  the  stern  integrity 
and  love  of  justice  which  he  infused  into  the  magazine  have 
been  of  incalculable  benefit."  He  also  republished  a  number  of 
Welsh  books,  and  at  various  times  has  sent  out  papers  in  advo- 
cacy of  special  reforms.  His  hymn  book  has  passed  through 
several  editions.  "  The  denomination  to  which  he  belonged  has, 
by  common  consent,  given  him  the  first  place  in  its  councils ; 
his  advice  has  always  been  respectfully  heard  and  generally 
followed.  Among  his  ministerial  brethren,  men  almost  as  old 
as  himself  have  looked  up  to  him  as  a  father,  and  have  venerated 
him  as  one  who  seemed  to  breathe  a  purer  atmosphere  than  is 
given  to  other  men."  Mr.  Everett  passed  away,  at  his  home  in 
Steuben,  February  25,  1875,  in  his  eighty-fifth  year.  He  re- 
ceived the  degree  of  D.  D.  from  Hamilton  College,  in  1861.  He 
was  the  father  of  eleven  children,  five  sons  and  six  daughters, 
all  of  whom,  except  two  of  his  sons,  survive  him,  as  does  also 
his  wife,  who  was  Elizabeth  Eoberts  of  Denbigh,  and  sister  of 
Henry  Eoberts  of  this  city. 

Energy  and  will  have  made  a  large  share  of  the  marked  men 
of  the  world's  history,  and  without  these  qualities  few  have  at- 
tained distinction.  What  is  true  in  the  wide  field  of  universal 
history,  is  none  the  less  true  in  the  more  limited  range  of  a 
town  or  neighborhood :  a  determined  and  persistent  will,  when 
directed  by  intelhgence,  practical  sense,  and  integrity  of  pur- 
pose, is  sure  to  gain  influence  and  power.  Few  within  the 
compass  of  our  annals  had  more  of  these  traits  than  Alfred 
Munson.  He  was  in  every  sense  the  architect  of  his  own  for- 
tune. Though  he  did  not  possess  the  advantages  of  a  finished 
education,  he  had  native  talents  of  a  high  order,  and  he  exerted 


jne^T^-^--^ 


THE  THIRD  CHARTER.  575 

them  for  higli  aiad  useful  ends.  Coming  hither  with  slender 
means  he  worked  his  way  to  a  leading  place  among  the  men  of 
business  of  Utica,  and  while  enriching  himself  by  his  operations, 
he  was  not  unmindful  of  the  public  interest,  and  accomplished 
much  to  enrich  and  to  advance  the  place  of  his  adoption. 

He  was  the  son  of  Ephraim  and  Hannah  (Wetmore)  Munson 
of  Barhamstead,  Litchfield  county,  Conn.,  the  grandson  of  Sam- 
uel Munson  of  Northford,  New  Haven  county,  and  is  believed 
to  have  been  a  descendant  of  Lieutenant  Thomas  Monson,  the 
first  of  the  name  in  this  country,  and  one  of  the  signers  of  the 
Plantation  Covenant  of  New  Haven.     He  was  born  at  Barham- 
stead, May  21,  1793.     His  father  was  a  farmer  and  miller,  and 
while  Kving  at  home  the  son  was  engaged  in  the  same  occupa- 
tions.    For  about  fifteen  years  after  his  removal  to  Utica,  in 
1823,  he  was  occupied  with  the  manufacture  of  burr-millstones, 
and  the  sale  of  these  and  other  articles  used  in  milling.     His 
first  shop  was  in  the  basement  of  the  Kirkland  block,  on  Lib- 
erty and  Hotel   streets,  whence  he  soon  removed  to  the  east 
side  of  Washington  street,  where  it  is  crossed  by  the  canal.     To 
his  pursuit  he  devoted  himself  with  unceasing  industry,  employ- 
ing at  the  outset  but  a  small  number  of  men,  and  enlarging  his 
business  by  degrees,  until  it  came  to  be  the  chief  dependence 
of  millers  throughout  an  extensive  range  of  country.     An  early 
associate  was  Martin  Hart,  who  remained  in  connection  with  him, 
as  book-keeper,  partner  or  executor  of  his  estate,  upwards  of  forty 
years.     From  boyhood,  Mr.  Munson  had  been  frail  of  constitu- 
tion, and  he  was  much  of  his  time  a  sufferer  from  bodily  infirm- 
ity.    But  his  mind  was  unusually  active  and  clear.     Joined  to 
sound  sense  and  prudence,  to  a  penetrative  and  discriminating 
judgment,  he  had  sagacity  to  conceive  and  boldness  and  wisdom 
to  plan.     He  was  not  a  hasty  or  inconsiderate  man,  and  was 
little  apt  to  come  to  conclusions  without  deep  reflection.     He 
was  eminently  calculating,  and  exceedingly  nice  in  his  calcula- 
tions, and  his  long-sightedness  was  almost  of  a  prophetic  char- 
acter.    His  plans,  when  thus  matured,  needed  only  the  will  in 
execution,  his  most  conspicuous  and  commanding  trait,  to  over- 
come every  obstacle  and  ensure  success.      Qualities  such  as 
these  naturally  sought  a  wider  scope  for  their  exercise  than 
was  afforded  by  the  calling  in  which  he  was  at  first  employed. 
Moreover  he  was  influenced  by  purity  as  well  as  vigor  of  pur- 


576  THE   PIONEERS  OF  UTICA. 

pose,  and  was  liberal-minded  and  public-spirited  in  his  aims. 
He  loved  to  engage  in  large  but  strictly  legitimate  enterprises 
of  business,  and  especially  in  such  as  tended  to  promote  the 
welfare  and  prosperity  of  the  community  in  which  he  lived. 
No  matter  how  vast  or  complicated  the  undertaking,  after  it 
had  once  been  weighed  by  his  clear  mind  and  pronounced  feas- 
ible, his  resolute  determination,  constant  watchfulness  over  de- 
tails, and  quiet  but  unwavering  self-reliance,  invariably  guided 
it  to  a  fortunate  issue.  This  rare  combination  of  business  ele- 
ments in  his  character  lent  ?l  prestige  of  success  to  every  scheme 
in  which  he  embarked,  and  in  the  various  corporate  enterprises 
of  the  day  his  name  was  naturally  "a  tower  of  strength." 

The  list  is  a  long  one  of  the  many  public  projects  in  which 
he  participated,  as  well  as  of  the  positions  of  responsibility  and 
honor  he  was  called  to  iill.  For  several  years  he  was  engaged 
in  the  transportation  of  passengers  by  the  canal,  and  by  steam- 
ers on  Lake  Ontario,  and  was  trustee  and  treasurer  of  the  Ontario 
and  St.  Lawrence  Steamboat  Company,  until  within  a  few  weeks 
of  his  death.  He  took  a  prominent  part  in  the  building  of  the 
Utica  and  Schenectady  Railroad,  as  he  did  also  in  those  of  the 
Syracuse  and  Utica,  and  the  Syracuse  and  Oswego  roads.  Of 
the  first  named  he  was  a  director  from  1834  until  about  1844. 
He  was  active  in  the  construction  of  the  Utica  and  Binghamton, 
which  followed  very  nearly  the  course  of  a  State  road  that  he, 
as  one  of  a  commission  appointed  by  the  State,  had  laid  out 
thirty  years  before.  And  of  this  railway  company  he  was 
president  at  the  time  of  his  decease.  No  one  has  done  more 
than  Mr.  Munson  in  promoting  the  manufacturing  interests  of 
Utica.  For  he  was  the  early  and,  by  the  application  of  his  means, 
the  efficient  advocate  of  introducing  and  testing  the  value  of 
steam  power  in  the  making  of  cotton  and  woolen  goods.  And 
he  was  called  to  the  presidency  of  both  of  the  original  boards 
who  managed  the  Steam  Cotton  and  the  Globe  Woolen  Mills, 
Of  the  Water  Works  Company  also,  the  Mechanics'  Associa- 
tion and  the  Female  Academy,  he  was  one  of  the  instigators 
and  early  managers.  Over  the  Oneida  Bank  he  w^as  summon- 
ed to  preside  when  it  was  suffering  from  difficulties  which  it 
incurred  at  its  opening.  For  seventeen  years  he  held  the  office, 
and  to  his  efforts  and  supervision  that  institution  has  been 
greatly  indebted  for  its  prosperous  condition.     From  the  incip- 


THE  THIED  CHARTER  577 

iency  of  the  New  York  State  Lunatic  Asjlum  he  was  a  mana- 
ger and  chief  of  the  board  of  managers ;  from  1842  until  his 
decease  was  its  devoted  friend,  and  much  rehed  on  by  his  asso- 
ciates for  his  discernment  and  wisdom  of  counseh  Outside  of 
Utica,  he  was  interested  in  a  real  estate  company  called  the 
Canton,  whose  headquarters  were  at  Baltimore,  and  of  this  he 
was  likewise  the  head.  At  the  same  time  he  was  individually 
engaged  in  the  manufacture  of  iron  at  that  place,  as  he  was 
afterwards  busied  in  the  establishment  of  works  of  similar  pur- 
pose at  Clinton  in  this  county.  Another  of  his  private  enter- 
prises was  the  purchase  of  a  coal  field  in  Pennsylvania.  Though 
not  made  from  speculative  motives,  but  rather  forced  upon  him 
by  the  necessity  of  saving  himself  from  loss,  and  though  un- 
productive in  any  degree  for  more  than  twenty-six  years,  and  a 
constant  drain  upon  his  estate,  its  subsequent  enhancement  in 
value  has  justified  in  the  end  the  wisdom  of  the  continuance 
of  this  investment.  For  having  secured  it,  he  foresaw  its  ulti- 
mate value  as  a  field  for  future  business,  and  enjoined  upon 
his  successors  that  they  should  continue  to  hold  it. 

From  the  foregoing  enumeration  of  his  business  engagements 
it  will  be  seen  that  he  had  no  idle  moments,  that  he  performed 
an  amount  of  labor  which  has  few  parallels.  Never  idle  him- 
self nor  allowing  the  products  of  his  industry  to  be  idle,  he 
kept  them  in  constant  circulation  for  the  benefit  of  himself 
and  others,  and  insisted  that  no  man  should  retire  from  busi- 
ness simply  because  he  has  enough  to  live  on.  His  adminis- 
trative powers  were  remarkable,  and  were  characterized  by  a 
thoroughness  of  detail  that  seemed  almost  incompatible  with 
the  fertility  and  comprehensiveness  of  his  designs.  Whatever 
he  engaged  in  seemed  exclusively  to  occupy  him,  and  yet  he 
was  constantly  and  variously  occupied ;  and  he  pursued  his  en- 
terprises with  as  much  efficiency  as  usually  attends  those  who 
are  absorbed  in  but  one.  Being  a  close  observer  of  men  and 
things,  and  endowed  with  a  penetration  of  judgment  which 
rarely  failed  him  in  its  results,  he  had  also,  and  as  a  conse- 
quence, an  assured  confidence  in  himself  and  in  his  ability  to 
rightly  estimate  others.  And  if  these  qualities  made  him  un- 
hesitating in  the  assumption  of  responsibility,  and  even  averse 
to  any  opposition  to  his  opinion  or  his  plans,  they  were,  in  gen- 
eral, exerted  calmly  and  without  offence.     His  associates,  while 

N    1 


578  THE  PIONEERS  OF  UTICA. 

valuing  his  judgment  and  his  sense,  and  ready  to  avail  them- 
selves of  his  resolution  in  act,  accorded  him  without  dissent 
the  authority  he  naturally  exercised.  In  the  bank  and  in  the 
factories  his  opinion  was  rarely  questioned,  and  he  was  allowed 
to  choose  the  officers  from  the  highest  to  the  lowest.  His  wide- 
spread business  relations  did  not  obscure  or  blunt  his  noble 
personal  characteristics.  Though  he  acquired  a  large  fortune, 
no  one  ever  suspected  him  of  being  avaricious,  or  charged  him 
with  dealings  that  were  not  in  accordance  with  the  strictest 
integrity  and  a  due  regard  to  the  rights  and  interests  of  others. 
He  loved  to  succeed  in  whatever  he  undertook,  but  it  was  more 
for  the  sake  of  success  than  for  the  sake  of  gain,  and  because, 
too,  he  realized  the  value  of  money  to  those  concerned  in  large 
enterprises  for  the  public  good.  He  knew  how  to  feel  for  the 
poor  and  took  pleasuie  in  furnishing  them  with  opportunities 
of  employment  and  the  means  of  livelihood.  He  cheerfully 
contributed  to  aid  tlie  cause  of  religion  and  of  education,  and 
to  relieve  the  needy  and  afflicted.  For  the  accomplishment  of 
these  objects,  he  not  only  gave  liberally  of  his  wealth,  but  be- 
stowed time  and  personal  effort.  As  a  master  he  was  exacting 
and  firm  in  what  he  thought  were  reasonable  demands,  yet  ex- 
hibited always  a  kindly  interest  towards  those  in  his  employ- 
ment. A  gentleman  in  his  tastes  and  feelings,  and  finding  his 
level  among  persons  of  education  and  of  standing,  he  was  yet 
loyal  to  his  liumbler  friends  and  to  his  early  surroundings.  As 
a  rule  he  tlionght  well  of  his  fellows,  was  capable  of  placing 
unlimited  confidence  in  those  with  whom  he  was  especially 
associated,  and  of  forming  the  firmest  attachments.  At  the 
same  time  he  had  his  dislikes  as  well;  his  convictions  were 
strong  and  not  easily  changed,  and  if  once  he  had  reason  to 
withdraw  his  confidence  in  any  quarter,  he  was  not  inclined  to 
renew  it.  While  believing  that  success  would  follow  effort, 
other  things  being  equal,  he  did  not  judge  men  solelj'  by  their 
power  of  pecuniary  acquisition,  but  rather  by  tlie  worthy  and 
manly  qualities  they  exhibited  in  obtaining  their  wealth.  And 
while  willing  to  help  those  who  were  honestly  striving  to  help 
themselves,  he  numbered  among  his  friends,  and  his  beneficia- 
ries, many  who,  through  misfortune  rather  than  fault,  lacked  the 
power  to  accumulate.  Immersed  as  he  was  in  a  multiplicity  of 
cares,  it  cannot  be  imagined  that  he  found  time  for  general,  and 


THE  THIRD  CHARTER.  579 

especially  merely  entertaining,  reading.  Bat  his  information 
was  varied  and  accurate,  his  power  of  mental  concentration  and 
his  retentive  memorj^  making  it  easy  for  him  to  gather  knowl- 
edge. He  read  the  daily  journals  with  faithfulness  and  kept 
up  an  intelligent  interest  m  public  affairs,  and  as  far  as  news- 
papers and  conversance  with  men  are  a  means  of  culture,  he 
availed  himself  of  them  and  profited  b}^  them  in  a  more  than 
ordinary  degree.  In  politics  he  was  originally  a  democrat,  but 
joined  the  barn-burner  division  of  his  party  in  184S,  and  before 
his  death  became  a  determined  abolitionist.  The  only  political 
office  he  ever  held  was  that  of  supervisor  in  1832  and  '33. 

Although  benevolence  was  unquestionably  a  characteristic 
of  Mr.  Munson,  he  yet  refrained  from  inconsiderate  giving.  He 
was  anxious,  with  respect  to  his  benefactions,  as  with  his  business 
enterprises,  that  they  should  be  conducted  on  right  principles, 
and  so  as  to  secure  the  best  results.  Furthermore,  while  ready 
to  do  his  own  part  towards  a  good  work  of  general  interest,  he 
thought  it  equally  a  duty  to  urge  others  to  do  theirs,  and  to  sway 
them  by  influence  as  well  as  example.  And  if  his  insistance  ex- 
posed him  at  times  to  the  suspicion  of  dictation,  it  was  based  on  a 
just  estimate  of  the  feasibility  of  the  work  and  the  resources  at 
command :  he  could  rightly  gauge  the  means  of  his  associates, 
and  yet  be  more  hberal  in  the  measure  of  his  own.  Among 
the  benevolent  schemes  which  engaged  his  later  years,  was  the 
construction  of  an  edifice  for  the  parish  of  Grace  Church,  with 
which  he  had  been  for  some  3'ears  connected,  and  of  wdiich  he 
was  a  vestrj'man.  Finding,  in  184:7,  that  there  was  a  disposi- 
tion in  the  congregation,  as  there  evidently  was  a  necessitj^,  to 
erect  such  a  structure,  he  was  forward  and  earnest  in  the  pro- 
ject. Early  in  1851,  some  three  years  before  his  death,  twelve 
gentlemen  of  the  parish  having  purchased  the  lot  on  which  the 
present  edifice  stands,  he  procured  plans  and  elevations  from 
Eichard  Upjohn,  the  most  eminent  ecclesiastical  architect  of  his 
day,  and  who,  it  was  generally  understood  by  the  vestry,  should 
be  consulted.  With  him  Mr.  Munson  matured  these  plans  with 
great  care,  leaving  nothing  overlooked  to  make  the  building 
complete.  Nearly  a  year  and  a  half  before  his  death,  he  secured 
and  vested  in  his  own  name  the  title  to  the  lot,  the  gentleman 
who  had  previously  held  the  title  with  him  having  relinguished 
it  because  of  their  discouragement  at  the  delays  experienced  in 


580  THE  PIONEERS  OF  UTICA. 

the  prosecution  of  the  subscription  that  had  been  set  on  foot  to 
build  the  cliurch.     In  the  meantime,  and  in  the  course  of  its- 
circulation,    Mr.  Munson   died,    though  not   without   making 
provision  for  the  accomplishment  of  his  kind  intentions  towards 
the  parish.     By  his  will  he  bequeathed  ten  thousand  dollars 
towards  purchasing  a  lot  and  erecting  a  church  edifice  thereon, 
one  thousand  dollars  for  improving  the  grounds,  one  thousand 
dollars  for  the  erection  of  a  Sunday  school  room  in  the  rear  of 
the  church,  five  hundred  dollars  for  a  Sunday  school  library, 
fifteen  hundred  dollars  for  an  organ,  five  hundred  dollars  for 
a  church  bell,  and  five  hundred  dollars  for  church  furniture,  on 
condition  that  the  parish  should,  within  two  years,  raise  at  least 
an  equal  amount  for  like  purposes,  or  if  this  were  insufficient, 
such  further  sum  as  might  be  necessary  for  the  completion  of 
the  church    according  to  the  plans  and  specifications  of  Mr, 
Upjohn.     Another  object  which  received  most  substantial  aid 
from  his  generosity  was  the  Utica  Orphan  Asylum.     To  it  he 
bequeathed  the  sum  of  five  thousand  dollars  towards  the  erec- 
tion of  a  new  and  suitable  building,  and  the  sum  of  twenty-five 
thoilsand  dollars  to  be  securely  invested,  the  income  of  which 
should  be  forever  applied  to  the  support  and  maintenance  of  the 
asylum,  together  with  lands  in  Pennsylvania,  valued  at  four 
thousand  dollars  ;  on  condition  that  the  citizens  of  Utica  should 
raise  and  apply  the  sum  of  ten  thousand  dollars  towards  the 
purchase  of  three  acres  of  ground  within  the  city,  and  towards 
the  erection  of  the  building.     Both  of  the  above  mentioned 
erections  were  accomplished  in  consequence  and  by  the  aid  of 
these  munificent  gifts,  the  conditional  obligations  which  the  tes- 
tator had  imposed  having  the  effect,  as  he  desired,  to  stimulate 
others  to  perfect  the  amounts  that  were  requisite.     In  the  case 
of  Grace  Church,  however,  the  original  legacy  represents  but  a 
moiety  of  what  it  has  received  from  the  heirs  and  representa- 
tives of  the  estate  of  Mr.  Munson.     For  the  parish,  finding  it 
difficult  to  obtain  a  subscription  which  should  entitle  it  to  the 
first  part  of  the  legacy, — the  ten  thousand  dollars,  namely,  given 
for  the  purchase  of  the  lot  and  the  erection  of  the  church  accord- 
ing to  the  specified  plan, — relinquislied  its  latter  part  with  the 
consent  of  these  representatives,  and  afterward  received  from 
them  a  subscription  of  a  like  sum  towards  this  church  edifice. 
This,  with  later  gifts  from  the  same  source,  towards  the  comple- 


THE  THIRD  CHAKTER.  581 

tion  of  tlie  tower  and  its  equipment  with  a  cliime  of  bells,  and 
for  other  purposes,  has  raised  the  whole  amount  which  the 
church  has  received  from  the  estate  and  from  its  heirs  individ- 
ually, to  thirty-one  thousand  five  hundred  dollars.  The  whole 
amount  left  by  Mr.  Munson  for  charitable  and  religious  pur- 
poses, and  in  remembrance  of  remote  relations,  was  understood 
to  be  not  less  than  sixty  thousand  dollars,  or  fully  one-tenth  of 
his  estate. 

It  remains  only  to  be  said  that  Mr.  Munson  was  grave  and 
earnest  in  his  habit  of  mind,  yet  not  without  a  sense  of  humor; 
was  social  in  his  tastes,  and  in  manners  unaffected ;  he  was  tall 
and  rather  slight  of  figure,  with  an  expression  of  intelligence 
and  refinement.  It  has  been  said  that  he  was  frail  of  constitu- 
tion;  he  experienced  also  several  attacks  of  long  and  severe  ill- 
ness. Yet  his  determination,  added  to  his  temperate  habits  and 
his  constant  employment,  both  physical  and  mental,  availed 
much  to  sustain  him.  He  was  finally  overcome  by  pulmonary 
consumption,  the  dreaded  disease  that  had  threatened  him 
throughout  his  life-time,  and  he  died  May  6,  1854.  Although 
he  suffered  greatly,  his  intellect  remained  clear  and  unaffected. 
He  contemplated  his  departure  with  calmness  and  resignation, 
and  died  in  the  communion  of  the  church,  and  in  the  confident 
hope  of  a  blessed  immortality. 

His  wife,  who  was  Elizabeth,  daughter  of  Asahel  and  Ruth 
(Hart)  Munson  of  Northford,  Conn.,  had  the  same  grandparents 
with  her  husband.  Retired  and  home-loving  in  her  tastes,  her 
characteristics  were  conscientiousness,  independence,  refinement, 
industry,  economy,  particularity,  a  modest  estimate  of  herself, 
and  a  moderate  ambition.  She  survived  until  September  14, 
1870.  They  left  one  son,  Samuel  A.,  who  occupies  the  house 
that  was  built  and  occupied  by  his  father,  on  the  corner  of 
Fayette  street,  and  Broadway,  and  one  daughter,  Helen  E., 
widow  of  J.  Watson  Williams. 

Reference  has  already  been  made  to  the  efforts  of  J.  Parker 
&  Co.  to  neutralize  the  zealous  labors  of  a  runner  in  the  service 
of  their  rivals,  by  bringing  into  the  field  the  equally  stirring 
John  Butterfield.  This  John  Butterfield,  who  was  born  at 
Berne,  in  the  Helderberg  near  Albany,  November  18,  1801,  was 
in  the  employment  of  Thorpe  &  Sprague  of  that  city,  as  a  driver, 


582  THE    FIOMEEES  OF  UTICA. 

wlieu  Mr.  Faxtoii  went  down  in  search  of  a  person  suited  to  the 
needs  of  the  company,  and  brought  him  to  Utica.  His  busi- 
ness at  first  was  to  frequent  the  taverns  and  boats  and  pick 
up  passengers  for  Parker's  stages.  He  proved  equal  to  his 
duties,  and  thoroughly  identified  himself  with  the  success  of  the 
line.  After  a  time,  he  met  at  the  Canal  Coffee  House,  a  trav- 
eller wishing  to  part  with  his  horse  and  his  one-horse  convey- 
ance. These  he  bought  and  inaugurated  a  livery.  To  it  he 
added  as  his  means  admitted,  and  after  his  marriage  kept  also 
a  boarding  house. 

Such  were  the  beginnings  of  a  life  of  great  activity  and  enter- 
j)rise,  and  which  was  bound  up  with  most  of  the  different  kinds 
of  transportation  now  practiced.  For  in  every  means  under- 
taken to  increase  the  facilities  of  travel  and  intercommunica- 
tion, John  Butterfield  was  for  a  generation  one  of  the  foremost 
of  the  citizens  of  Utica.  His  livery  grew  until  it  became,  what 
it  has  since  continued  to  be,  the  leading  one  of  the  place.  The 
connection  with  Parker  &  Co.  lasted  so  long  as  they  were  still 
in  business,  and  was  succeeded  by  important  lines  of  his  own, 
wherein  he  was  a  leading  manager  in  the  State,  until  staging- 
was  superseded  by  railroads.  He  had  his  share,  too,  in  the 
packet  boats,  and  then  in  the  steam  boats  on  Lake  Ontario. 
He  gave  his  earnest  personal  efforts  to  create  the  companies, 
and  raise  the  funds  required,  for  the  construction  of  some  of 
the  plank  roads  leading  out  of  the  city,  and  was  the  originator 
of  its  street  railroads.  His  labors  w^ere  arduous  in  stirring  up 
the  citizens  to  the  importance  of  roads  to  the  north  and  to  the 
south;  and  to  him  is  Utica  largely  if  not  pi'incipally  indebted 
for  the  Black  River,  and  both  of  the  southern  Railways.  He 
was  among  the  first  who  realized  how  a  lucrative  business  could 
be  formed  by  the  ra})id  transportation  of  such  articles  as  could 
afford  to  pay  express  charges;  and  he  became  an  early  director 
in  the  Express  Company.  To  him  as  much  as  to  any  other 
individual,  say  the  resolutions  of  the  board,  was  due  the  high 
reputation  which  this  company  obtained  in  conmiercial  circles 
throughout  the  country,  as  well  as  the  success  that  has  attended 
it.  In  that  organization  he  remained  a  directing  power  until 
the  close  of  his  life,  and  reaped  from  it  a  Im'ge  pecuniary  profit. 
He  was  also  among  the  first  to  appreciate  tlie  capacities  of  the 
electric  telegraph,  and  immediately  upon  the  practical  adaptation 


THE  THIKD  CHARTER.  58S 

of  the  invention  be  joined  with  Messrs.  Faxton,  Wells,  Living- 
ston and  others  in  the  establishment  of  the  New  York,  Albany 
and  Buffalo  Telegraph  Company.  His  faith  followed  upon  his 
sagacity,  and  he  steadily  urged  and  aided  in  the  extension  of 
lines  and  companies.  He  assisted  likewise  in  putting  in  oper- 
ation the  Overland  Mail  route,  the  precursor  of  the  Pacific  Kail- 
roads,  and  which  did  much  to  demonstrate  the  importance  of 
a  continuous  connection  between  the  Atlantic  and  the  Pacific 
States.  Having  long  been  a  mail  contractor,  he  had  the  expe- 
rience and  practical  knowledge  essential  for  the  execution  of 
the  work.  Besides  his  part  in  the  various  operations  above 
referred  to,  Mr.  Butterfield  was  a  director  in  the  Utica  City 
National  Bank,  and  was  interested  in  other  stock  companies 
and  business  undertakings.  At  the  same  time  he  invested 
largely  in  city  property,  Avhile  his  cultivated  land  in  the  vicinity 
covers  no  inconsiderable  space.  The  Butterfield  House  and 
the  Gardner  block  are  among  the  handsome  edifices  which  he 
planned  and  built,  and  which  have  added  materially  to  the  city 
of  his  residence.  On  taking  possession  of  the  laud  on  the  New 
Hartford  road  on  a  portion  of  which  his  late  residence  now 
stands,  he  extended  his  operations  in  farming,  already  carried 
on  to  a  limited  extent,  on  Pleasant  street.  And,  until  the  time 
when  he  was  stricken  down  by  disease,  he  conducted  them  with 
the  same  unflagging  spirit  that  characterized  all  his  transactions, 
and  with  a  liberality  in  the  means  expended  which  surprised 
by  its  results.  Of  the  State  Agricultural  Society  he  was  an 
efficient  officer  and  an  unwavering  friend. 

"  His  mission  in  life  was  business. .  His  enterprises  were  under- 
taken for  material  profit,  and  while  they  were  successful  as  such, 
the}'  proved  at  the  same  time  of  great  public  advantage.  Much 
of  what  has  been  accomplished  of  recent  je-Avs  in  developing  the 
resources  of  the  neighborhood  and  in  making  Utica  what  it  is, 
bears  the  impress  of  his  organizing  genius  and  restless  enter- 
])rise."  For  these  were  the  qualities  which  marked  his  char- 
acter. He  owed  nothing  to  scholastic  education,  and  it  may  be 
doubted  whether  books  could  have  better  fitted  him  for  his 
career  as  a  man  of  action  and  a  promoter  of  material  under- 
takings. Nor  had  he  that  degree  of  intelligent  foresight  which 
enabled  him  in  advance  of  others  to  conceive  of  the  possible 
good  wrapped  up  in  an  untested  scheme.     But  he  was  prompt 


584  THE  PIONEERS  OF  UTICA. 

to  avail  himself  of  the  inventiveness  of  others.  A  scheme  un- 
folded and  what  it  could  accomplish  once  exhibited,  he  was 
quick  to  note  its  bearings  and  remoter  tendencies,  and  ready  in 
plan  and  action  to  grasp  success  while  as  3^et  practicability  was 
talked  of.  This  success  he  achieved  by  careful  insight  and 
minute  attention  to  detail,  wherein  he  was  aided  by  a  memory 
wonderfully  retentive,  by  a  strong  and  enduring  will,  by  the 
contagious  influence  his  determination  exerted  upon  others, 
beai'ing  them  along  in  the  current  of  his  own  enthusiasm,  and 
by  an  energy  that  was  balked  by  no  obstacle,  and  never  asked 
for  rest.  These  it  was, — untiring  activity,  undaunted  persis- 
tence, rigid  supervision  and  a  control  over  others, — which  form- 
ed the  chief  source  of  his  supei'iorit}',  and  fitted  him  to  do  so 
much  in  associated  as  in  private  works.  Such  confidence  had 
]\[i-.  Butterfield  inspired  by  the  generally  prosperous  results  of 
his  operations,  so  accurate  was  deemed  his  insight  in  his  pecul- 
iar field,  and  so  many  were  the  instances  in  which  his  advance 
led  on  others  to  the  improvement  of  their  fortunes,  that  his  ap- 
j)roval  and  cooperation  in  a  scheme  were  apt  to  be  deemed  con- 
clusive of  its  merit.  His  reputation  was  extended  and  his  re- 
lations intimate  with  capitalists  in  distant  parts  of  the  country, 
who  were  glad  to  avail  themselves  of  his  capacity  and  energy^ 
While  engaged  in  staging  he  was,  for  some  time  aided  by  the 
skillful  indoor  management  of  James  V.  P.  Gardner  and  others. 
But  in  the  most  of  his  varied  transactions  he  trusted  little  to 
book-keepers,  and  such  of  his  business  as  he  did  not  carry  in 
his  head  he  carried  in  loose  papers  in  his  hat.  It  was  an  error 
for  which  he  suffered  deeply.  Such  continued  mental  tension 
with  never  a  moment  of  relaxation,  detached  from  one  pursuit 
only  to  be  fastened  to  another,  and  without  even  a  book  in 
which  to  coil  away  his  cares  and  relieve  the  burdened  memory, 
was  a  strain  that  no  mind  could  support.  He  yielded  for  a 
time  and  was  wholly  withdrawn  from  active  life.  Returning 
health  found  him  as  busy  as  ever  and  as  intent  on  his  multi- 
farious projects.  He  took  but  little  part  in  jollities,  and  was 
never  an  office-seeker.  By  the  Republicans  of  1865,  he  was 
elected  mayor  of  Utica,  and  in  the  same  year  was  the  unsuc- 
cessful candidate  of  the  Democrats  for  tlie^  office  of  Senator  of 
the  county. 

In  October  1867,  Mr.  Butterlicld  was  stricken  with  paralysis 
in  New  York  City,  and  after  a  little  was  brought  home,  the 


THE  THIRD  CHARTER.  585 

wreck  of  his  former  self.  He  lingered  until  the  14th  of  Novem- 
ber, 1869.  The  large  attendance  at  his  funeral  indicated  that 
the  loss  sustained  had  not  been  felt  most  by  any  particular 
class.  The  representatives  of  wealth,  intelligence,  business  cir- 
cles and  labor,  gathered  side  b}^  side.  He  had  been  brought 
into  contact  with  all  of  them,  and  toward  all  was  courteous, 
kind  and  faithful.  Leaders  in  material  development  valued 
him  and  were  dependent  on  him.  Yet  few  men  of  his  position 
and  influence  could  number  among  his  personal  friends  so  large 
a  number  of  the  laboring  class.  The  sti-eet  cars  were  draped 
in  black,  and  the  City  Hall  bell  counted  the  minutes  until  the 
remains  were  consigned  to  the  vault. 

Mr.  Butterfield  was  married  when  about  twenty-one,  and 
besides  his  widow  left  six  surviving  children.  These  are  three 
sons  and  three  daughters,  viz. :  Theodore  F.  and  John  of  TJtica, 
Daniel,  Major  General  and  late  Asistant  Treasurer  of  the  United 
States  at  New  York,  Mrs.  James  B.  Van  Vorst,  and  Mrs.  Alex- 
ander Holland  of  New  York,  and  Mrs.  William  M.  Storrs  of 
this  city. 

Succeeding  to  Charles  C.  Brodhead,  in  the  ofhce  of  village  sur- 
veyor, there  was  appointed,  in  1824,  Holmes  Hutchinson,  who  had 
arrived  during  the  present  year.  He  was  the  son  of  Amaziah 
and  a  descendant  of  Eleazar  Hutchinson,  who  came  to  America 
from  England,  in  1632.  He  was  born  at  Port  Dickinson  near 
Binghamton,  January  5,  1794,  but  was  brought  up  at  Genoa, 
on  Cayuga  lake.  His  professional  training  he  acquired  on  the 
Erie  canal,  having  been  appointed  an  engineer  in  1819.  In  this 
position  he  acted  until  the  year  1835,  when  he  was  made  chief 
engineer,  performing  the  duties  of  this  office  during  the  period 
of  the  enlargement  of  the  canal,  until  1841.  He  surveyed  and 
made  maps  for  the  Erie  and  Champlain  canals,  the  Oswego,  the 
Black  Kiver,  the  Chenango,  Crooked  Lake  and  the  Chemung, 
completing  the  latter  canal  for  an  amount  much  less  than  his 
estimates.  His  plans  of  locks  on  the  Chenango  were  adopted 
and  those  he  made  for  the  double  enlarged  locks  on  the  Erie 
were  used  as  a  basis  in  its  construction.  He  had  charge  also  of 
the  Cumberland  and  Oxford  canal  in  Maine,  and  the  Blackstone 
in  Rhode  Island  and  Massachusetts,  and  was  frequently  em- 
ployed in  locating  and  defining  valuable  tracts  of  land  in  Oneida 


586  THE  PIONEERS  OF  UTICA. 

and  other  counties  of  the  State.  He  likewise  projected  a  scheme 
for  the  improvement  of  the  harbor  of  Oswego,  and  this,  though 
it  was  deemed  impracticable  and  rejected,  was,  at  a  later  period, 
successfully  carried  out  by  the  Delaware,  Lackawanna  &  West- 
ern Eailroad  Company.  He  was  one  of  the  directors  of  the 
Utica  &  Syracuse  Railroad,  and  remained  so  until  its  consolida- 
tion with  the  New  York  Central ;  and  was,  too,  a  director  in 
the  Syracuse  &  Oswego  Railroad,  of  which  company  he  was 
some  years  president.  In  the  Ontario  &  St.  Lawrence  Steam- 
boat Company  and  in  the  Bank  of  Utica,  Mr.  Hutchinson  had 
also  a  managing  interest. 

He  was  possessed  of  stirring  enterprise  and  energy  ;  his  percep- 
tions were  clear  and  his  judgment  careful.  Without  rashness,  he 
was  far-seeing,  and  confident  of  the  resources  and  progress  of  the 
country.  In  his  discrimination  of  men  and  their  capacities  he  was_ 
accurate  and  knew  how  to  choose  the  best.  When  chief  engi- 
neer he  drew  into  his  service  a  corps  of  such  competent  assistants 
as  Orville  W.  Story,  Squire  Whipple,  John  B.  and  Frederick 
C.  Mills,  Edward  Huntington,  J.  Piatt  Goodsell,  Aurelian  Conk- 
ling,  Henry  S.  Dexter,  Edward  H.  Tracy,  John  C.  Hoadley, 
Francis  F.  Curry,  &c.  In  his  office,  on  Bleecker  street,  were 
drawn  up  all  the  plans  and  specifications  for  the  whole  line  of 
the  enlarged  canal.  Quiet  in  demeanor,  courteous  in  speech, 
with  a  pleasant  smile  and  cheerful  word  for  every  one,  Mr. 
Hutchinson  attracted  all  with  whom  he  came  in  contact;  who, 
when  they  knew  his  integrity  and  his  sense,  were  brought  to 
accord  him  their  respect  and  esteem.  His  death,  which  was 
sudden,  took  place  February  21,  1865.  His  widow,  who  was 
Maria  A.  Webster  of  Fort  Plain,  still  lives  in  Utica.  His  chil- 
dren are  Charles  W.,  Dr.  Edwin  and  Dr.  Frederick  E.  of  Utica, 
Mrs.  Per  Lee  of  Norwich,  and  Mrs.  Lintner  of  Schenectady. 

Allusion  has  been  made  heretofore  in  these  sketches  to  Hugh 
White,  the  first  settler  of  the  immense  region  that  once  bore  his 
name.  On  the  coming  to  Utica,  at  this  time,  of  one  of  his  de- 
scendants to  take  up  his  lot  with  the  inhabitants  of  the  place, 
it  is  proper  that  we  advert  briefly  to  this  primitive  settler,  his 
parentage  and  his  family.  The  first  of  the  Whites  of  America 
was  Elder  John  White,  who  arrived  at  Boston  in  the  ship  Lyon, 
in  1632.     He  settled  in  Massachusetts,  but  in  1836  removed  to 


THE  THIRD  CHARTER.  587 

Connecticut,  and  became  one  of  the  proprietors  of  Hartford. 
From  thence  the  family  were  disseminated,  and  have  become 
exceedingly  numerous.  Those  of  the  name  included  within 
the  first  three  generations  are  four  thousand,  and  the  descend- 
ants of  all  names  at  present  number  seventy-eight  thousand. 
Hugh  White,  who  was  of  the  fifth  generation,  was  from  Mid- 
dletown,  and  was  born  in  1733.  He  came  to  this  new  country 
in  the  spring  of  1784,  with  four  sons,  and  in  the  following  Jan- 
uary brought  the  remainder  of  his  family.  Their  experiences, 
their  privations  and  trials,  and  their  ultimate  success  in  founding 
a  colony,  have  been  fully  related  elsewhere  and  belong  to  the 
history  of  the  county  or  of  Whitestown.  Details  may  be  found 
in  Jones'  "  Annals  of  Oneida  County,"  and  in  the  lectures  of 
William  Tracy  on  "The  Men  and  Events  of  Oneida  County." 
The  second  of  the  sons  of  Hugh  White  was  Joseph,  who  was 
born  at  Middletown,  January  16, 1761,  married  Miss  Buckley  of 
Wethersfield,  about  two  years  before  setting  out  for  a  home 
in  the  wilderness,  and  was  at  this  latter  period  the  father  of  a 
daughter.  Nearly  four  years  afterward,  on  the  8th  of  February, 
1788,  was  born  to  him  the  son  Henr\^,  of  whom  I  now  proceed 
to  speak. 

Brought  up  on  his  father's  farm  and  under  circumstances 
which  afforded  few  facilities  for  intellectual  improvement,  he 
had  only  the  spare  opportunities  of  a  few  winters'  schooling  to 
obtain  all  the  education  such  a  country  school  could  give  him. 
Ambitious  to  better  his  condition,  he  embraced  every  occasion 
to  improve  himself.  For  special  services  he  rendered  during 
the  political  campaign  of  1804,  when,  as  the  bearer  of  dispatches^ 
documents  and  votes,  he  rode  long  distances  through  forests 
and  along  rough  paths,  he  was  promised  a  cadetship  at  West 
Point;  but  it  was  a  promise  that  was  not  kept,  and  the  country 
failed  of  the  courage,  determined  energy  and  prompt  execution 
of  one  who  would  have  made  a  capital  soldier.  He  became  a 
clerk  for  William  Gr.  Tracy,  and  with  other  clerks  he  slept  in 
the  store.  To  his  surprise,  he  found,  one  morning  on  rising, 
that  his  hands  were  daubed  with  ink,  and  naturally  inferred 
that  it  was  done  by  one  of  his  companions.  When  told  by  one 
of  them  that  he  had  probably  done  it  himself,  he  examined  his 
desk  and  found  it  covered  with  writing  in  a  hand  like  his  own, 
yet  greatly  improved  on  that  which  he  usually  wrote.     Such 


588  THE  PIONEERS  OF  UTICA. 

was  his  anxiety  to  mend  liis  chirography  that  his  efforts  had 
not  ended  with  the  day,  but  had  caused  him  to  rise  in  his  sleep 
and  continue  to  practice.  Returning  to  the  farm  he  married,  in 
1815,  Miss  Julia  Bidwell  of  Farmington,  Conn.  On  the  organ- 
ization, in  1823,  of  the  packet  company,  of  which  Ezekiel 
Bacon  was  the  head,  Mr.  White  was  invited  by  the  judge,  whose 
confidence  he  had  won  by  his  efficiency  in  matters  of  politics, 
to  take  charge  of  its  interests,  and  he  came  to  live  at  Utica  for 
such  purpose.  The  superintendency  of  the  packets  was  a  posi- 
tion of  much  labor  and  care.  Besides  the  duties  in  the  office, 
a  good  deal  was  to  be  done  outside,  in  the  hiring  of  men  and 
horses,  the  providing  of  furniture  and  supplies,  and  in  the  gen- 
eral management  and  direction.  There  was  need,  too,  of  con- 
siderable travel  by  reason  of  the  great  distances  traversed  by 
the  boats  and  the  slowness  of  their  movements,  steam  and  elec- 
tricity not  yet  rendering  their  aid  to  lighten  such  supervisory 
labors.  But  this  officer  was  vigilant  and  pains-taking,  and  un- 
der his  management  the  company  prospered.  His  share  in  the 
stock  gradually  increased,  and  its  earnings  made  him,  in  time, 
independent  in  his  means.  Having  determined  that,  when  he 
had  accumulated  a  certain  sum  he  would  retire,  he  kept  faith 
with  himself  and  withdrew  from  the  business,  at  a  time  when 
he  felt  confident  that  in  ten  years  more  he  would  have  quadru- 
pled his  savings.  In  his  later  years,  while  retaining  his  home 
in  the  city,  he  busied  himself  in  looking  after  a  farm  in  Whites- 
boro. 

Mr.  White  was  close  and  sharp  in  a  bargain,  inflexible  in 
will,  austere  and  dignified,  3'et  kind  and  child-like  in  the  sim- 
plicity of  his  manners,  charitable  where  he  felt  that  charity  was 
called  for,  and  generous  to  those  he  loved,  independent  in  his 
judgment,  a  hater  of  hyj^ocrisy,  cant  or  aft'ectation,  and  a  stick- 
ler for  justice ;  to  be  just  himself,  to  exact  it  fi'om  others,  and 
to  expose  the  unjust,  were  life-long  duties.  In  his  later  years, 
his  residence  was  on  Broad  street,  a  few  doors  east  of  the 
Grouse  block.  His  wife  died  many  years  before  him — July  27, 
1841.  His  own  death  took  place  September  17,  1860.  Some 
of  their  children  died  in  infancy  or  childhood.  Those  who 
reached  adult  years,  were  Harriet  Maria,  (Mrs.  E.  G.  Peckham,) 
now  of  Toledo,  Ohio;  Jane  A.  (Mrs.  H.  Seymour  Lansing)  of 
Philadelphia,  and  Sarah  Eliza,  (Mrs.  Henry  Malsom,)  who  died 
February  25,  1648. 


THE  THIRD  CHAKTER.  589 

Chester  Griswold,  who  came  from  Cooperstown,  to  be  captain 
of  one  of  the  packet-boats,  was  afterwards  inspector  and  weigher 
of  boats  at  the  office  on  Schuyler  street,  and  then  for  some 
3^ears  weigh-master  at  the  weigh-lock,  opposite  the  big  basin. 
At  the  former  place,  the  weight  was  determined  bj  finding  the 
quantity  of  water  that  was  displaced  when  the  boats  were  let 
into  a  narrow  basin,  already  gauged.  The  first  hydrostatic 
lock  was  constructed  in  1824.  It  was  not  until  1829  that  this 
archimedean  process  gave  way  to  the  modern  one  of  placing 
the  boat  on  a  cradle,  and  balancing  it  by  weights  on  the  oppo- 
site side  of  the  scale  ;  and  it  was  with  difficulty  that  the  archi-^ 
tect  himself  realized  how  light  a  weight  sufficed  when  applied 
through  a  combination  of  levers  to  over-balance  so  bulky  an 
object.  This  architect  at  Utica,  whether  the  inventor  or  not, 
we  are  unable  to  say,  was  Ezra  Brainerd  of  Eome. 

Captain  Griswold  was  a  respected  citizen,  and  at  one  time 
alderman  from  the  first  ward,  his  home  being  on  Broad  street. 
His  sons  were  Chester  A.,  Horace  E.,  Whiting  and  Elias,  most 
of  whom  died  young.  A  daughter  became  the  wife  of  Captain 
Wessells  of  the  United  States  army. 

An  influence  of  the  canal  that  was  manifested  near  at  home, 
liere  deserves  our  notice.  The  Mohawk  river  being  now  aban- 
doned for  purposes  of  navigation,  the  thought  of  making  it 
available  for  other  uses  took  possession  of  the  public  mind.  It 
had  been  proposed  the  previous  season  to  construct  a  dam  at 
Utica,  and  thus  create  hydraulic  power.  Some  opposition  arose, 
and  there  was  a  newspaper  discussion  upon  the  probable  evils 
that  might  ensue  from  interrupting  the  course  of  the  stream. 
A  public  meeting  was  called  of  those  friendly  to  the  project, 
though  of  its  proceedings  we  are  uninformed.  Despite  all  op- 
position, an  act  was  obtained  from  the  Legislature,  in  1823,  a 
dam  was  thrown  across  the  river  in  September,  two  or  three 
rods  below  the  bridge,  and  a  mill  erected  for  the  grinding  of 
flour  with  three  run  of  stone.  The  dam  was  erected  by  Wil- 
liam Alverson  for  the  proprietors,  Messrs.  Parker  &  Seymour. 
The  first  miller  employed  not  succeeding  to  the  satisfaction  of 
the  owners,  Ira  D.  Hopkins  was,  at  the  end  of  three  months, 
engaged  to  run  the  mill,  and  he  continued  to  do  so  while  it  w^as 
in  operation.     But,  ere  long,  parties  owning  property  on  the 


590  THE  PIONEERS  OF  UTICA. 

river,  some  miles  above,  complained  that  their  land  was  flooded 
by  the  setting  back  of  the  water,  to  the  height,  as  they  alleged, 
of  fmir  feet.  A  suit  was  brought  against  the  mill  owners;  and, 
although  it  proved,  unsuccessful,  it  impaired  the  popularity  and 
the  custom  of  the  mill,  so  that  when  a  second  suit  was  after- 
wards begun,  they  anticijiated  its  verdict  by  giving  up  their 
enterprise.  This  was  about  1829.  Mr.  Hopkins  removed  to 
Delta,  but  came  back  some  years  later,  and  conducted  the  City 
Mill,  east  of  Third  street  until  near  the  close  of  his  life,  in 
1865.  Mr.  Hopkins  was  the  father  of  our  present  postmaster, 
Charles  H.  Hopkins,  and  his  brothers,  William  E.,  Dr.  Ira  D. 
and  L.  W.  Hopkins. 

About  the  year  1823,  the  Messrs.  Devereux  began  to  do 
business  on  the  present  site  of  the  Devereux  block,  while  con- 
tinuing their  stand  on  the  square.  At  the  same  time,  they  took 
one  of  their  clerks  into  partnership,  and  added  "&  Co."  to  the 
name  of  Devereux.  This  "&  Co."  represented  Horace  Butler. 
He  was  a  native  of  Middletown,  Conn.,  born  about  the  year 
1792,  and  had  already  been  a  merchant  in  New  Hartford  before 
he  removed  to  Utica,  in  1821.  The  firm  was  changed  on  the 
26th  of  March,  1826,  to  that  of  Builer,  O'Connor  &  Co.,  and 
was  made  to  consist  of  Horace  Butler,  Patrick  O'Connor  and 
James  McDonough.  A  few  years  later  the  proprietors  were 
Butler,  McDonough  &  Co.,  Mr.  O'Connor  having  died,  and  his 
place  being  supplied  by  Van  Vechten  Livingston,  another  some- 
time clerk  in  the  house.  These  firms  were  forwarding  and 
commission  merchants,  and  wholesale  dealers  in  merchandise, 
their  store  being  situated  where  now  stands  the  Devereux 
block,  and  their  warehouse  on  the  site  of  the  present  Empire 
block.  About  1837,  Mr.  Butler  was  overtaken  by  illness 
which  affected  his  mind,  and  was  for  six  months  an  inmate  of 
the  Bloomingdale  Asylum.  On  his  recovery,  he  went  into  the 
trade  of  groceries  with  Francis  Wright,  on  the  corner  of  Fay- 
ette and  Genesee ;  and  a  little  later,  that  is  to  say  about  1889, 
while  still  a  grocer,  he  re-enlisted  in  forwarding  at  his  former 
stand,  but  now  in  company  with  Samuel  Farwell.  A  renewed 
attack  of  insanity  drove  him  again  to  the  asylum,  and  he  never 
entered  upon  any  employment  afterward,  but  died  at  the  house 
of  Mr.  Farwell,  March  20,  1851.      Mr.  Butler's  characteristics 


THE  THIRD  CHARTEE.  591 

were  an  amiable  and  affectionate  temper,  a  modest  and  retiring 
disposition,  a  fair  share  of  enterprise  and  business  skill,  com- 
bined with  a  high  order  of  integrity.  He  was  rarely  in  ofl&ce, 
yet  needed  not  official  position  to  enhance  the  respect  univer- 
sally accorded  him.  His  children  were  James  L.,  now  in  France, 
Horace,  Mary  (Mrs.  Frisbie  of  Detroit)  and  Charles  W.  of  Brook- 
lyn.    His  widow  resides  with  her  daughter,  in  Detroit. 

A  native  of  New  Hartford,  who  came  to  Utica  from  Jordan, 
in  Onondaga  county,  was  Charles  Morris,  a  forwarding  mer- 
chant and  commission  broker.  His  stand  was  below  the  canal, 
on  the  same  side  with  the  preceding.  He  continued  forwarding 
until  the  fall  of  1827,  when  he  sold  out  to  the  longer-during 
house  of  Thorn  &  Curtiss,  and  became  a  merchant.  Mr.  Morris 
was  an  active  business  person,  and  by  reason  of  this  and  his 
genuine  worth  of  character,  stood  well  in  the  community.  He 
was  a  director  in  the  Bank  of  Utica  and  an  exemplary  wor- 
shipper in  the  Presbyterian  Church.  About  1833,  he  went  back 
to  Jordan.  His  wife  was  Elizabeth,  daughter  of  Joseph  Colton 
of  Pompey. 

The  residence  of  Harvey  F.  Beach  was  but  transient,  for,  in 
1825,  he  went  away  to  be  married,  was  taken  very  ill,  and  was 
married  on  his  death-bed.  In  1824,  profiting  by  the  enthusiasm 
so  rife  at  the  time,  he  advei'tised  La  Fayette  gloves.  La  Fayette 
belts,  Clinton  and  the  grand  canal  vestings,  Jackson,  the  hero 
of  New  Orleans,  handkerchiefs,  and  other  taking-titled  goods. 
His  partner  was  Ezekiel  Bacon,  who  furnished  the  capital.  His 
son,  Francis  Bacon,  was  a  clerk  in  the  establishment  and  subse- 
quently was  engaged  in  business  in  the  city  of  New  York,  where 
he  still  resides,  having  retired  from  active  life,  with  a  comfort 
able  indepfendence  and  gracing  his  later  days  with  many  acts 
of  unostentatious  benevolence. 

Among  the  stoutly-built  and  quick-succeeding  landlords  of 
the  York  House,  the  paragon  of  bulk  was  Henry  E.  Dwight. 
He  was  in  height  over  six  feet,  weighed  three  hundred  and  six- 
ty-five pounds,  and  was  six  feet  six  inches  in  girtti  about  the 
waist.  A  native  of  Northampton,  Mass.,  and  son  of  Major  Tim- 
othy Dwight  of  that  place,  he  had  lived  several  years  in  this  State ; 


592  THE   PIONEERS  OF  UTICA. 

had  kept  a  publig  bouse  at  Manlius,  and  afterward  at  Ithaca.  In 
April  1823,  he  opened  "  the  elegant  and  commodious''  hotel 
above  named,  but  kept  it  only  a  year,  for  he  died  in  May  1824. 
He  was  remarkable  for  the  buoyancy  of  his  spirits,  and 
abounded  in  humor  and  in  fun.  Dealing  once  with  a  penurious 
man  who  stood  calculating  his  pennies  while  paying  him  a 
debt,  ''  You  remind  me,"  he  said,  "  of  a  Methodist  minister  I 
knew,  who  carried  a  hog-skin  purse,  and  every  time  that  a  cent 
came  out  of  it  it  came  with  a  grunt."  One  only  of  the  daugh- 
ters of  Mr.  Dwight  remained  behind  him  in  Utica ;  this  was 
the  wife  of  Justus  H.  Rathbone.  A  son,  who  was  a  clerk  here^ 
removed  to  Black  Rock,  and  is  now  living  in  Harlem. 

Jonathan  R.  Warner,  lately  from  Albany,  began,  in  June,  the 
manufacture  and  sale  of  hats.  This  trade  he  had  learned  of 
Benjamin  Knower  of  that  city,  whose  niece  was  his  first  wife. 
Long  a  citizen  of  Utica,  a  diligent  and  intelligent  worker,  and 
sustaining  an  unblemished  name,  he  amassed  a  considerable 
property.  He  was  agreeable,  pleasant  tempered  and  neighborly, 
and  bore  a  creditable  share  in  matters  of  a  public  nature,  holding 
among  other  positions  a  directorship  of  the  Oneida  Bank.  He 
was  an  attendant  on  the  services  of  the  Reformed  Church,  and 
liberal  in  his  benefactions  toward  the  society,  even  after  his 
removal  from  the  place.  The  bell  it  has  now  in  use  was  his 
gift.  His  home  was  on  Broad  street,  in  the  house  where  B.  A. 
Hammond  now  lives.  He  removed  to  Poughkeepsie,  and  died 
there  about  1872.  His  second  wife  was  a  daughter  of  Dr 
Wendell  of  Albany.     His  only  child,  a  son,  died  before  him. 

Another  .fresh  adventurer  of  the  year,  who  is  in  business  still, 
is  Thomas  Davies,  watchmaker  and  jeweler.  By  turns  alone, 
a  partner  with  Shubael  Storrs,  again  alone,  then  with  Ebenezer 
Leach,  then  with  Albert  Battel,  again  alone,  and  now  with  his 
sons,  Benjamin  F.  and  Thomas  M.,  he  has  carried  on  the  repair- 
ing of  watches  longer  than  any  one  of  the  craft  now  resident, 
and  most  of  the  time  within  stone's  throw  of  his  present  shop. 
Musical  and  masonic,  he  has  been  captain  of  the  Utica  Band 
and  chaplain  of  the  masonic  fraternity. 

At  this  time,  too,  came  Michael  McQuade,  another  present 
resident,  his  brother  Thomas  having  established  himself  in  the 


THE  THIRD  CHARTER.  593 

place  a  couple  of  years  previous.  Both  were  coopers  by  trade, 
but  Thomas  followed  it  much  the  longest,  Michael  having  been 
for  forty  years  a  manager  of  the  Gulf  Brewery.  In  politics,  too, 
he  has  managed  not  a  little,  and  has  been  a  power  in  municipal 
affairs.  He  has  held  numerous  positions,  from  the  collectorship 
to  that  of  candidate  for  mayor,  but  has  most  signalized  himself 
as  the  long  continued  alderman  of  the  first  ward,  wherein  mat- 
ters were  accustomed  to  go  much  as  he  directed,  his  side  being 
in  general  the  winning  one.  Thomas  died  in  1865.  Both 
he  and  his  brother  have  been  heads  of  families  of  influence 
in  Utica.  Michael  is  the  father  of  General  James,  T.  E,.,  and 
Patrick,  of  Mrs.  Egan,  Mrs.  Bulger,  and  two  unmarried  daugh- 
ters. Thomas  McQuade,  left  one  son,  T.  M.  now  living,  besides 
two  who  are  deceased,  and  also  Mrs,  William  M.  Clarke,  Mrs. 
Devereux  of  Oneida,  and  two  daughters  not  married. 

Lawrence  Morgan,  fancy  dyer,  and  an  early  trustee  of  the 
Catholic  Church,  almost  from  the  beginning  of  his  residence 
transformed  old  clothes  into  new  on  the  corner  of  Columbia 
and  Cornelia  street,  where  he  could  only  be  reached  through 
a  swamp ;  and  there  he  kept  steadily  at  work  until  his  death, 
which  was  after  1853.  A  copper  and  tinsmith  and  dealer 
in  stoves,  who  remained  in  ti'ade  until  1840  or  later,  was 
Samuel  A.  Sibley.  At  an  early  date  he  was  on  the  east  side 
of  Genesee  street,  below  Bleecker,  and  at  a  later  one,  on  Bur- 
net street,  where  also  he  lived.  He  was  living  there  in  1852  ; 
his  family  much  longei-.  Zeno  and  Clark  Carpenter,  men  of 
excellent  reputation,  were  blacksmiths  and  wagon  makers  on 
the  corner  of  John  and  Catherine  streets,  their  residence  being 
on  Elizabeth,  at  the  head  of  Burnet.  Zeno  became  a  minister 
to  the  Society  of  Friends,  which  was  organized  in  1826 ;  Clark 
has  but  recently  given  up  his  wagon  making,  and  changed  his 
residence  to  another  part  of  the  county,  leaving  behind  him  his 
sons,  William  P.  and  Charles  H.  Rees  Lewis  was  another 
wagon  maker.  He  was  the  father  of  Rev.  John  R  Lewis  of 
Boonville.  David  Lewis,  brother  of  Rees,  had  a  lime  kiln,  and 
was  of  late  gate-keeper  on  the  Minden  turnpike.  Richard  T. 
Jones,  mason,  lived  about  fifty  years  on  Breese  street,  was  for 
many  years  a  leader  in  the  Welsh  Congregational  Church, 
and  then  became  a  spiritualist.     He  died  September  30,  1877. 

George  F.  Wicker,  sign  and  ornamental  painter,  painted  also 
i-o 


594  THE   PIONEERS  OF  UTICA. 

portraits  and  landscapes.  He  was  deput}'  sheriff ;  was  promi- 
nent in  the  Methodist  Church,  and  stood  well  in  the  estimation 
of  the  community  at  large.  He  died  about  1838.  Elijah  P. 
Curry,  last  maker,  exercised  his  craft  a  good  while  longer,  his 
shop  being  on  Genesee  and  his  home  on  Charlotte,  until  he  re- 
moved to  Bioadwa}^,  where  he  died.  He  left  a  widow,  a  son 
and  three  daughters :  the  son,  Francis  F.  Curry,  an  engineer, 
much  employed  in  later  years  upon  the  canal  and  elsewhere. 
Wilham  P.  Case,  wheel-wright  and  carpenter,  had  already  been 
three  or  four3^ears  in  the  place  and  lived  here  until  his  death, 
in  1862.  His  wife,  wlio  was  daughter  of  Samuel  "Wilcox,  (of 
1812)  is  still  living,  as  are  also  seven  of  his  children,  including 
William  P.,  George,  Edward  C.  and  Charles. 

Residents  of  1823,  whose  tei'm  was  shorter,  were  Eleazar  Gid- 
ne^',  dentist,  of  good  repute,  who  settled  in  Orange,  New  York, 
about  1826,  and  who  is  best  known  in  Utica  as-  the  instructor 
of  Alvin  Blakesle}',  of  much  longer  continuance;  Charles  Car- 
ter, auctioneer  and  associate  of  George  J.  Hopper,  sharp  in  get- 
ting off  such  goods  as  were  saleable,  and  who  found  a  more  de- 
sirable field  in  New  York ;  John  S.  Anderson,  dealer  in  hard- 
ware and  fancy  goods  ;  Joseph  P.  Gould,  who  sold  cheap  jewehy 
and  kept  a  lottery,  and  Stephen  Gould,  who  sold  law  books, 
both  at  No.  48  Genesee  ;  Joseph  Colwell,  who  printed 'the  Ba2> 
tist  Register  in  1824,  the  Sentinel  and  Oazette  in  1826,  and  pub- 
lished the  Utica  Intelligencer  in  1832,  and  then  made  his  home 
in  Oswego ;  Cephas  Bennett,  another  journey-man  and  fellow 
printer  on  the  Bcqotist  Register^  who  went,  in  1828,  as  a  printer  to 
the  mission  in  Burmah,  and  is  now  a  missionary  of  the  Baptist 
Board  at  Rangoon ;  Leonard  B.  Shumway,  coach  maker,  suc- 
cessively on  Main,  on  the  corner  of  Genesee  and  Water,  and  the 
corner  of  John  and  Broad  streets,  at  which  latter  place  he,  and 
his  partner,  William  Holcomb,  were  burned  out  about  1830, 
and  took  theii-  exit;  Ansel  Frost,  plough  maker,  in  compaii}' 
with  Stephen  Estes,  op))osite  the  brewery ;  Erastus  Woodworth, 
cooper ;  Bernice  West  and  Benjamin  R.  Shaw,  carpenters,  of 
whom  the  former  died  about  1828;  Obadiah  Delano,  mason; 
John  McGarry  and  Judson  &  Maddock,  tailors  ;  Henry  W.  Carr, 
veterinary  surgeon  and  farrier,  and  afterwards  a  farmer  ;  B.  B. 
Whipple,  cigar  maker ;  Harvey  H.  Merrell,  son  of  Benajah  Mer- 
rell,  clerk,  and  Wesle}^  Higgins,  another  clerk,  both  of  them  after- 


THE  THIRD  CHARTER.  595 

wards  mercliants  of  brief  continuance ;  of  whom  the  former,  after 
a  brief  residence  in  New  Hartford,  followed  his  father  s  family 
to  Sacketts  Harbor,  and  the  latter,  finding  that  he  had  gifts  in 
preaching,  and  having  exercised  them  effectively  in  the  sur- 
rounding region,  obtained  a  license  as  a  lay  preacher,  and,  by 
his  labors  near  Hamilton,  was  the  means  of  arousing  quite  au 
interest  in  matters  of  religion.  A  colored  man,  whose  arrival 
should  also  be  chronicled,  though  his  fame  came  later,  was  Joseph 
C.  Pancko,  whitewasher,  &c.  He  made  hmiself  notorious  about 
the  period  of  the  Mexican  war,  by  greeting  the  town  with 
occasional  notices  of  passing  events  done  in  limping  and  de- 
testable doggerel. 


1824. 

The  trustees  chosen  in  May  1824,  would  seem  to  have  been  a 
diligent  and  enterprising  body,  and  they  effected  numerous  im- 
provements in  comparison  with  some  of  their  predecessors. 
They  were  as  follows :  Benjamin  Ballou  and  James  Hooker 
from  the  first  ward  ;  Ezekiel  Bacon  and  James  Lynch  from  the 
second  ward ;  and  Thomas  Walker  and  Nicholas  Smith  from 
the  third  ward.  The  assessors  were  Benjamin  Ballou,  John 
Bradish  and  David  P.  Hoyt,  and  the  supervisor  was  Ezra  S. 
Cozier.  Thomas  Walker  was  treasurer  and  overseer  of  the  poor, 
John  H.  Ostrom,  clerk.  Charles  C.  Brodhead,  was  elected  sur- 
veyor, but  declining  to  serve,  his  place  was  filled  by  the  ap- 
pointment of  Holmes  Hutchinson.  William  Clarke  continued 
to  be  the  j5resident 

The  doings  of  the  board  in  the  course  of  the  year  were 
these :  Genesee  street  was  paved  from  the  canal  to  the  east 
line  of  the  Supreme  Court  clerk's  office ;  John  street,  from  the 
canal  to  Main  street ;  Rome  street  was  widened  to  its  intersec- 
tion with  Genesee,  by  the  purchase  and  removal  of  a  building 
that  fronted  on  the  latter  street,  and  hindered  its  width  ;  and, 
in  compliment  to  the  distinguished  guest  of  the  nation,  then 
travelling  through  the  country,  its  name  was  changed  to  La  Fay- 
ette street ;  Water  street  was  extended  from  its  termination  at 
the  foot  of  Hotel  (Williams)  street,  to  the  west  line  of  the  land 
of  David  P.  H.ojt ;  the  street  now  known  as  Hoyt's  alley  was 


596  THE  PIONEERS  OF  UTICA. 

opened  from  Water  street  to  Whitesboro ;  Charles  street  was 
cut  midway  of  the  property  of  LeviCozzeus;  and  a  "private 
road  "  for  the  benefit  of  Josliua  M.  Church  and  John  Bradish 
was  opened  tlirough  the  land  of  Apollos  Cooper  from  Rome- 
street  to  the  canal,  along  the  line  of  the  present  Pine  street. 
Sewers  were  constructed  on  the  east  side  of  Genesee  street  from 
opposite  the  clerk's  office  to  Hotel  street ;  from  John  street  to 
a  connection  at  Main  street  with  the  one  before  opened  down 
Genesee  street ;  on  Burnet  street ;  on  Charlotte  from  Elizabeth 
to  Bleecker;  and  on  Bleecker  from  Burnet  to  Genesee.  Side- 
walks were  ordered  on  both  sides  of  Jay  street  from  the  packet 
basin  to  Bridge  street,  and  on  both  sides  of  First  from  Jay  to 
Broad,  except  on  the  north  side  of  that  part  of  Jay  which  lies 
between  John  and  First  streets.  In  November  a  sidewalk  was 
directed  on  one  side  of  Elizabeth  from  Genesee  as  far  only  as 
Charlotte;  and  in  the  following  March  both  sides  of  it  "from 
Genesee  to  John  streets  were  to  be  pitched  and  paved  with 
brick.  Moreover,  it  was  resolved  that  in  all  cases  in  which  side- 
walks are  hereafter  paved,  in  pursuance  of  law  or  resolution, 
they  shall  be  paved  or  flagged  with  good,  sound  hard  brick,  or 
square  flat  stone.  A  new  engine  house  was  leased  from  the 
president  on  Franklin  street,  and  the  lot  in  the  rear  of  Trinity 
church,  which  had  been  given  to  the  village  for  an  engine 
house  by  Morris  S.  Miller  and  others,  was  sold  to  the  church. 
A  committee  was  appointed  to  treat  with  Apollos  Cooper  for 
six  acres  of  land  for  a  burial  ground.  The  provisions  of  the 
ordinance  of  June  6,  1817,  relating  to  nuisances,  were  now  ex- 
tended to  all  the  streets ;  and  whenever  it  was  directed  by  the 
president,  a  trustee  or  the  police  constable,  that  a  street  should 
be  scraped,  it  was  provided  that  the  occupants  should  have  it 
first  well  sprinkled.  Repairs  were  paid  for  keeping  the  town 
pump  in  good  condition,  and  Ara  Broadwell  was  armed  with 
full  powers,  as  a  fire  inspector,  to  look  after  the  safety  of  every 
tenement.  Eight  watchmen  were  now  needed  to  guard  the 
village  by  turns  through  the  night.  Tlie  tax  for  general  ex- 
penses was  fixed  at  $1,437.25,  and  the  supervisors  of  the  county 
were  requested  to  levy  an  additional  tax  of  $400  for  the  sup- 
port of  the  poor,  lioswell  Holcomb,  the  former  pedagogue  of 
1797  and  180p,  or  1804,  was  installed  as  instructor  of  the  public 
school,  at  a  salary  equivclant  to  $350  a  year. 


THE  THIRD  CHARTER.  597 

a 

A  society  of  females,  having  for  its  object  the  rehgions  educa- 
tion of  the  children  of  its  members,  and  known  as  the  Maternal 
Association,  was  formed  in  June  1824  The  hint  for  the  plan  of 
it  was  take  from  a  similar  institution  at  Portland,  Maine.  Weekly 
meetings  were  held  for  prayer  and  colloquial  discussion  on  topics 
relating  to  the  proper  training  of  children  ;  and  quarterlj'  meet- 
ings, at  which  the  children  of  a  limited  age  were  assembled  for 
recitation  and  instruction.  The  founders  were  the  wives  of  the 
four  Messrs.  Clark,  Thomas  E.,  Erastus,  William  and  Oren, 
those  of  the  two  Messrs.  Hastings,  Thomas  and  Charles,  and  also 
Mrs.  Sarah  K.  Clarke  and  Mrs.  Walter  King,  eight  in  all.  The 
influence  of  the  society  was  happy,  and  it  increased  so  greatly  in 
oiumbers  as  to  include,  in  ISttO,  one  hundred  and  fifty  members. 
It  was  aided,  after  183S,  by  a  periodical  published  under  its 
auspices  by  Mrs.  A.  G.  Goodrich,  and  entitled  the  Mothers  Mag- 
azine. Similar  associations,  strictlv  denominational,  soon  arose 
and  assumed  its  work. 

Two  religious  papers  were  started  in  the  place  at  this  time, 
viz.:  the  Western  Recorder,  which  was  begun  in  the  latter  part 
of  1823,  and  the  Baptist  Rerjister.,  whose  first  number  was  issued 
February  20,  1824  The  Recorder  was  managed  in  the  interests 
of  Presbyterianism,  by  Thomas  Hastings,  and  was  published  by 
Merrell  &  Hastings.  After  the  removal  of  its  first  editor,  in 
1832,  it  was  continued  a  short  time  longer  by  Eev.  Ova  P.  Hoyt. 
Its  circulation  did  not  exceed  four  or  five  thousand  copies,  and 
it  was  eventually  superseded  by  papers  emanating  from  New 
York  and  other  large  cities.  The  Baptist  Register^  a  weekh^ 
octavo  of  eight  pages,  and  having  a  circulation  of  five  to  seven 
thousand  copies,  was  conducted  by  Revs.  E.  F.  Willey  of  Utica, 
E.  Galusha  of  Whitesboro,  and  J.  Lathrop  of  Newport,  and  was 
printed  in  the  office  of  the  Utica  Observer.  Within  a  year.  Rev- 
A.  M.  Beebe  became  the  editor,  and  its  subsequent  printers  were 
Bennett  &  Bright  and  their  successors.  It  was  published  in  Utica 
until  the  3^ear  1855,  when  it  was  removed  to  New  York  and 
consolidated  with  another  sheet  under  the  title  of  the  Examiner 
and  Chronicle.  There  it  is  still,  ably  conducted  by  Rev.  Edward 
Bright,  and  is  the  leading  paper  of  the  denomination. 

A  magazine  entitled  the  Utica  Christian  Repository,  amonthl}- 
double-columned  octavo,  had  already  been  begun  in  1822.  It 
■w^as  printed  by  William  Williams,  and  received  contributions 


598  THE  PIONEERS  OF  UTICA. 

from  various  Presbyterian  ministers.  Eev.  William  R  Weeks 
was  its  later  editor,  but  who  had  the  charge  of  it  at  first,  I  am 
unable  to  state.     About  five  volumes  were  published. 

In  the  course  of  the  sketch  of  Rev.  S.  C.  Aikin,  it  was  men- 
tioned that,  in  February  1824,  Rev.  S.  W.  Brace  was  settled  as 
his  associate,  with  the  expectation  that  he  should  organize  a 
new  society,  if  the  same  were  deemed  advisable.  Having  now 
reached  the  date  of  this  settlement,  I  proceed  to  notice  at  length 
this  new  minister  and  the  church  he  assisted  in  creating.  Rev. 
Samuel  Williams  Brace,  the  eleventh  child  of  Captain  Elizur 
Brace,  was  born  May  1,  1790,  at  Rutland,  Vermont,  to  which 
place  his  father  and  sundry  others  had  emigrated  from  Litch- 
field county,  Conn.,  in  1789.  In  1796  Captain  Brace  removed 
with  his  family  to  Pompey,  Onondaga  county,  N.  Y.,  and  a 
few  years  later  to  the  town  of  Lysander  in  the  same  county. 
There  was  no  school  of  any  description  in  the  town ;  and  the 
principal  opportunities  which  the  son  enjoyed  for  attending 
school  he  had  while  visiting  friends  during  two  winters  in  Man- 
lius.  Yet  he  formed  the  purpose  of  securing  the  advantages  of 
a  course  at  college.  In  pursuit  of  this  object,  in  the  winter  of 
1809,  he  walked  from  Oswego,  where  the  family  were  then  liv- 
ing, to  Hamilton  Oneida  Academy,  at  Clinton.  Here,  under 
the  instruction  and  encouragement  of  its  able  instructor,  Seth 
Norton,  afterwards  professor  in  the  college,  his  progress  in  learn- 
ing was  so  creditable  that  he  was  soon  appointed  assistant ;  and 
was  thus  able  to  pay  for  his  tuition  and  to  meet  all  other  ex- 
penses. By  diligent  study,  varied  by  occasional  engagements 
as  a  teacher  in  other  schools,  he  was  enabled  to  enter  the  soph- 
omore class  in  Hamilton  College  and  to  graduate  with  the  class 
of  1815.  One  of  these  engagements  he  fulfilled  at  a  classical 
school  at  Onondaga  Hollow,  the  germ  of  the  present  Onondaga 
Academy,  and  another  in  the  village  of  Utica,  where,  in  1815, 
he  supplied  for  a  time  the  place  of  Mr.  Henry  White,  disquali- 
fied by  sickness.  It  was  at  the  former  place  that  the  attention 
of  Mr.  Brace  was  first  effectually  called  to  the  subject  of  per- 
sonal religion ;  and  having  determined  on  becoming  a  minister, 
he  entered  the  Theological  Seminary  at  Andover  immedi- 
ately after  leaving  college.  Having  finished  the  three  years' 
course,   he  was  graduated  in  1818,  and  licensed  to  preach  the 


THE  THIRD  CHARTER,  599 

• 

gospel.  During  a  few  weeks  lie  labored  eiiectively  in  a  congre- 
gation situated  within  the  territory  of  the  present  flourishing 
town  of  Lowell,  Mass.,  and  then  for  more  than  half  a  year,  and 
with  still  more  successful  results,  in  Bridgewater  in  this  connty. 
DecHning  a  call  to  the  latter  place,  as  well  as  one  to  London- 
derry, N.  H.,  he  filled,  for  a  time,  a  temporary  vacancy  in 
Geneva.  Here  a  revival,  which  followed  his  labors,  reached  the 
adjoining  town  of  Phelps,  when  he  was  called  to  be  the  pastor, 
was  ordained  and  installed,  and  remained  four  years.  From 
Phelps  he  was  invited  to  come  to  Utica.  After  his  arrival,  he 
preached  alternately  with  Mr.  Aikin,  until  at  the  end  of  some 
months  it  was  judged  advisable  to  organize  another  church. 
This  new  church  was  formed  on  the  6th  of  May,  182-i,  and  at 
first  took  the  name  of  the  Second  Presbyterian  Church.  This 
name  being  by  some  deemed  objectionable,  it  was  changed  to 
that  of  the  Bleecker  Street  Presbyterian  Church.  Twenty- 
seven  persons  were  at  first  enrolled  among  its  members,  which 
number  was  greatly  enlarged  at  its  first  communion.  These 
persons  were  mostly  recent  comers,  and  as  far  as  can  now  be 
determined,  for  the  records  of  the  society  are  lost,  were  Zeph- 
aniah  Piatt  and  wife,  Dr.  Thomas  Goodsell  and  wife,  Dr,  Zad- 
ock  P.  Maine  and  wife,  Jabez  Miller  and  wife,  Amzi  and  Ly- 
man Hotchkiss  and  families, — Alvord  and  family.  Royal  West 
and  wife,  William  P.  Case,  John  McGarry  and  wife,  Jesse  Sel- 
leck  and  wife,  Mrs.  Charles  Churchill,  John  Younglove  and 
wife,  Mr,  Scriver  and  wife,  &c.  They  worshipped  for  a  time  in 
the  session  room  of  the  Presbyterian  Church,  situate  on  Hotel 
street ;  and  near  the  close  of  the  year  Rev.  Mr.  Brace,  was,  by 
the  Presbytery  of  Oneida,  duly  installed  over  them.  In  the  spring 
of  1825,  their  number  being  now  augmented,  they  took  meas- 
ures for  the  erection  of  a  church  edifice.  Besides  what  funds 
they  could  raise  among  themselves,  they  were  promised  assist- 
ance by  several  members  of  the  older  congregation.  They  deter- 
mined on  the  lot  at  the  west  cornei-  of  Charlotte  and  Bleecker. 
The  trustees  now  in  charge  were  Dr.  Thomas  Goodsell,  Greene 
C.  Bronson,  Jason  Parker,  D.  G.  Bates  and  Lyman  Hotchkiss. 
The  contract  for  erecting  the  building  was  taken  by  Samuel 
Farwell,  who  was  not  yet  a  resident  of  the  place,  but  ere  long- 
became  so.  This  building,  the  same  which  is  now  known  as 
the  Bleecker  Street  Baptist  Church,  was  fifty-six  by  eighty  feet 


600  THE   PIONEERS  OF  UTICA. 

in  dimensions.  It  was  completed  in  the  summer  of  1826,  and 
was  dedicated  on  the  24th  of  August  of  that  year.  The  sermon 
on  the  occasion  was  preached  by  Rev.  Dr.  Richards  of  Auburn, 
from  the  text:  "Wherever  I  record  my  name,  I  will  come  unto 
you  and  bless  you."  The  building,  with  the  lot,  cost  about 
$15,000,  viz.:  for  the  lot  $1,800,  which  was  increased  to  $3,000 
by  the  cost  of  paving, — for  Charlotte  street  was  but  newly 
opened,  and  without  pavement  or  sidewalks, — and  for  materials 
and  construction  nearly-  $12,000.  Mr.  Charles  E.  Dudley  of 
Albau)-,  of  whom  tlie  land  was  purchased,  contributed  toward 
the  erection,  and  took  a  mortgage  on  the  property.  Tlie  min- 
isti'y  of  Mr.  Brace  was  a  very  successful  one,  and  lasted  about 
four  3'ears.  During  this  time  two  hundred  and  fifty  persons  wei"e 
added  to  the  church,  of  whom  one  hundred  and  thirty  came 
from  other  churches,  and  eighty  were  the  fruits  of  the  revival 
of  1826.  The  debt  contracted  in  building  proved  a  source  of 
continued  embarrassment.  The  aid  promised  by  members  of 
the  First  Presbyterian  congregation  was  by  no  means  as  valua- 
ble as  the  new  society  had  been  given  reason  to  expect,  for  the 
latter  congregation  soon  proceeded  to  build  a  new  house  for 
themselves,  and  were  taxed  to  accomplish  it;  besides  there  was 
too  much  Presbyterian  stock  in  the  market,  and  the  seats  could 
not  all  be  filled.  The  salary  due  to  Mr.  Brace  fell  behind 
to  the  amount  of  over  $1,100.  His  brotherin-law,  Mr.  Bron- 
son,  who  was  one  of  the  trustees,  was  often  called  on  to  contri- 
bute toward  the  pecuniary  necessities  of  the  congregation.  He 
was  a  partner  in  business  with  Samuel  Beardsley,  w^ho  was  an 
Episcopalian,  and  there  was  a  desire  on  the  part  of  some  of  the 
Episcopalians  to  get  possession  of  the  building  for  a  church  of 
that  order.  It  was  proposed  to  Mr.  Brace  to  make  good  to  him 
the  sum  owed  him  personally  by  turning  over  to  him  land  in 
Chatau(|ua  county,  and  with  reference  to  the  mortgage  on  the 
church,  that  it  be  foreclosed  and  bought  in  by  the  Episcopalians. 
In  this  state  of  things.  Rev.  D.  C.  Lansing  of  Auburn,  had  be- 
come unsettled  there,  and  overtures  had  been  made  him  by  cer- 
tain members  of  the  First  Presbyterian  Church  to  come  to  Utica 
and  be  settled  over  the  congregation  of  Mr.  Brace.  Judge 
Bronson  and  the  other  trustees  now  suggested  to  Mr.  Brace  that, 
if  a  favorable  opportunity  presented  itself  of  locating  elsewhere, 
he  should  do  so.     Receiving  an  invitation  to  East  Hartford,  in 


THE  THIRD  CHARTER.  601 

Conn.,  he  accordingly  resigned  his  pastorate  in  July  1828,  and 
went  to  that  place.  After  a  brief  ministry  there,  he  was  settled 
some  time  longer  in  Skaneateles,  and  next  at  Binghamton. 
Having  resolved  to  retire  from  the  active  duties  of  the  pastoral 
office,  and  to  preach  in  vacant  churches  as  opportunity  might 
offer,  he  returned  to  Utica,  in  August  1845.  And  here  he  has 
continued  to  live  until  the  present  time,  having  been  at  differ- 
ent times  the  stated  supply  of  various  churches  in  the  vicinity. 
He  has  been  agent  of  the  Oneida  County  Bible  Society,  and  also 
of  the  African  Colonization  Societ}-.  The  College  of  Liberia 
conferred  upon  him  the  degi*ee  of  D.  D.  Of  Hamilton  College 
he  is  the  oldest  living  graduate.  In  November  1819,  Mr.  Brace 
married  Miss  Harriet  Kilbourn  of  New  Hartford,  and  with  her 
he  lived  nearly  forty  years.  His  present  wife  was  Miss  Martha 
B.  Fish  of  Troy,  Penn. 

Judge  Bronson,  the  distinguished  jurist  now  to  be  noticed, 
affords  a  striking  example  of  one  who,  without  the  aid  of  wealth 
or  famil}^  connections,  or  even  of  such  advantages  of  education 
as  are  furnished  by  our  academies  and  colleges,  was  enabled  b}^ 
manl}'  self-reliance  and  resolute  energy  to  attain  the  highest 
positions  and  to  fill  them  with  eminent  success.  Greene  Car- 
rier Bronson  was  born  in  Simsbury,  Conn.,  in  November  1789, 
a!nd  was  the  son  of  Oliver  Brownson,  a  teacher  of  vocal  music, 
who  published  one  of  the  earliest  singing  books  that  were  used 
in  the  country.  He  had  only  a  limited  school  education ;  all 
that  he  acquired  beside  was  the  result  of  solitary  application, 
and  by  persevering  industry  he  made  himself  a  good  scholar  as 
well  as  a  good  lawyer.  After  leaving  school,  he  was  for  a  time 
a  clei'k  at  Simsbury,  until  with  his  father's  family  he  removed 
to  Peterboro,  N.  Y.  While  there  he  procured  a  Latin  gram- 
mar from  Pev.  Calvin  Bushnell,  the  Presbyterian  minister  in 
charge  at  Vernon,  and  used  to  go  to  Vernon  to  Mr  Bushnell, 
twelve  miles  through  the  woods,  to  recite  his  lessons.  For  a 
short  time  he  taught  school  also,  one  of  his  pupils  being  Hon. 
Henry  A.  Foster.  He  afterwards  studied  law  in  the  same 
place  with  John  P.  Sherwood,  maintaining  himself  durino- 
his  pupilage  by  practice  in  the  inferior  courts,  and  when  his 
term  of  study  was  complete,  he  became  a  partner  with  his 
preceptor.     He  was  endowed  with  unusuallj^  quick  and  clear 


602  THE  PIONEERS  OF  UTICA. 

perceptions,  and  acquired  knowledge  with  facility.  And  hav- 
ing also  a  keen  desire  to  obtain  it,  and  a  noble  ambition  which 
looked  for  no  outside  support,  his  time  as  a  student  was  well 
spent.  He  early  made  himself  acquainted  with  the  principles 
of  the  common  law  and  with  the  system  of  equity  jurispru- 
dence as  administered  in  this  State  and  in  England.  Once 
admitted  to  practice,  his  standing  was  assured.  And  though 
a  compeer  with  Storrs,  Talcott,  Maynard,  Beardsley,  Spencer 
and  other  prominent  members  of  the  bar  of  Oneida,  he  was 
their  fitting  associate.  In  April  1819,  he  was  appointed  sur- 
rogate of  the  county,  and  filled  the  office  two  years.  Then  he 
was  elected  a  member  of  Assembly  from  Oneida  and  Oswego. 
In  the  Legislature  he  proved  an  able  debater.  He  distinguished 
himself  more  especially  by  his  opposition  to  a  bill  intended  to 
deprive  the  inmates  of  the  State  prisons  of  the  use  of  the  Bible 
and  other  religious  reading.  The  bill  had  strong  advocates  and 
seemed  in  danger  of  becoming  a  law.  It  was  met  by  Mr.  Bron- 
son  with  a  force  and  warmth  of  opposition  that  electrified  the 
house  and  completely  changed  its  sentiment.  Usually  his  man- 
ner, as  a  speaker  before  the  bar,  though  animated,  was  hesitating 
and  labored  ;  but  now  his  most  sacred  convictions  were  insulted, 
and  a  grave  wrong  was  about  to  be  committed.  Carried  away 
by  the  energy  of  his  feelings  and  seemingly  unconscious  of  the 
mode  of  their  manifestation,  he  grasped  his  hair  as  if  he  would 
tear  it  fi'om  its  roots,  threw  open  his  vest,  and  was  wholly  lost  in 
the  torrent  of  his  indignation.  The  bill  was  defeated  effectually. 
At  this  time  he  was  a  Clintonian  in  politics,  but  turned  before 
Clinton  died  to  the  opposing  side,  and  became  a  Bucktail,  siding 
ever  afterward  with  the  Hard  section  of  the  Democratic  party. 

He  had  agreed  to  join  Thomas  H.  Hubbard  of  Hamilton,  and 
settle  in  practice  at  Utica,  in  1823.  But  when  the  time  came  for 
moving  he  was  detained  by  his  connection  wi  th  the  glass  works 
at  Vernon  and  unable  to  leave.  Mr.  Hubbard  came  without 
him,  and  Mr.  Bronson  followed  the  next  year.  He  soon  formed 
a  partnership  with  Samuel  Beardsley,  which  continued  so  long 
as  he  remained  in  Utica,  and  together  they  conducted  a  large 
share  of  the  legal  business  of  the  neighborhood.  "As  a  lawyer 
his  reputation  rested  on  a  solid  basis.  There  was  nothing  mer- 
etricious in  his  mode  of  handling  a  subject.  He  did  not  strike 
for  effect,  but  to  do  execution.     His  learning,  comprehensive 


THE  THIRD  CHARTER.  608 

and  profound,  was  available  to  sustain  his  positions.  If  an 
authority  was  to  be  questioned,  or  a  case  doubted,  it  was  not 
mutilated  and  misrepresented,  but  fairly  and  openly  attacked. 
No  timidity  prevented  him  from  meeting  an  objection,  wher- 
ever it  might  present  itself.  As  a  speaker  he  was  not  gifted 
with  an  impressive  address.  His  remarks  were  pointed,  and  to 
the  pui-pose  ;  but  a  natural  hesitancy  of  manner,  and  the  want 
of  warmth  of  imagination,  deprived  him  of  much  of  the  power 
that  was  due  to  the  strength  of  his  intellect."  He  was  apt  to 
discourage  litigation  and  dissuaded  many  who  applied  to  him 
from  entering  on  a  suit.  Nor  would  he  undertake  one  unless 
he  was  satisfied  that  the  right  was  on  the  side  of  his  client. 
On  the  27th  of  February,  1829,  Mr.  Bronson  was  elected  by 
the  Legislature,  Attorney  General  of  the  State,  in  place  of  Sam- 
uel A.  Talcott.  The  rival  candidate  of  his  party  was  Benjamin  F. 
Butler  of  New  York,  who  was  a  protege  of  Mr.  Van  Buren,  and 
the  preference  given  to  the  former  was  a  triumph  of  the  Utica 
Eegency  over  the  abiti-ary  rulers  of  the  democracy  w^hose  head 
quarters  were  at  Alban}'.  To  Albany  he  now  removed,  and 
continued  to  fill  the  office,  by  reelection  in  1832,  and  again  in 
1835,  until  January  of  the  ensuing  year.  Of  the  character  of 
its  administration  it  is  enough  to  say  that  he  was  the  successor 
of  Talcott;  and  the  dignity  of  the  office  was  never  known  ta 
depreciate  in  his  charge.  In  January  1836,  he  was  elevated 
to  the  bench  of  the  Supreme  Court,  a  vacancy  having  been 
occasioned  by  the  resignation  of  John  Savage,  and  was  himself 
succeeded  in  the  Attorney  Generalship  by  his  late  partner,  Mr. 
Beardsley.  On  the  5th  of  March,  1815,  he  became  the  presid- 
ing judge  of  the  Court.  Two  years  subsequent!}^,  at  the  first 
election  of  judges  under  the  new  constitution,  he  was  made  one 
of  the  judges  of  the  Court  of  Appeals,  and  continued  such 
until  his  resignation  in  1851.  Thus  for  fifteen  years  he  was  a 
member  of  our  highest  judicial  tribunals,  the  Supreme  Court, 
the  Court  for  the  Correction  of  Errors  and  the  Court  of  Appeals, 
and  in  all  of  these  public  trusts  he  acquitted  himself  wuth  sig- 
nal ability.  ''In  the  department  of  judicial  duty  he  was  justly 
preeminent,  and  his  opinions  are  models  of  judicial  excellence. 
In  conciseness  and  perspicuity  of  expression,  in  terseness  and 
directness  of  style,  in  compactness  and  force  of  logic,  in  sturdy 
vigor  of  intellect,  and  in  their  stern  sense  of  right  and  justice,' 


604  THE  PIONEERS  OF  UTICA. 

these  opinions  have,  by  competent  judges,  been  dechired  to  be 
unsurpassed,  and  as  constituting  "  a  valuable  and  enduring 
contribution  to  American  jurisprudence."  No  man,  sa^'s  Judge 
Sutherland,  ever  discharged  the  duties  of  judge  with  stricter 
integi'it}^  There  never  was  a  judge,  who  in  construing  statutes 
and  written  constitutions  of  government  and  administering  the 
law,  was  less  influenced  by  arguments  and  considerations  ad- 
dressed to  judicial  discretion,  or  by  considerations  even  of  pub- 
lic policy  not  declared  by  any  law.  His  prompt  answer  to  all 
such  arguments  and  considerations  was  "/to  lex  scnpta.'' 

After  leaving  the  bench,  Judge  Bronson  removed  to  New 
York  City,  and  resumed  the  practice  of  his  profession  ;  but 
having  become  involved  in  some  unfortunate  enterprises,  he 
lost  much  of  his  pro]3ertj.  In  1853  he  was  appointed  by  Pres- 
ident Pierce,  as  collector  of  the  ])ort,  but  held  the  ofhce  only  a 
short  time,  his  removal  having  been  effected  bj  Secretary  Guthrie, 
because  he  persisted  in  ]-etaining  in  office  men  of  the  opposite 
party.  Declining  to  displace  an  official  whose  removal  was 
desired  by  the  secretary,  he  accompanied  the  act  with  a  pub- 
lished letter  setthig  forth  his  reasons  for  the  refusal.  A  pul)lic 
correspondence  ensued  between  him  and  the  secretary,  which 
was  marked  on  the  part  of  Judge  Bronson  by  his  usual  clear- 
ness and  force ;  but  though  he  had  the  better  in  the  argument, 
it  was  closed  b}^  his  dismissal  from  the  collectorship.  His 
course  on  this  occasion  was  a  subject  of  much  comment  by 
the  public  and  gained  him  greater  notoriety  than  before,  and 
the  strong  approval  of  many.  For  Judge  Bronson  was  emphat- 
ically an  honest  man.  "  Whatever  opinions  he  might  form 
were  honestly  entertained  and  fearlessly  acted  on.  Careful  and 
deliberate  in  forming  them,  he  was  fi'om  the  very  strength  of 
his  convictions,  tenacious  and  confident  of  their  correctness. 
At  the  same  time,  firm  in  integrity  of  purpose,  he  was  coura- 
geous and  resolute  in  expression  and  in  action.  Whether  on 
or  off  the  bench,  he  was  equall}"  indifferent  to  the  effect  of  the 
announcement  of  his  conclusions,  and  unrestrained  by  party 
affinities  from  arriving  at  results  to  which  these  conclusions  led 
him."  The  popularity  he  acquired  in  the  transaction  above 
mentioned,  ])rocnred  for  him,  in  1854,  the  nomination  for  Gov- 
ernor. In  the  meantime,  however,  new  issues  arose  that  were 
])ar;imount  in  interest  with  lhe})ul)lic  and  he  was  beaten  in  the 


THE  THIRD  CHARTER.  605 

canvass.  In  December  1S59,  lie  was  elected  to  the  office  of  counsel 
for  the  corporation  of  the  city  of  New  York,  and  continued  to  dis- 
charge the  duties  until  January  1863,  the  term  for  which  he  was 
elected.  Smitten  with  paralysis  no  long  time  afterward,  he  en- 
dured for  several  months  much  physical  pain.  But  throughout 
his  sufferings  he  was  sustained  by  the  consolations  and  the  hopes 
of  that  Christian  faith  of  which  he  had  for  many  years  been  a 
consistent  professor.  His  departure  occurred,  after  a  renewed 
attack,  at  Saratoga,  on  the  3d  of  September,  1863. 

On  the  opening  of  the  next  general  term  of  the  Supreme 
Court  in  New  York,  a  request  was  presented  that  a  tribute  of 
respect  to  the  memory  of  Judge  Bronson  should  be  entered  on 
the  minutes,  and  this  request  was  signed  in  behalf  of  them- 
selves and  their  brethren  of  the  New  York  bar,  by  James  J. 
Eoosevelt,  Daniel  Lord,  Charles  P.  Kirkland,  Marshall  S.  Bid- 
well,  Charles  O'Connor,  and  William  Curtis  Noyes.  A  similar 
tribute  was  in  January  following  placed  on  the  minutes  of  the 
Court  of  Appeals.  Quotations  from  both  of  these  records,  here- 
tofore freely  made  in  this  article,  exhibit  the  appreciation  in 
which  he  was  held  by  his  associates  at  these  Courts.  To  these 
might  be  added  the  testimony  of  the  bar  of  Saratoga,  recorded 
at  a  meeting  held  shortly  after  his  death,  and  especially  that  of - 
Chancellor  Walworth,  their  presiding  officer,  who  declared  the 
deceased  to  have  been  one  of  the  ablest  and  most  upright 
judges  that  ever  occupied  a  seat  upon  the  bench  of  this  State. 
As  an  evidence  of  the  high  estimation  in  which  he  was  held  in 
this  vicinity,  it  may  be  mentioned  that  in  1845,  sixteen  years 
after  his  removal  from  Utica,  when,  in  view  of  the  approaching 
State  Constitutional  Convention,  his  party  determined  to  send 
thither  the  strongest  men  they  could  select,  they  nominated 
Judges  Beardsley,  Denio  and  Fostei'  and  with  them  Judge 
Bronson.  Yet  though  a  man  of  such  singular  power  and 
strongly  marked  individuality,  he  was  at  the  same  time  genial 
and  gentle  in  all  the  relations  of  friendship  and  private  life. 
Bold  and  determined  as  he  was  in  the  denunciation  of  fraud, 
he  was,  notwithstanding,  a  lover  of  peace,  and  disliked  conten- 
tion and  the  acrimony  of  paity.  He  was  generous  in  disposi- 
tion, kind  and  sympathizing,  firm  in  his  attachments,  devoted 
as  a  friend,  husband  and  father.  In  his  address  he  was  cour- 
teous and  affable;  in  his  manners  pleasing.     There  was  neither 


606  THE  PIONEERS  OF  UTICA. 

affectation  noi"  stiffness,  bnt  an  easy  dignity  enlivened  by  an 
agreeable  }>leasantry.  Of  his  features  a  trait  that  nnpressed 
one  yet  more  than  the  darkness  of  his  eye  in  contrast  with  a 
complexion  of  moderate  fairness  and  snow  white  hair  brushed 
straight  from  his  forehead,  was  a  smile  that  irradiated  the  coun- 
tenance and  softened  the  rougher  elements  of  strength.  His 
pleasantr}^,  so  grateful  to  his  associates,  was  sharply  exercised 
at  times  in  the  pi'esence  of  impertinence  or  presumption,  for  he 
was  keen  in  his  judgment  of  character,  and  not  sparing  in  his 
chastisements.  He  had  been  frequently  importuned  for  an 
office  by  one  of  his  neighbors  at  Vernon,  when  on  the  reap- 
pearance of  the  suitor  after  the  Judge's  return  from  the  Legis- 
lature, he  greeted  him  with  the  announcement  that  he  had  pro- 
cured for  him  the  appointment  of  liigli  hrigger  for  the  county. 
The  man  was  naturally  curious  to  learn  something  of  the  office 
and  the  nature  of  its  duties,  but  was  effectually  silenced  when  he 
was  told  that  his  duties  were  to  take  the  curl  out  of  every  dog's 
tail.  For  the  old  Court  of  Errors,  chiefly  made  up  of  members  of 
the  Senate,  of  whom  a  small  })art  onl}^  were  versed  in  the  prin- 
ciples and  the  practice  of  law,  he  had  a  very  low  estimate,  and 
made  free  to  manifest  it ;  for  on  one  occasion  when  a  cause  came 
before  him  for  adjudication  on  the  bench,  which  involved  a 
principle  that  had  once  been  determined  by  this  court,  he  over- 
rode this  decision  by  an  opinion  wholly  adverse.  I  have 
said  that  by  self-help  alone  he  succeeded  in  gaining  a  fair 
amount  of  scholarship.  An  illustration  of  his  method  was 
afforded  during  his  residence  in  Utica.  Availing  himself  of 
attendance  on  a  course  of  chemical  lectures,  which  were  at  one 
time  publicly  given,  he  conned,  in  private,  various  text  books 
as  well,  and  by  the  completion  of  the  course  was  more  thor- 
oughly au  courant  with  the  science  than  the  majority  of  those 
who  are  graduated  at  college. 

Judge  Bronson's  father's  family  were  Baptists,  but  when  he 
united  with  a  church  at  Vernon,  it  was  with  a  Presbyterian  one. 
There  he  used  to  lead  in  the  singing,  for  his  musical  accomplish- 
ments were  not  small,  and  when  the  minister  was  absent,  he 
would  read  a  sermon  as  well  as  conduct  the  meetings  for  prayer. 
After  removing  to  Utica  he  took  an  active  part  in  sustaining 
the  infant  organization  that  was  ministered  over  by  his  brother- 
in-law,  Rev.  S.  W.  Brace,  and  was  a  trustee  of  this  church.     His 


THE  THIRD  CHARTER.  607 

residence  in  Utica  was  the  house  on  the  south-east  corner  of 
Genesee  and  Hopper  streets,  now  occupied  by  J.  G.  Brown, 
which  house  he  built.  His  wife  was  Lucretia,  daughter  of  Deacon 
Kilbonrn  of  New  Hartford.  Of  his  two  sons,  Ohver  became  a 
Presbyterian  minister,  was  settled  at  Kinderhook,  and  gave 
promise  of  distinguished  usefulness,  but  was  cut  of|at  an  earl}^ 
period  ;  Henry  G,  who  studied  law,  also  died  young.  A  daugh- 
ter died  in  Vernon,  and  another  in  Utica.  The  only  daughtei* 
who  reached  maturity  became  the  wife  of  Eichard  W.  King. 
Two  children  of  the  latter  are  all  that  survive  of  the  descend- 
ants of  Judge  Bronson. 

The  biographical  sketch  which  follows  is  made  up  from  an 
obituary  prepared  by  William  J.  Bacon.  Benjamin  Franklin 
Cooper  was  the  son  of  Apollos  Cooper,  and  was  born  in  Utica 
in  April  1801.  As  a  youth  he  "was  bright,  active  and  intelli- 
gent. He  entered  Hamilton  College  in  1816,  but  left  that  insti- 
tution for  Union,  where  he  graduated.  He  began  the  study  of 
law  in  the  oflfice  of  General  Kirkland,  and  spent  a  year  in  the 
law  school  at  Litchfield,  Conn.  After  finishing  his  studies,  he 
passed  about  a  year  in  Geneva  and  Detroit.  Returning  to  Utica, 
in  the  fall  of  1824,  he  entered  upon  the  practice  of  his  profes- 
sion in  connection  with  Roderick  IST.  Morrison.  His  constitu- 
tion was  delicate,  and  gave  early  indications  of  pulmonary  dis- 
ease. In  the  fall  of  1827,  he  was  obliged  to  leave  home  for  a 
more  congenial  climate.  He  went  through  the  southern  States 
to  New  Orleans,  and  thence  to  Cuba.  The  winter  of  1829  he 
also  spent  in  the  South.  In  the  summer  of  that  year  he  was  at 
home,  and  in  the  fall  he  married  the  daughter  of  Rev.  Dr.  Brant- 
ley, a  distinguished  divine  of  Philadelphia  and  of  Charleston. 
He  went  with  his  wife  to  Tallahassee  in  Florida,  where  he  re- 
mained between  two  and  three  years,  actively  engaged  in  his 
profession;  and  had  his  health  permitted,  could  easily  have  at- 
tained eminence.  He  came  back  to  Utica  in  1832,  and  (with 
the  exception  of  a  year  or  two  in  Detroit,  commencing  in  1810,) 
continued  to  reside  here  until  his  death.  The  earlier  poi'tion  of 
this  time  he  was  associated  with  Ward  Hunt,  next  with  E.  A. 
Graham,  and  subsequentl}^,  after  coming  back  from  Detroit,  he 
Avas  alone.  In  1846  he  was  a  member  of  the  Legislature,  and 
was  one  of  its  most  intelligent,  active  and  laborious  members. 


608  THE  PIONEERS  OF  UTICA. 

Mr.  Cooper  was  possessed  of  a  keen  intellect,  a  ready  and 
fluent  elocution,  and  habits  of  diligence,  and  seemed  prepared 
to  take  a  marked  position  in  liis  chosen  profession.  It  is  be- 
lieved that,  if  his  liealth  had  not  given  way  at  a  comparatively 
early  period,  he  woukl  have  left  decided  evidence  of  Ijoth  abil- 
ity and  success.  Some  of  his  early  efforts  were  distinguished 
by  earnest  and  able  argument,  by  keen  analysis  and  penetration, 
and  by  forcible  and  courageous  assertion  of  wliat  he  believed  to 
be  the  right  of  his  clients.  In  the  suits  brought  with  reference 
to  the  distribution  of  the  stock  of  the  Oneida  Bank,  and  that  of 
the  partition  of  tlie  stock  of  the  Utica  k  Schenectady  Eailroad, 
— in  both  of  which  cases  subscribers  who  failed  of  receiving 
stock  they  had  subscribed  for,  brought  suits  to  compel  a  re-dis- 
tribution,— he  took  the  leading  part  in  the  arguments,  and  at- 
tracted to  himself  a  large  share  of  public  attention.  His  special 
quality  of  mind  was  great  and  incessant  activity.  There  seemed 
to  be  never  a  moment  when  his  brain  was  not  in  restless  exer- 
cise,— engaged  in  endeavoring  to  solve  some  abstruse  legal  prob- 
lem, and  perhaps  too  often  for  practical  usefulness,  some  airy  spec- 
ulation. What  he  doubtless  lacked  was  the  steady  application 
of  principles  to  the  practical  emergencies  of  his  profession.  He 
thought  with  rapidity,  was  uncommonly  gifted  both  in  conver- 
sation and  in  oral  debate,  and  wrote  with  fluency.  His  natural 
inaptitude  to  mingle  easily  with  the  world  at  large  subjected 
him  to  the  im])utation  of  being  unfriendly  in  disposition.  But 
to  those  who  knew  him  well,  he  manifested  strong  social  qual- 
ities and  the  tenderest  sympathy.  In  his  own  house  his  hospi- 
tality was  overflowing.  He  was  earnest  and  truthful  in  charac- 
ter, and  no  influence  could  draw  him  from  the  strict  line  of 
honor  and  integrity.  His  honest  convictions  he  maintained 
with  frankness  and  tenacity,  and  without  regard  to  personal 
consequences.  For  some  years  before  his  death  he  had  with- 
drawn from  professional  avocations,  though  delighting  always  in 
the  perusal  of  works  on  law.  He  died  May  4,  1864.  Besides 
his  widow  he  left  a  family  of  two  sons  and  one  daughter. 

Samuel  Dana  Dakin,  born  in  JalTrey,  N.  II.,  July  16,  1802, 
came  with  his  parents  to  New  Hartford,  in  1815.  He  entered 
Hamilton  College  and  was  graduated  in  the  class  of  1821,  after 
which  he  spent  two  years  in  teaching  in  the  family  of  Mr. 


THE  THIRD  CHARTER.  609 

Brent,  in  Maryland.  He  next  came  to  Utica  and  entered  tlie 
office  of  Joseph  Kirkland.  In  tlie  year  1824,  while  still  a  stu- 
dent, he  bought,  in  company  with  William  J.  Bacon,  also  a  stu- 
dent of  law,  the  Utica  Sentinel  and  Gazette^  and  likewise  the 
Utica  Patriot.  Uniting  these  papers,  they  edited  them  for  a 
few  years.  After  Mr.  Bacon  had  sold  his  interest  to  Richard  'R. 
Lansing,  Mr.  Dakin  continued  to  conduct  the  paper  some  time 
longer,  until  it  was  disposed  of  to  Rufus  Northway.  Mr.  Dakin 
was  admitted  to  the  bar  in  1826,  and  opened  an  office  for  prac- 
tice. Literature  rather  than  law  was,  however,  a  principal  ob- 
ject of  pleasure  and  pursuit.  Besides  the  management  of  the 
Gazette^  he  wrote  frequently  for  the  Knickerhocker  and  other 
magazines.  Yet  he  was  not  solely  a  literateui\  but  had  an  in- 
ventive "and  scheming  turn  of  mind,  heated  many  irons,  and  did 
not  lack  of  a  money-getting  ability.  In  1839  he  removed  to 
New  York.  There  he  became  patentee  of  a  floating  dry  dock, 
of  which  he  constructed  two  for  the  L^nited  States  Government, 
one  at  Portsmouth,  N.  H.,  and  one  at  Philadelphia.  Continuing 
his  interests  in  literary  pursuits,  he  had  in  progress  at  the  time 
of  his  death  a  History  of  Civil  Liberty.  This  event  occurred, 
suddenly,  January  26,  1858.  He  was  the  father  of  live  sons, 
all  of  whom  were  graduates  of  Hamilton  College.  Attractive 
in  form  and  feature,  and  genteel  in  demeanor,  his  social  rank  was 
with  the  first. 

Henry  Kirkland  Sanger,  son  of  Richard'  Sanger  of  New  Hart- 
ford, was  graduated  at  Hamilton  College  in  1818,  and  studied 
law  with  Ebenezer  Griffin  of  Utica,  Soon  after  completing  his 
studies  he  entered  the  Bank  of  Utica  as  assistant  teller,  and  on 
the  departure  of  Mr.  Barto,  he  became  teller.  About  1830  he  left 
the  institution  to  occupy  a  similar  position  in  the  United  States 
Branch  Bank  at  this  place.  In  1835,  as  successor  of  William 
B.  Welles,  he  took  charge  of  the  Canandaigua  Branch  of  the 
Bank  of  Utica,  and  thence  he  went  the  following  year  to  Detroit, 
to  be  cashier  of  the  Bank  of  Michigan.  In  Detroit  he  continued 
for  the  most  part  to  reside  until  his  death  in  1864.  His  wife 
was  Miss  Prentiss  of  Cooperstowai.  who  during  a  portion  of  the 
time  she  lived  in  Utica  was  organist  of  Trinity  Church. 

Elhanan  W.  Williams,  who  had  been  a  child  in  the  village, 
having  graduated  at  Union  College  and  been  a  laW'  pupil  of  Mr. 
p-L 


610  THE  PIONEERS  OF  UTICA. 

Bradish,  was  now  engaged  with  liini  in  the  clei'k's  office.  He 
succeeded  to  the  agency  department  estabhshed  b}-  Mr.  Bradish, 
and,  after  the  abohtion  of  the  Supi-eme  Court,  his  business  was 
chiefly  that  of  collecting  and  the  loaning  of  nione}^  At  his 
death,  April  15,  1872,  he  left  a  widow  and  two  sons  still  adoles- 
ce^it. 

Three  physicians  became  inhabitants  of  Utica,  in  182-i,  of 
whom  one  was  retiring  from  practice,  and  two  just  entering  up- 
on its  duties.  The  former.  Dr.  Zadock  P.  Maine,  born  in  Plain- 
field,  Conn.,  practiced  many  j^ears  in  Cooperstown,  N.  Y.  In 
Utica  he  built  the  house  on  the  south-west  corner  of  Grenesee 
and  Court  streets,  and  lived  there,  without  employment,  until 
1840.  He  died  in  Poughkeepsie,  January  21,  1850.  His  widow 
returned  to  Utica  and  lived  some  twenty-five  years  longer. 
Tlieir  only  child  was  the  first  wife  of  Charles  S.  Wilson.  Of 
the  two  latter  physicians,  Robert  C.  Wood,  after  two  or  three 
3"ears,  entered  the  arm}'  as  a  surgeon,  and  by  long  and  meritori- 
ous service  has  risen  to  the  rank  of  Assistant  Surgeon  General, 
the  duties  of  which  post  he  is  still  discharging.  And  James 
Douglass,  "  member  of  the  Royal  Colleges  of  London  and  Edin- 
burg,  and  who  had  had  some  years  of  hospital  experience," 
formed  an  association  with  Dr.  Coventry  for  the  treatment  of 
diseases  of  the  eye^  remained  long  enough  to  connect  himself 
with  the  Medical  Society  of  the  county,  and  to  marry  a  daugh- 
ter of  William  Williams,  the  chandler,  and  then  removed  to 
Quebec.  Dr.  Newell  Smith  had  at  this  time  a  partner  in  medi- 
cine named  Church,  and  was  carrying  on  the  drug  trade  with 
another  named  Kellogg. 

A  veteran  teacher  and  one  who  was  a  pioneer  in  the  business 
of  conducting  .young  ladies'  schools,  now  established  one  in 
Utica.  This  was  Rev.  William  Woodbridge,  who  was  born 
September  14,  1755,  and  was  consequently  now  in  his  seven- 
tieth year.  Originally  destined  for  the  farm,  he  resolved  on  the 
ministry  after  he  had  reached  the  age  of  twenty-five,  and  entered 
Yale  College.  In  the  winter  of  1779-80,  being  then  in  his  sen- 
ior year,  he  taught  a  young  ladies' school  in  New  Haven  county. 
It  was  then  quite  a  novel  experiment,  but  it  succeeded,  and  was 
soon   followed  by  others.     He  afterwards   taught  in  Philips' 


THE  THIRD  CHARTER.  611 

Academy,  and,  in  1789,  opened  a  school  for  young  ladies  in  Med- 
ford,  Mass.,  remaining  there  about  seven  years.  His  subsequent 
experience  I  am  unable  to  trace ;  it  must  suffice  to  say  that  he 
taught  in  all  about  fifty-six  j'ears,  that  he  preached .  only  occa- 
sionally and  never  had  a  settlement,  and  that  subsequent  to  his 
residence  in  Utica  he  had  begun  a  school  in  Franklin,  Mass., 
M'here  he  died,  in  1836,  in  his  eightj'-first  year.  He  wrote  for 
the  "Annals  of  Education,"  conducted  by  his  son,  Rev.  William 
C.  Woodbridge,  and  for  other  periodicals.  In  1799  he  was 
president  of  an  association,  formed  at  Middletown,  Conn.,  for 
the  improvement  of  common  schools,  which  is  believed  to  have 
been  the  first  of  the  kind  that  was  ever  formed  in  the  United 
States.  In  Utica,  Mr.  Woodbridge  was  well  received,  his  school 
containing  many  of  the  daughters  of  the  leading  families  of  the 
place.  It  was  situated  on  the  north-west  corner  of  John  and 
Catherine  streets,  on  the  site  of  Reynolds'  shoe  factory.  While 
here  he  married  the  widow  of  Dr.  Solomon  Wolcott,  who  died 
before  his  departure,  which  took  place  about  1826. 

''  Succeeding  Mr.  Stuart  as  principal  of  the  Utica  Academy, 
was  Alexander  Dwj^er,  a  graduate,  and  I  think,  a  fellow,  of 
Trinity  College,  Dublin.  He  was  accomplished  both  in  the 
classics  and  the  mathematics.  He  had  sufficient  self-conceit  and 
vanity  of  good  looks,  and  little  warmth  or  geniality  of  manner; 
and  lacked  the  art,  so  important  in  a  teacher,  of  attracting  the 
confidence  and  attachment  of  his  pupils.  His  discipline  was 
somewhat  of  the  Busby  sort,  but  he  did  not  succeed  as  Busby  did, 
in  administering  it  satisfactorily,  either  to  the  recipients  or  their 
natural  guardians.  The  last  [  heard  of  him  he  was  in  a  western 
State,  seedy  and  destitute,  and  probably  revolving  the  fallacy  of 
the  old  proverb  that  '  learning  is  better  than  house  and  lands.' 
A  brother  of  his  was  an  assistant  teacher  with  Mr.  Stuart  and 
himself.     He  also  was  a  Trinity  College  man."     (Williams.) 

Another  teacher  of  1821:  is  Elisha  Harrino;ton,  best  known  as 
the  compiler  of  five  of  the  directories  which  succeeded  the  first 
one  of  the  year  1817,  those  namely  of  1828,  1829,  1832,  1833, 
and  1834.  They  were  prepared  with  care,  and  in  addition  to 
the  list  of  inhabitants  contain  a  good  deal  of  matter  of  interest 
to  one  studious  of  the  history  of  Utica.  In  his  school  he  was 
assisted  by  his  sister. 


(312  THE  PIONEERS  OF  UTICA. 

It  was  announced  in  May  1824,  that  "  A.  &  S.  Lightbody  had 
established  a  store  in  Utica  for  the  sale  of  leather,  and  that  one- 
of  the  parties  would  reside  there."  This  was  Samuel,  who  re- 
mained until  his  death,  August  3,  1846.  His  store  was  a  blue- 
fronted  one,  on  the  east  side  of  Genesee,  about  three  doors 
below  the  corner  of  Broad.  Thence  he  removed  to  the  west  side 
of  Bagg  s  square,  where  the  express  office  now  is.  Mr.  Light- 
body  was  a  quiet,  amiable  and  pious  man,  of  refined  appearance 
He  left  a  widow,  one  son  and  one  daughter  (Mrs  Oliver  Bron- 
son),  all  of  whom  are  now  deceased. 

Milton  Brayton  and  Truman  Parmelee  formed  a  partnership 
at  this  time  to  do  business  in  dry  goods.  Their  store  was  the 
one  now  occupied  by  T.  K.  Butler,  and  they  held  it  for  some 
vears.  Mr.  Brayton  was  the  son  of  George  Brayton  of  Western,, 
a  most  worthy  pioneer  of  that  town.  He  returned  to  Western 
to  live  and  lives  there  still.  Of  him  I  must  be  content  to  say, 
that  he  was  a  faithful  co-adjutor  in  the  good  works  of  his  time, 
and  especially  in  the  religious  enterprises,  that  occupied  much 
of  the  attention  of  Mr.  Parmelee.  The  latter  I  may  speak  of 
more  freely. 

Truman  Parmelee  was  a  native  of  Clinton,  Oneida  county, 
and  was  born  in  1802.     At  the  age  of  fourteen  he  was  appren- 
ticed to  Merrell  &  Hastings  of  Utica,  to  learn  the  trade  of  book- 
binding, and  remained  with  them  until  he  was  twenty- two.     He 
was  of  a  lively,  ardent  temperament,  and  naturally  averse  to 
serious  contemplation.     But  when  he  was  about  sixteen,  and  as 
the  result  of  a  severe  attack  of  fever,  he  became  the  subject  of 
converting  grace.     The  things  of  religion  w^ere  now  his  chief 
delight.      He  at  once  engaged  ardentl)'  in  all  its  duties,  and 
thus  continued  unchanged  during  his  life.     A  wide  and  import- 
ant field  of  usefulness  was  presented  in  the  Sunday  school,  then 
recently  introduced.     He  became  a  teacher,  and  before  he  was 
eighteen  was  made  su})erintcndent,  a  position  which  he  filled  with 
great  satisfaction  toteaclicrs  and  scholars  until  his  removal  from 
the    town.     His    lessons   were  instructive  and  full  of  interest. 
He  was  exceedingly  patient,  gentle  and  forbearing.     Handsome 
and  engaging  in  person,   his  manners  also   were  winning  and 
attractive,  and   his  influence  over  the  school  was  of  the  purest 
and  strongest  kind.      As  experience  demonstrated  to   him  the 


THE  THIRD  CHARTER.  613 

-defects  in  the  system  of  instruction  which  at  first  existed,  he 
•applied  himself  to  their  correction.  In  1824,  he  published  for 
the  use  of  Sunday  schools,  questions  on  the  historical  parts  of 
the  New  Testament,  and  this  was  the  first  question  book  used 
in  such  schools  in  this  country.  The  impj-essions  made  by  the 
teaching  and  example  of  Mr.  Parmelee  were  deep  and  perma- 
nent, and  the  amount  of  good  he  accomplished  was  very  great. 
The  first  generation  of  children  born  at  Utica  remember  him, 
and,  till  all  are  dead,  will  continue  to  remember  him,  with  love 
and  gratitude.  His  trade  of  book-binding  he  never  practiced, 
but  was  concerned  with  Mr.  Brayton  in  trade  until  his  removal 
to  New  York,  about  1829-30.  From  thence  he  went  to  New 
'Orleans,  being  in  both  places  engaged  in  merciintile  pursuits. 
While  at  New  Orleans  the  sums  he  gave  to  the  Presbyterian 
cause,  in  the  establishment  of  a  religious  press  and  in  the  erec- 
tion of  a  church,  were  large  though  rated  by  the  standard  of 
to-day.  He  returned  again  to  New  York,  in  1836,  and  died 
there  in  1845.  His  wife  Helen,  daughter  of  Jonas  Piatt,  became, 
b}^  a  second  marriage,  Mrs.  Bell  of  Staten  Island,  and  is  now- 
deceased. 

Under  the  auspices  of  H.  &  E.  Phinney,  of  Cooperstown, 
a  long  established  publishing  house  of  that  place,  a  new  book- 
store was  now  opened  in  Utica,  by  Isaiah  Tifi'an}^,  a  valued  citizen 
who  has  but  recently  gone  from  the  city.  He  is  the  son  of 
■Colonel  Isaiah  Tiffany,  of  West  Stockbridge,  Mass.,  a  soldier 
of  the  Revolution  and  in  the  opinion  of  Baron  Steuben,  one  of 
the  best  soldiers  of  his  brigade.  He  was  born  in  Greenbush,  in 
April  180 1 ,  and  removed  with  his  mother  to  Cooperstown  in  1817. 
There  he  became  a  clerk  with  the  Messrs.  Phinney,  with  whom 
he  was  related  by  ties  of  remote  consanguinity  and  by  the 
marriage  of  one  of  the  firm  with  Mr.  Tiffany's  sister.  Fur- 
nished by  them  with  a  supply  of  books,  he  set  up  a  store,  which 
"was  continued  with  a  fair  amount  of  success  down  to  the  year 
1868.  At  that  time  he  removed  to  Clifton  Springs,  where  he 
has  since  made  his  home  with  his  daughter,  who  is  the  wife  of 
Dr.  Foster,  proprietor  and  phj'sician  of  the  water  ciu'e  of  that 
place.  Mr.  Tiffany's  wife,  who  was  a  daughter  of  Colonel  Met- 
'calf  of  Cooperstown,  died  before  his  removal. 


614  THE  PIONEEES  OF  UTICA. 

Harvey  Barnard,  a  native  of  Hartford,  Conn.,  but  who  had 
learned  his  trade  in  Alban}^,  in  1824  established  himself  as  a 
paper  hanger  and  dealer  in  wall  paper.  And  having  soon  after- 
married  a  daughter  of  Ara  Broadwell,  whose  acquaintance  he 
had  made  before  coming,  he  was  joined  by  her  in  the  store,  she 
dealing  in  articles  of  millinery.  The  store  was  at  first  nearly 
opposite  Liberty  street,  but  has  been  for  many  years  located  on  the 
spot  where  the  sons,  Charles  E.,  Harvey  and  Henry,  now  continue 
the  business.  Mr.  Barnard  was  industrious,  fair  dealing  and 
prosperous,  and  he  won  a  prominent  place  among  the  business 
men  of  the  town.  He  served  it  as  alderman  and  in  other 
capacities.  His  death  took  place  October  30,  1862.  He  left 
a  widow,  four 'sons,  of  whom  one,  Horace,  is  now  deceased, 
and  two  daughters. 

The  new  hotel-keepers  of  this  era  were  the  following:  Abraham 
Shepard  of  New  London,  Conn.,  assumed  charge  of  Bagg's, 
and  kept  it  two  or  three  years,  when  he  ke{)t  the  United  States 
(1828)  the  Utica  Hotel  (1829),  and  the  Coffee  House  (1832-33). 
Then,  after  a  short  experience  as  a  dealer  in  lumber,  he  engaged" 
in  the  sale  of  crocker^^  In  1845  he  was  still  a  resident  of  the 
place,  but  without  occu23ation,  his  home  being  on  Broad  street, 
where  D.  L.  Clarkson  now  lives.  His  subsequent  home  was  in 
Troy.  He  was  a  man  of  mild  deportment  and  gentlemanly 
bearing.  One  of  his  daughters  became  the  wife  of  John  A. 
Collier  of  Binghamton,  one  married  John  T.  Kirkland,  of  Cleve- 
land, and  another  the  Eev.  John  W.  Fowler,  pastor  of  the  First 
Presbyterian  Church  of  Utica,  He  had  three  sons,  Edward,  who 
studied  law  and  resided  abroad  ;  Henry,  who  died  young,  and 
William,  a  merchant  of  Troy.  Richard  Sanger,  from  New  Hart- 
ford, was  successively  proprietor  of  the  Clinton  House  which 
occupied  the  siie  of  Mechanics  Hall,  then  of  the  Mansion  House 
(1829),  of  the  Franklin,  (1832),  then  again  of  the  Mansion 
(1833-34),  the  name  of  which  was  changed  to  the  National  Hoteh 
and  lastly  of  the  Canal  Coffee  House.  His  sons  were  Gerry 
Henry  K.,  and  Richard  Jr.  Thomas  Midlam,  after  keeping  the 
Catherine  Street  House,  practiced  his  trade  as  a  joiner,  and  M^as 
then  a  grocer  and  then  keeper  of  a  boarding  house.  In  the 
latter  employment  his  widow  persisted  after  his  death. 


THE  THIRD  CHARTEE.  615- 

A  native  of  the  place,  now  grown  to  man's  estate,  heartily 
engaged  in  its  dnties  and  sharing  in  its  responsibilities,  was 
Alrick  Hubbell.  He  was  the  son  of  Matthew  Hubbell,  and  was 
born  on  the  4th  of  October,  1802.  He  received  such  education 
as  the  period  afforded,  and  assisted  in  labors  on  his  father's 
farm.  When  he  was  in  his  sixteenth  year  he  became  clerk  to 
the  neighbor  of  his  father.  Colonel  Benjamin  Walker,  accom- 
panied him  on  his  tour  for  collecting  dues  on  the  lands  of  which 
this  gentleman  had  the  charge,  and  remained  with  him  until 
the  death  of  his  patron.  About  the  year  1825,  Mr.  Hubbell 
entered  into  partnership  with  Edward  Curran  in  the  leather 
trade,  and  for  many  years  the  firm  of  Hubbell  &  Curran,  loca 
ted  on  the  east  side  of  Genesee,  a  few  doors  above  the  square, 
held  rank  with  the  foremost  establishments  of  Utica,  in  extent 
of  transactions  as  well  as  in  its  strength  and  character.  About 
the  year  1855,  Mr.  Hubbell  retired  with  a  handsome  compe- 
tence. He  subsequently  devoted  himself  to  the  management 
of  his  property,  and  to  more  general  operations,  for  he  was 
never  content  to  shut  himself  up  within  himself.  His  over- 
flowing energy  led  him  to  activity  for  the  common  weal,  and 
he  was  always  efficient  in  every  trust  committed  to  him. 
He  rendered  early  and  long  continued  service  in  the  State 
militia  and  attained  the  rank  of  colonel.  About  1829  he  was 
a  deputy  sheriff,  under  John  E.  Hinman.  He  acted  for 
several  years  as  chief  engineer  of  the  fire  department,  and 
has  had  few  peers  in  the  discharge  of  duties  wherein  cour- 
age and  povfer  over  large  bodies  of  men  are  requisites  to 
success.  He  was  an  alderman  in  1841,  was  one  of  the  com- 
missioners for  building  the  j^resent  jail,  and  was  twice  mayor 
of  the  city,  in  1856  and  1857.  In  1858-9  he  served  in  the 
State  Senate.  In  all  of  these  capacities  he  made  the  public 
interest  his  object,  and  Utica  has  had  few  officers  who  have 
served  it  more  diligently  and  more  faithfully.  At  the  first 
great  war  meeting,  held  in  April  1861,  the  excitement  was  high 
and  intense  enthusiasm  prevailed.  A  subscription  was  started 
to  aid  the  families  of  volunteers.  Mr.  Hubbell  headed  the  list 
with  one  hundred  dollars.  Another  rich  and  generous  citizen 
gave  two  hundred  dollars.  Not  to  be  outdone,  Mr.  Hubbell  I'ose 
and  said  that  he  would  give  two  hundred  dollars  in  addition  to  the 
sum  he  had  alread}'  given.    The  announcement  was  greeted  with 


616  THE  PIONEEES  OF  UTICA, 

cheers,  wliicli  broke  forth  anew  when  his  competitor  announced 
that  he  would  add  two  hundred  dollars  more  to  his  subscription. 
The  cheers  grew  into  a  whirlwind  of  applause  when  he  increased  his 
gift  to  live  hundred  dollars,  and  his  friendly  rival,  in  the  honor  of 
giving  away  money  for  so  good  a  cause,  pledged  an  equal  amount- 
Into  the  work  of  raising  volunteers  he  threw  his  whole  heart, 
and  proffered  numerous  pecuniary  and  other  courtesies  to  the 
earlier  regiments.  He  was  a  dii'ector  in  the  Utica  and  Black 
Eiver  Eailroad,  and  to  the  street  railroad  he  gave  no  little 
time  and  attention.  As  a  stoclvholder  he  was  interested  in 
many  public  enterprises,  and  contributed  to  the  growth  and 
prosperity  of  the  city.  He  was  an  earnest  member  of  the 
Baptist  denomination,  joined  the  Broad  Street  Church,  in  1820, 
and  was  its  first  clerk.  He  was  a  teacher  in  its  Bible  class,  and 
was  not  diverted  from  this  dut}^  by  public  labors,  even  while 
at  Albany.  Of  the  Baptist  Education  Society  he  was  a  leading- 
member,  and  for  many  years  rendered  good  service  in  the  cor- 
poration of  Madison  University,  for  though  he  had  not  enjoyed 
a  liberal  education,  he  was  yet  the  advocate  and  supporter  of 
colleges  and  theological  seminaries.  To  all  these  objects  he 
devoted  strong  natural  talents,  careful  and  accurate  business 
habits  and  unfaltering  zeal.  Thus  animated  by  an  unusual 
share  of  public  spirit,  and  consecrating  his  best  energies  to  pro- 
mote the  welfare  of  the  communit}^  in  which  he  lived,  Mr. 
Hubbell,  of  necessity,  won  the  community's  esteem.  This 
esteem  he  enjoyed,  and  did  not  hesitate  to  assert  a  claim  to 
what  he  believed  was  rightfully  his  own.  His  love  of  appro- 
bation w^as  strong  and  manifest,  but  it  was  an  incentive  to  many 
generous  and  worthy  deeds.  In  his  home  life  he  was  kind  and 
considerate,  a  tender  husband  and  father  and  a  genial  host. 
His  death  was  somewhat  sudden.  It  occui-red  January  17, 
1877,  when  he  had  been  for  some  time  the  oldest  native  born 
resident  of  Utica.  He  left  a  widow  who  has  long  been  in  fee- 
ble health,  two  sons,  Henry  S.  and  Alfred  S.  of  Buffalo,  and 
two  daughters,  Mrs.  A.  P.  Man  of  New  York,  and  Mrs.  J.  P.  C. 
Kincaid  of  this  city. 

Two  brothers  AVilson,  George  S.  and  James,  came,  in  1819, 
from  Manlius,  Onondaga  county,  to  learn  the  art  of  printing  with 
Messrs.  Seward  &  Williams.     Their  fathei',  an  Englishman  by 


THE  THIRD  CHARTER.  617 

birth,  was  an  early  settler  of  Manlius  and  its  second  postmaster. 
After  his  death  the  place  was  filled  b}^  his  wife,  a  superior 
woman,  whose  maiden  name  was  Emily  Dunham.  By  the  death 
of  their  father,  the  sons  were  at  an  early  age  thi'own  upon  their 
own  exertions  for  a  livelihood.  George  S.  proved  so  useful  a 
person  in  the  religious  concerns  of  Utica,  and  especially  in  the 
Sunda}-  school,  that  it  behooves  us  to  notice  him  somewhat 
fully.  In  so  doing,  we  rely  upon  the  published  records  of  the 
Jubilee  of  that  school,  from  which  we  have  heretofore  already 
borrowed,  and  chiefly  upon  the  letter  of  John  H.  Edmonds,  therein 
contained.  Young  Wilson  had  had  few  opportunities  for  edu- 
cation, and  when  he  entered  the  printing  office  his  acquirements 
consisted  of  the  simplest  rudiments  of  learning.  But  his  desire 
for  knowledge  was  great,  and  his  industry  untiring,  so  that  while 
he  honestl}^  served  his  employer,  he  devoted  all  the  time  that 
was  his  own  diligently  to  self-instruction,  and  with  such  success 
that  in  a  few  years  he  had  obtained  a  stock  of  valuable  informa- 
tion. He  had  a  vigorous  intellect,  and  his  judgment  was  sound 
and  discriminating.  His  bodily  constitution  was  frail,  and  all 
that  he  achieved  was  under  infirmity  tliat  would  have  pros- 
trated one  of  less  energy  and  resolution  of  purpose.  From  an 
early  age  he  w^as  of  a  serious  and  devout  spirit.  At  about  his 
sixteenth  year  he  made  a  profession  of  religion,  and  immedi- 
ately commenced  that  active  course  of  benevolence,  which  he 
pursued  with  untiring  ardor  during  the  remainder  of  his  life. 
Entering  the  Sunday  school,  he  soon  became  conspicuous  for 
piety,  intelligence,  and  remarkable  aptness  in  teaching.  The 
young  were  drawn  to  him  as  by  a  magnetic  influence,  for  he 
had  a  large  and  warm  heart  that  burned  to  do  them  good.  His 
success  with  them  lay  in  the  fact  that  he  alwaj's  treated  them 
as  his  equals.  He  s^mipathized  with  his  boys,  fi'eely  commu- 
nicated to  them  his  thoughts,  hopes  and  desires,  and  thus 
obtained  their  love  and  confidence  in  return.  Eeligion  he  pre- 
sented to  them  in  its  most  attractive  form,  simple,  cheerful, 
noble  and  elevating.  And  while  their  spiritual  good  was  ever 
uppermost  in  his  mind,  he  strove  also  to  make  them  intelligent 
and  useful  men.  As  a  place  in  his  class  was  much  coveted  and 
more  boys  applied  than  could  be  received,  he  projected  a  plan 
by  which  his  own  pu})ils  and  other  boys  might  meet  often  for 
religious   and   intellectual  improvement.      An  association  was 


618  THE   PIONEERS  OF  UTICA. 

formed  called  the  "Juvenile  Society,  for  learning  and  doing 
good," — a  unique  organization,  which  was  officered  by  its  own 
members,  but  of  which  Mr.  Wilson  was  the  head.  The  meet- 
ings were  held  weekly,  and  he  never  failed  to  be  present,  the 
life  and  spirit  of  the  whole.  Eeading  and'  conversation  were 
the  staple  of  the  exercises,  and  their  conductor  never  failed  in, 
the  ingenuity  of  his  devices  to  interest  and  instruct.  This  soci- 
ety soon  increased  so  as  to  embrace  a  large  number  of  boys ;  in- 
deed, even  here,  there  was  not  room  to  receive  all  that  would 
gladly  have  attended.  He  thus  had  under  his  charge  for  sev- 
eral years  a  large  class,  at  times  as  many  as  fifty  or  more,  and 
happier  pupils  never  sat  under  the  instruction  of  a  revered  and 
loving  teacher.  It  was  impossible  to  resist  the  influence  of  such 
a  character  as  his,  and  he  moulded  the  minds  and  heai'ts  of  bis 
scholars,  impressing  them  with  his  own  noble  and  elevated 
views.  At  this  time  he  edited  and  printed  a  small  magazine 
entitled  the  Sunday  Scliool  Visitcmt. 

On  the  completion  of  his  apprenticeshi}),  Mr.  Wilson  entered 
more  fully  into  his  favorite  pursuit  of  Sunday  school  instruc- 
tion. He  was  active  in  the  formation  of  the  Oneida  Sunday 
School  Union,  and  afterwards  of  the  Western  Sunday  School 
Union  of  the  State  of  New  York.  Of  the  last  named  society 
he  was  made  the  corresponding  secretary,  and  about  the  same 
time  a  depository  for  the  sale  of  Sunday  school  books  was  es- 
tablished in  Utica,  of  which  he  was  the  manager.  But  much 
as  he  loved  this  employment,  he  had  higher  aspirations,  and 
longed  to  preach  the  gospel.  Great  difficulties  were  in  the  way 
— his  age,  straitened  means  and  limited  education.  But  his  res- 
olute spirit  surmounted  all  obstacles,  and  in  due  time  he  received 
his  commission.  After  preaching  awhile  in  Windsor,  Vt.,  he 
w^as  for  several  years  settled  over  the  Presbyterian  Church  in 
Sacketts  Harbor,  and  then  at  Gouverneur  in  the  same  county. 
His  death  took  place  May  17,  1841,  when  he  was  in  his  thirty- 
eighth  year. 

Of  James  Wilson,  brother  of  the  preceding,  less  is  known, 
and  it  may  be  a  question  whether  he  came  as  soon  to  the  place. 
Certain  it  is,  that  early  in  1825  he  was  present  at  a  meeting  of 
persons  desirous  of  taking  part  in  Biblical  instructi(jn,  either  as 
teachers  or  as  scholars,  and  that  he  was  placed  in  the  same  class 
with  George  and  half  a  dozen  more  of  Mr.  Williams'  appren- 


THE  THIRD  CHARTER.  619 

tices.  Subsequently  he  went  to  New  York,  and  in  company 
with  Winchester  and  Grreeley,  under  the  firm  name  of  Wilson, 
Winchester  &  Co.,  set  up  the  Brother  Jonatlian  newspaper.  He 
had  also  a  pai't  in  the  management  of  the  New  World.  He  died 
some  twenty  years  since  in  Plainfield,  N.  J. 

A  printer  who  learned  his  trade  with  Ira  Merrell  and  had 
completed  it  before  1825,  was  Rufus  Northway.  He  remained 
man}^  years  longer  in  TTtica,  and  was  printer  and  publisher  of 
the  Oneida  Whig  and  the  Daily  Gazette.  Unpretending  and 
unambitious,  he  rarely  presented  himself  before  the  public, 
though  he  furnished  its  daily  mental  pabulum.  But  as  he  pur- 
sued the  quiet,  industrious,  upright  and  even  tenor  of  his  way,, 
he  was  marked  by  all,  and .  honored  with  universal  respect. 
He  was  an  officer  of  the  Eeformed  Dutch  Church,  and  for  several 
years  was  the  superintendent  of  its  Sunday  school.  He  removed 
to  Illinois,  and  died  there  October,  1871.  His  wafe  was  a 
daughter  of  Valentine  Scliram.  They  were  the  parents  of  two 
sons,  and  of  a  daughter  who  did  not  reach  maturity.  James 
and  John  Greaves  were  somewhat  later  apprentices  of  Mr. 
Merrell.  James  married  his  daughter,  and  has  been  i-ecentlv  a 
physician  in  Michigan. 

Henry  Ivison  came  with  his  father  to  the  place  in  1820, 
while  he  was  yet  a  bo}^,  and  became  bookbinder's  apprentice  ta 
Seward  &  Williams.  With  the  latter  he  remained  until  1830,  and, 
after  his  father's  reinoval,  as  an  inmate  in  the  household  of  Mr. 
Williams.  Then,  after  a  residence  of  sixteen  years  in  Auburn^ 
lie  established  himself  in  New  York,  where  he  has  cari-ied  on 
an  extensive  business  as  ]3ublisher  of  school  books.  The  firm, 
which  was  at  first  Ivison  &  Phinney,  and  which  has  under- 
gone several  changes,  is  now  Ivison,  Blakeman,  Taylor  &  Co. 
Alfred  North,  while  working  for  Mr.  Williams,  received  in- 
struction from  a  teacher  of  the  academy  and  became  a  superior 
classical  scholar.  He  went  abroad  as  a  missionar}^  in  the  ser- 
vice of  the  American  Board.  Mr.  Williams  had  also  in  his  em- 
ploy at  or  about  this  time,  Stephen  Wells,  Henry  Stockton 
Greorge  Hatch,  Chauncey  Dutton.  Other  printers  apprenticed  in 
Utica  nearly  at  this  date,  perchance  a  little  later,  were  Henry 
Day,  brother-indaw  of  George  Dutton,  who  established  the  New 
York  Sun;   William  Swain,  who  founded    the   Philadelphia. 


620  THE  PIONEERS  OF  UTICA. 

Ledyer,  as  well  as  the  Baltimore  Sun;  James  O.  Kockwell,  whose 
name  is  to  be  found  in  Mr.  Bryant's  collection  as  one  of  the 
galaxy  of  American  poets,  was  editor  of  the  Providence  Journal^ 
•and  edited  it  creditabl}- ;  Francis  M.  Hill,  a  rival  poet  of  Mr. 
Rockwell,  who  edited  the  Kingston  Chronide  of  Canada,  and 
was  mayor  of  Kingston ;  Charles  N.  Everest,  who  edited  the 
Poets  of  Connecticut,  and  became  an  Episcopal  minister  of  re- 
pute, and  who  died  early  in  1877  ;  Amos  E.  Lawrence,  who 
also  became  a  doctor  of  divinity;  0.  N.  Worden,  editor  of  the 
Louisburg  Chronicle  oi  Pennsylvania,  and  now  of  New  Medford, 
Penn.,  where  he  is  writing  a  history  of  the  Baptists  of  Pennsyl- 
vania. Edward  P.  Wetmore,  brother  of  Edmund  A.  Wetmore, 
who  has  since  been  largely  engaged  in  publishing  in  Cleveland 
and  Cincinnati  ;  William  Schram,  for  thirty-one  years  connected 
with  the  Poughkeepsie  Eagle;  and  also  Edward  Bright  and 
Francis  D,  Penniman  already  noticed,  as  well  as  Dolphas  Ben- 
nett, brother  of  Cephas,  now  tlie  oldest  printer  of  Utica. 

A  copper  plate  engraver,  named  Vistus  Balch,  who  located 
himself  in  the  village  as  early  as  1824,  soon  had  as  a  pai'tner 
Edward  Stiles.  The  firm  wei'e  associated  with  William  Wil- 
liams, and  found  considerable  employment  as  engravers  of  bank 
notes,  maps,  &c.  Acquiring  reputation,  they  removed  to  New 
York,  and  established  with  others  the  American  Bank  Note 
Company.  While  here  they  had  a  valuable  assistant  named 
Tubbs.     Mr.  Balch  married  a  daughter  of  John  Welles. 

Many  a  town  has  had  a  prodigy  in  whom  it  gloried :  its 
youthful  Poscius,  its  poetic  cobbler,  its  classic  tailor,  its  learned 
V)lacksrnith,  or  other  genius  endowed  with  gifts  not  usually  met 
with  in  one  of  his  sphere,  and  which  have  rendered  him  famous 
in  a  line  that  was  wide  of  the  one  he  belonged  to.  Utica,  too,  had 
its  prodigy.  This  was  a  blacksmith,  not  learned,  indeed,  but  an 
adept  in  talking  and  singing;  and  in  Harry  Bushnell  it  could 
boast  of  a  speaker  and  songster  of  no  common  capacity.  Harry 
had  been  wild  in  his  youth,  but  after  he  came  hithei-from  Otsego, 
he  was  converted  in  the  old  Methodist  chapel,  and  entered  its 
fellowship.  Here  he  revealed  talents  that  were  often  in  exercise, 
and  which  made  their  possessor  a  person  of  note.  As  class 
leader,  exhorter  and  singer  he  became  of  use  to  the  congrega- 
tion, and  was  deemed  important  enough  to  be  elected  trustee. 


THE  THIRD  CHARTER.  621 

In  time,  and  as  his  name  got  abroad,  his  church  zeal  dechned ; 
but  his  repute  as  an  orator  brought  him  friends  from  without, 
and  aided  by  his  jolly,  good  temper,  and  easy,  nonchalant  airs, 
secured  him  a  place  in  the  popular  favor.    The  themes  on  which 
he  most  loved  to  descant  were  slave  holding  and  temperance,, 
and  joining  those  wdio  had  these  reforms  under  care,  he  often 
found  occasion  for  a  public  display.     Self-possessed  and  fearless, 
he  was  never  abashed,  and  on  the  spur  of  a  call,  however  little 
prepared,  be  could  talk  on  at  length,  even  when  he  had  nothing 
to  say.     Frank  and  winning  of  countenance,  he  had  from  the 
start  the  hearts  of  his  hearers,  and  he  knew  how  to  discourse  at 
their  level  and  keep  in  sympathy  with  them.     In  a  style  that 
was  familiar,  rough  and  impressive,  and  with  more  of  laugh 
than  of  logic,  he  rambled  discursively  onward,  dealt  in  bold 
figures  and  wild  affirmations,  told  funny  stories,  uttered  many 
bright  things,  and    amused  with  hits    that  were   telling.     To 
amuse  seemed  his  principal  aim  and  he  labored  rather  to  please 
than  persuade.     The  evils  of  drinking  were  his  by  expei-ience^ 
and  what  he  lacked  of  acquaintance  he  borrowed  from  fancy, 
and  conld  dress  up  a  tale  whose  skeleton  only  was  true.     When 
interest  flagged  or  he  had  talked  himself  dry,  he  would  break 
out  in  song,  and  in  a  voice  that  was  rich  and  flowing  with 
music,  he  enlivened  the  audience  with  some  sparkling,  melo- 
dious  strain.     His"  voice  was  inspiring,  the  song  was  contagious, 
and  brought   him,  perchance,   some   converts   whom  his  talk 
could  not  win.      But  converts  or  not,  he  graced  when  he  did 
not  fui'ther  the  cause  ;  so  from  far  and  from  near  he  was  called 
for  a  hearing,  and  in  every  rally  given  a  place.     In  reforms  and 
in  politics,  too,  his  aid  was  much  sought,  and — help  them  or 
help  Harry — without  him  was  no  meeting  complete.     His  trade 
he  exchanged  for  dealings  in  hardware,  had  as  associate  Moses 
T.  Meeker,  and   gathered  quite  a  handsome  estate ;  but  un- 
lucky ventures  conspired  with  neglect  of  his  business  to  ruin 
him  wholly.      His  wife  and  his  children  have  all,  like  himself, 
gone  down  to  the  grave. 

And  these  were  other  persons  doing  business  in  Utica,  in 
1824 :  Ammi  Dows,  forwarder  and  flour  dealer  in  company  with 
L'a  B.  Carey,  had  a  store  on  the  corner  of  Seneca  street,  and 
the  canal.  Soon  removing  to  New  York,  he  was  succeeded  by 
his  brother  Harry,  before  a  tinsmith,  who  had  a  succession  of 


'622  THE  PIONEERS  OF  UTICA. 

partners,  and  remained  until  1845  or  later,  the  title  of  the  firm 
being  in  turn  Dows  &  Hulbert,    Dows  &  Whiting,   Dows  & 
Guiteau  and  Dows  &  Kissam.      Harry  Dows'  partner  in  tin- 
smithing  was  John  Mairs  who  moved  to  New  York.    Elisha  Cad- 
well,  who  was  a  conscientious  man,  without  reproach,  and  an 
elder  in  the  Second  Presbyterian  Church,  kept  at  first  a  provision 
and  grocery  store,  and  then  joined  to  it  a  bakery  :  he  moved  away 
about  1838,  but  was  here  in  his  later  years.    Justus  Spertzell,  was 
^  grocer  at  first  on  Genesee  and  then  on  Catherine  street,  where  his 
widow  (Mrs.  Dupre)  lived  some  time  afterward.     His  daughters 
now  living  here  are  Mrs.  John  O'Hara,  Mrs.  Peter  Davis  and 
one  who  is  unmarried.       James   Hinman    otherwise    "  Stub," 
was  a  confectioner  and,  next,  keeper  of  the  public  garden  on 
Whitesboro  street  east  of  Burchard,  the  scene  of  many  a  won- 
derful entertainment, — and  lastly  he  was  a  grocer.     He  went  to 
Albany  and  was  killed  by  an  accident.     David  L.  Perkins,  be- 
cause he,  among  the  first,  imported  clams  and  oysters  and  cried 
them  about  the  streets,  was  known  as  Clam  Perkins.    He  was  the 
father  of  the  late  city  clerk.    D.  E.  Colton,  merchant,  was  here  until 
1828.    Bennet  E.  Phelps  kept  fancy  goods  and  millinery  as  long. 
Aaron  C.  Ellinwood,  was  a  baker  and  served  also  as  constable. 
•John  P.  Shaw  was  a  coppersmith  in  the  service  of  Mr.  Delvin, 
and  Seth  Cutler  an  ingenious  lock  and  whitesmith.     John  F. 
J.  Vedder,  who  came  from  Schenectady,  bought,  in  company 
with  Peter  McDougal,   the  shoe  store  of  E.  S.  Barnum,  made 
and   sold    shoes  with   his   brothers  who    subsequently  joined 
him,'  and  dealt   afterwards  in  leather,  until  1852  or  later.     His 
widow,  daughter    of  Dr.  Herman  Norton   is  still   a  resident. 
Eliphalet  Stickney  and  William  Blackall  were  also  shoemakers. 
Harry  Badger  was  a  harness-maker.     Charles  Slosson  was  a  mo- 
rocco dresser,  who,  beginning  about  1820,  worked  for  twenty- 
five  years  for  James  C.  DeLong,  and  Amos  Gale  was  a  tanner 
and  currier.     Lyman  Hotchkiss,  saddler,  with  his  brother  Amzi, 
carpenter  and  joiner,  Charles  Churchill,  likewise  carpenter,  and 
Jesse  Sellcck,  mason,  took  part  in  the  organization  of  the  Second 
Presbyterian  Church.    None  of  them  maintained  a  long  residence 
in  the  place  but  Mr.  Churchill,  who  was  a  builder  and  lumber 
dealer  as  late  as  1845.     John  H.  Sterry,  another  carpenter,  and 
an  officer  in  the  Baptist  Church,  was  here  still  longer.     Of  the 
same  trade  was  Stafford  Palmer.    Andrew  O.  Downer,  still  another 


THE  THIRD  CHARTER.  623 

builder,  absent  for  a  time,  returned  and  lived  a  good  while  here. 
His  brother  Norman,  if  not  a  resident  in  1824,  came  very  soon 
afterward,  and  spent  a  life-time.  Lester  Hoadley,  a  mason  by 
trade,  kept,  in  1824,  the  Oliver  Babcock  house  on  Main  street, 
and  lived  ten  years  in  Utica.  His  son,  John  C.  Hoadley,  an 
engineer,  has  been  a  prominent  man  in  Pittsfield  and  Law- 
rence, Mass.  William  G.  Allyn,  stonecutter,  afterwards  prac- 
ticed medicine  and  was  subsequently  nearly  blind  for  some  years. 
He  died  in  Utica,  in  1877.  An  early  partner  of  his  in  stone 
-cutting,  and  a  long-continued  inhabitant,  was  John  S.  Joslyn. 
Anthony  W.  Latour  and  J.  C.  Shiffer  were  carriage  trimmers, 
and  Philip  Yanderlip  and  Henry  Cobbett  were  coach  painters. 
Mr.  Latour  is  still  resident.  Henry  J.  Brower  was  an  uphol- 
sterer. Dennis  Saumet  was  a  barber,  whose  visage  was  symbol- 
ized week  after  week  in  a  sombre-tinted  newspaper  wood-cut. 
William  Koper  was  a  saloon-keeper.  Daniel  B.  Lothrop  was 
in  rotation,  bar-tender,  postofhce  clerk,  druggist  and  grocer. 
Peter  Rice  was  with  Ennals  in  the  Utica  Museum. 

Captain  Samuel  B.  Griswold,  U.  S.  A,  son-in-law  of  Arthur 
Breese,  though  he  followed  no  business  here,  kept  house  in  the 
place.  One  of  his  daughters  is  now  the  widow  of  Professor  S. 
F.  B.  Morse,  another  is  Mrs.  William  Goodrich,  late  of  New 
Orleans.     He  had  also  two  sons. 

Among  the  students  at  law  were  Charles  A.  Mann,  David 
Wager,  James  Knox,  William  J.  Bacon,  John  G.  Floyd  and 
John  M.  Holley,  the  three  last  of  whom  became  afterward  sons- 
in-law  of  Joseph  Kirkland.  Among  the  clerks  of  the  period 
who  did  not  engage  in  business  until  after  1825,  were  Van 
Vechten  Livingston,  William  Bristol,  Gerry  Sanger,  John  C. 
Hastings,  W.  W.  Backus,  David  Hunt,  George  Curtiss,  William 
Knowlson,  Sylvanus  Holmes.  Among  the  journeymen  and  ap- 
prentices were,  Simon  Y.  Oley,  Julius  A.  Spencer,  William  D. 
Hamlin,  Stephen  Thorn,  D.  Timerman,  Junius  Rodgers,  and 
Edward  Cur  ran. 

1825. 

The  board  of  trustees  created  by  the  election  of  1825,  con- 
sisted of  Benjamin  Ballon  and  Riley  Rogers  from  the  first  ward, 
William  H.  Maynard  and  Charles  Morris  from  the  second,  and 


624  THE   PIONEERS  OF  UTICA. 

Nicholas  Smith  und  John  R.  Ludlow  from  the  third.  Captain 
William  Clarke  remained  the  president.  The  supervisor  was 
E.  S.  Cozier,  and  the  assessors  were  Benjamin  Ballou,  John 
Bradish  and  David  P.  Hoyt.  The  officers  ap})ointed  by  the 
trustees  were  John  H.  Ostrom,  clerk,  Thomas  Walker,  treasurer, 
Ara  Broadwell,  police  constable,  &c.  The  board  met  frequently 
in  the  course  of  the  year,  and  while  steadily  carrying  forward 
the  work  of  their  predecessors,  effected  a  few  additional  im- 
provements. John  street  was  paved  from  the  canal  to  Bleecker 
street,  and  Bleecker  from  John  to  Genesee.  La  Fayette  street 
was  also  paved  as  far  as  Madison  lane,  and  a  sewer  laid  beneath 
it  to  the  lot  of,  A.  Cooper,  and  thence  to  the  canal.  Post  street 
— now  so  utterly  neglected, — was  also  fitted  with  a  sewer,  and  a 
tolerably  numerous  committee  of  honorable  men  superintended 
the  work.  Washington  street  was  provided  with  gravelled  side- 
walks from  the  canal  upward,  and  Burnet  had  a  brick  walk 
laid  along  its  eastern  side.  The  only  new  street  of  the  year 
was  Carnahan,  whose  "centre,  beginning  four  hundi-ed  and 
thirt3-nine  feet  from  the  north-west  corner  of  John  Pocock's 
brick  house,  on  the  corner  of  Genesee  and  Elizabeth,  ran  south 
thirty  degrees  east  to  the  westerly  line  of  the  Post  purchase, 
and  until  it  intersected  Blandina."  I  am  thus  |)articular  in  de- 
scribing it  for  the  sake  of  the  name  it  bore,  and  because  it  shortly 
opened  the  way  to  Union  street  and  Steuben  park,  tliough  it 
has  now  perished  from  the  list  of  cit}^  streets,  and  is  reckoned 
only  as  the  head  of  Blandina.  A  stone  bridge  was  erected 
across  the  Starch  Factory  creek  at  a  cost  of  two  hundred  and 
fifty  dollars,  and  a  like  sum  was  given  for  an  acre  and  a  half  of 
land  in  Deei-field  to  supply  the  village  wnth  j^aving  sand.  The 
advantages  to  be  expected  from  a  public  market  seem  to  have 
taken  an  early  hold  upon  the  minds  of  the  board,  since  at  their 
second  session  they  resolved  to  erect  one  upon  such  place  as 
might  be  thereafter  agreed  on.  At  their  next  meeting  they  de- 
termined that  it  should  be  placed  in  the  public  square  in  front  of 
A.  Shepard's  tavern,  and  at  the  same  time  Messrs.  Clark,  Ballou 
and  Maynard  were  named  as  a  committee  to  report  a  plan,  and 
to  devise  the  ways  and  means  for  defraying  the  expense  of  the 
structure.  Such  ])laii  and  suggestions  were  ]jresented  a  few 
weeks  later.  The  market  was  to  cost  from  twenty-five  hundred 
to  three  thousand  dollars,  towards  which  five  hundred  dollars 


THE  THIRD  CHARTER.  625 

had  already  been  subscribed ;  five  hundred  dollars,  it  was 
thou^-ht  by  the  committee,  might  be  appropriated  from  the 
funds  of  the  village  for  the  current  year ;  and  several  persons 
stood  ready  to  advance  the  remainder,  upon  the  corporation 
securing  to  them  the  profits  of  the  market  until  they  should  be 
reimbursed  the  principal  and  interest ;  besides  all  this,  Mr. 
Culver  offered  to  purchase  the  materials  and  to  build  the  mai-ket, 
charging  only  for  himself  and  his  hands  a  per  diem  allowance 
of  eleven  shillings  each.  Thereupon  the  report  was  accepted 
and  the  committee  authorized  to  enter  into  contract  for  the  erec- 
tion of  a  market  on  the  place  proposed,  and  in  accordance  with 
the  plan  submitted.  The  market  had  its  friends,  but  it  had 
also  its  enemies  ;  and  it  was  not  long  before  there  sprang  up 
an  opposition,  among  the  citizens  as  strong  as  that  which  had 
been  experienced  some  years  previously  when  the  same  project 
was  on  foot.  They  were  pretty  generally  arrayed  on  one  side 
or  the  other,  as  remonstrants  against  the  location  of  the  market 
in  the  square,  or  as  petitioners  for  that  location.  Their  respec- 
tive missives  to  the  trustees  with  the  arguments  pro  and  con 
are  now  lost,  but  lists  of  the  names  appended  to  each  of  these 
communications  have  been  preserved.  The  remonstrants  in- 
clude three  judges  of  the  Supreme  Court,  and  several  promi- 
nent professional  men  and  merchants,  and  are  about  twenty- 
five  in  number,  but  the  petitioners,  who  had  also  with  them  a 
goodly  number  of  leading  citizens,  are  nearly  twice  as  many  as 
the  remonstrants.  The  effect  of  this  opposition  was  the  intro- 
duction into  the  board,  shortly  afterward,  of  a  motion  to  rescind 
the  former  resolution,  fixing  the  site  of  the  market.  On  being 
put  to  vote,  three  voted  in  the  affirmative,  two  in  the  negative, 
and  one  declined  to  vote,  when  the  presider^t  declared  the  mo- 
tion lost.  And  so  the  market  remained  wdiere  it  had  been 
placed.  Its  subsequent  history  as  the  Clinton  market — whick 
stood  on  Bleecker  street  on  the  site  of  the  present  armory — be- 
longs to  a  period  of  the  village  life,  a  little  later  than  the  one 
now  treated  of.  In  the  proceedings  of  this  year  we  find  the 
first  notice  of  the  summoning  of  a  physician  to  the  public  ex- 
ercise of  his  professional  calling.  Dr.  John  McCall  having 
reported  to  the  board  that  a  person  had  come  into  the  village 
with  the  small  pox,  the  doctor  was  at  once  made  health  officer 
and  village  physician,  and  it  was  ordered  that  the  person  so- 
Q-1 


626  THE  riONEEUS  OF  UTICA. 

infected  be  forthwith  removed  to  some  safe  place,  and  a  com- 
mittee of  three  were  directed  to  cany  the  order  into  effect. 
l\vo  days  later,  as  if  questioning  their  own  authority  in  mak- 
ing the  appointment,  a  conunittee  was  created  to  confer  with 
the  poor-master  and  ascertain  to  whom  the  right  of  appointment 
belonged.  As  for  the  sick  man,  he  was  disposed  of  as  such 
cases  have  since  then  almost  uniformly  been,  he  was  put  into  a 
temporary  hovel  erected  for  the  purpose,  and  there  was  attended 
in  seclusion. 

There  were  three"  lire  engines  now  in  possession  by  the  vil- 
lage, numbered  one,  two,  three,  in  the  order  in  which  they  had 
been  purchased,  and  an  organized  company  was  attached  to  each 
of  them,  their  captains,  respectively,  being  Horace  Butler,  Wil- 
liam Gainer  and  Edward  Yernon.  The  scholars  in  attendance 
on  the  public  school  were  rec[uired  at  this  time  to  pay  thi-ee 
shillings  each  term,  which  fee  was  to  be  applied  toward  defray- 
ing the  expense  of  the  teachers.  The  village  tax  for  the  year 
amounted  to  one  shiUing  on  every  one  hundred  dollars.  Four 
hundred  dollars  were  raised  through  the  supervisors  for  the  su|)- 
port  of  the  poor. 

By  a  notice,  published  in  the  papers  of  the  day,  the  inhal>i- 
tants  of  Utica  and  vicinit}^  were  informed  that  Mr.  Thompson 
was  to  preach  in  the  Court  House  on  Sunday,  the  20th  of 
November,  1825,  and  the  Universalists  residing  in  the  village 
and  neighborhood,  were  requested  to  meet  at  the  same  place  on 
Monday  evening,  the  21st,  for  the  purpose  of  organizing  a  soci- 
ety. Accordingly,  "  a  number  of  persons  believing  in  the  doc- 
trine of  God's  impartial  and  universal  love,"  met  at  the  time  and 
place  appointed,  and  organized  the  "  First  Universalist  Society 
of  Utica."  The  following  persons  were  appointed  trustees,  viz.: 
Andrew  S.  Pond,  Daniel  James,  John  E.  Ludlow,  John  Hickox, 
Koswell  Woodruff ;  and  the  following  were  appointed  deacons, 
viz. :  Ezra  S.  Barnum  and  William  Stevens.  Forty-two  j^er- 
sons  signed  the  constitution.  Rev.  John  S.  Thompson,  the 
chairman  of  the  meeting,  remained  but  a  short  time  in  their 
service  as  pastor,  though  in  May  of  the  following  year,  in  con- 
junction with  Rev.  Abner  Kneeland  of  New  York,  he  sum- 
moned a  convocation  of  Universalist  ministers,  which  was  duly 
held  in  Utica.      The  society  was  supplied  by  occasional  preach- 


THE  THIRD  CHARTER.  627 

-ers,  among  whom  was  the  father  of  the  late  liev.  T.  Starr  King. 
But  it  was  not  until  March  19,  1830,  that  thej  extended  a  call 
to  Rev.  Dolphus  Skinner,  who  had  been  one  of  their  number 
from  the  first,  to  become  their  regular  minister.  In  1828  they 
began  to  build  a  church  on  Devereux  street,  and  on  the  18tli  of 
March,  1830,  it  was  dedicated. 

A  public  library  was  incorporated  on  the  5th  of  Marcli,  1825, 
■under  the  title  of  the  Utica  Library,  and  was  opened  in  July 
following,  with  one  thousand  one  hundred  books.  It  was  owned 
b}^  shareholders,  and  controlled  by  a  board  of  twelve  trustees. 
The  number  of  shares  was  fixed  at  four  hundred,  their  value  being 
three  dollars  each  ;  and  these  were  nearly  all  of  them  soon  sold, 
and  were  held  at  an  advance  from  the  original  price.  The  books 
were  well  selected  and  of  standard  authority,  and  among  them 
were  sets  of  the  best  English  and  American  periodicals.  Within 
a  few  years  this  number  was  increased  to  twenty-five  hundred. 
The  faithful  librarian  was  Justus  H.  Rathbone,  who  attended 
for  the  drawing  of  books  once  in  each  week.  In  the  course  of 
a  few  years  the  books,  which  had  at  first  been  kept  in  the  office 
of  Mr.  Rathbone  on  Broad  street,  were  I'emoved  to  rooms  in  the 
building  of  the  Mechanics'  Association,  and  the  library  was 
opened  six  days  in  the  week. 

The  two  great  events  of  the  year  were  the  reception  of  Gen- 
eral La  Fayette,  the  nation's  guest,  now  passing  in  ovation 
through  the  country,  and  the  public  celebi-ation  of  the  opening 
of  the  Erie  Canal,  just  completed  throughout  its  whole  extent. 
Both  of  these  events  were  so  replete  with  interest  to  the  genera- 
tion who  bore  a  part  in  them,  that  the  real  spirit  of  the  times 
can  only  be  gathered  from  a  somewhat  coj)ious  narrative. 

For  the  due  observance  of  the  first  of  these  ceremonies,  the 
trustees  appointed  a  committee  in  May,  consisting  of  the  presi- 
dent and  Messrs.  Maynard  and  Ballon,  who  were  to  confer  with 
the  military  committee  and  to  settle  upon  the  order  of  arrange- 
ments. At  the  same  time  the  president  was  requested  to  call  a 
public  meeting  of  the  citizens,  that  they  might  appoint  another 
committee  who  should  cooperate  with  that  of  the  corporation. 
Such  a  meeting  was  held  and  due  arrangements  were  perfected. 
What  followed,  we  shall  relate  in  the  language  of  a  newspaper 
issue  of  the  time : 


628  THE   PIONEERS  OF  UTICA. 

"June  9,  1S25,  the  deputations  from  the  General  Commit- 
tee of  Arrangements  at  Utica,  of  which  His  Honor  Judge  Wil- 
liams was  chairman,  accompanied  by  Colonel  Lansing  and  His- 
Honor  Judge  Storrs,  proceeded  to  Eome  to  meet  General 
La  Fayette.  At  Eome  they  were  joined  by  General  Weaver 
and  his  suite,  on  the  part  of  the  military  deputation.  A  depu- 
tation from  the  Committee  at  Eome,  Colonel  Lansing,  Judge 
Williams  and  Judge  Storrs,  proceeded  in  a  boat  some  miles  up 
the  canal  and  met  the  boat  of  the  General.  At  ten  o'clock  in 
the  evening,  the  General,  his  son.  Colonel  La  Fayette,  M.  Le 
Yasseur,  his  Secretary,  and  another  friend,  were  received  into 
carriages  and  conducted  to  the  arsenal,  where  they  were  received 
by  Lieutenant  Simonson,  the  Commandant  of  that  post,  with  a 
national  salute  and  the  other  honors  usually  paid  to  a  Major 
General.  Ladies  and  gentlemen  were  introduced,  and  he 
W'as  then  conducted  to  Starr's  Hotel,  and  an  address  delivered 
him  by  Wheeler  Barnes,  President  of  the  village.  The  village 
was  illuminated.  At  six  o'clock  on  the  10th  inst,  he  visited 
Colonel  Lansing,  at  Oriskany,  who  was  under  his  command  at 
Yorktown.  A  committee  from  the  village  of  Whitesboro  con- 
ducted him  in  a  barouche,  attended  by  a  military  escort,  to  the 
yard  of  the  late  residence  of  Judge  Piatt,  where  he  was  intro- 
duced, and  thence  to  the  house  of  Mr.  Berry,  where  he  was  re 
ceived  by  the  General  Committee  of  Arrangements,  and  an  ad- 
dress delivered  him  by  Judge  Williams.  Next  he  visited  the 
widow  of  Judge  White,  at  whose  house  he  was  entertained  in 
1784,  when  he  assisted  at  the  Treaty  with  the  Indians,  held  at 
Eome.  The  procession  was  formed  at  Whitesboro :  the  General 
was  seated  in  the  barouche,  accompanied  by  Judge  Williams, 
and  preceded  by  an  escort  of  cavalry,  commanded  by  General 
John  J.  Knox.  The  General  was  followed  by  a  carriage  con- 
veying his  son.  Colonel  La  Fayette.  Colonel  Lansing,  Colonel 
Mappa  and  Eichard  E.  Lansing.  Next  succeeded  coaches  with 
his  Secretary,  M.  Le  Yasseur,  the  other  gentlemen  of  his  suite 
and  the  Utica  Committee,  Judge  Storrs,  Lieutenant  Simonson 
and  Captain  Wright  of  Eome.  A  large  cavalcade  of  citizens 
on  horseback,  riding  three  abreast,  followed,  and  were  succeeded 
by  a  squadron  of  cavalry  under  the  command  of  Lieutenant 
Cone.  The  procession  moved  rapidly,  and  increased  as  it  passed 
from  the  accession  of  citizens.  All  the  way  the  fences  were 
lined  and  the  houses  thronged  with  people,  manifesting  the  ut- 
most eagerness  to  see  the  favorite  and  guest  of  the  Nation. 
When  the  General  arrived  at  the  boundary  of  the  village  a 
salute  of  twenty-four  guns  was  fired.  The  procession  entered 
La  Fayette  street,  where  the  troops,  under  the  command  of  Lieu- 
tenant Colonel  Ostrom,  were  drawn  up  on  both  sides  of  the  way, 
and  saluted  the  General  as  he  passed.  The  procession  entered 
Genesee  street,  the  crowd  of  eager  spectators  accumulating  at 


THE  THIRD  CHARTEE.  629 

•every  step,  and  passed  the  bridge  over  the  canal,  where  a  tri- 
timphant  arch  was  erected,  with  a  flag  prepared  by  Mr.  Vander- 
lip,  labelled  '  La  Fayette,  the  Apostle  of  Liberty,  we  hail  thee 
welcome !'  The  procession  moved  down  Grenesee  street,  the 
•sidewalks,  doors  and  windows  being  thronged,  and  stopped  at 
Shepard's  Hotel,  where  the  Greneral  was  received  on  the  steps 
at  the  front  door  by  William  Clarke,  Esq.,  president  of  the  vil- 
lage of  Utica  and  the  corporation,  and  a  speech  was  delivered 
by  Mr.  Clarke,  followed  by  a  reply  from  La  Fayette. 

"The  General  breakfasted  and  dined  at  Shepard's,  and  in  the 
interval  the  ceremonies  of  introduction  and  the  review  of  the 
-troops  were  performed.  An  immense  number  of  gentleman  of 
the  county  of  Oneida  and  the  vicinity  were  introduced  to  the 
•General,  and  at  twelve  o'clock  the  ladies  were  introduced,  which 
ceremony  occupied  nearly  an  hour,  so  great  was  the  number 
whom  patriotism,  respect  and  affection  called  to  the  interesting 
scene.  The  troops  passed  in  review  before  the  General,  who 
received  their  salute  standing  uncovered  on  the  steps  of  Mr. 
Shepard's  front  door.  At  the  particular  request  of  General 
La  Fa^^ette,  the  chiefs  of  the  Oneidas  were  invited  to  meet  him  ; 
and  among  them  he  recognized  two  whom  he  knew  during  the 
Revolutionary  war.  But  one  of  the  most  solemn  and  affecting 
incidents  was  the  interview  between  the  General  and  the  old 
soldiers  of  the  Revolutionary  army.  A  large  number  were 
assembled,  some  of  whom  were  with  him  at  the  attack  on  the 
redoubts  at  Yorktown.  The  deep  and  keen  feelings  manifested 
by  these  venerated  men  on  once  more  beholding  their  beloved 
General,  and  his  frequent  exclamations :  '  Oh,  my  friend,  I 
know  you  !'  with  the  impassioned  salutations,  excited  the  live  - 
liest  sympathies  of  every  heart. 

"  Over  the  front  door  of  Mr.  Shepard's  hotel  was  placed  a 
splendid  transparent  painting  by  Mr.  Yanderlip,  on  which  was 
inscribed  in  large  letters,  'Welcome  La  Fayette.'  After  the 
General  had  partaken  of  a  cold  collation  (the  only  dinner  which 
circumstances  would  permit),  at  which  Rev.  Mr.  Willey  craved 
the  blessing  of  Providence,  the  General,  by  particular  request 
of  the  President  of  the  United  States,  visited  the  family  of 
Alexander  B.  Johnson,  Esq.,  (Mrs.  Johnson  being  niece  of  the 
President,)  who,  with  a  few  ladies  of  the  village,  received  him 
with  the  cordiality  and  respect  which  all  feel.  On  his  return, 
he  called  for  a  moment  at  the  house  of  Arthur  Breese,  Esq., 
where  the  Rev.  Mr.  Galusha  delivered  him  a  neat  poetical  ad- 
dress. The  General  then  paid  his  respects  to  the  family  of 
President  Clarke,  and  was  conducted  to  the  packet  boat  Gov- 
ernor Clinton,  named  for  the  occasion  La  Fayette,  commanded 
by  Major  Swartwout,  and  which  had  been  fitted  in  tasteful  and 
elegant  style  for  his  accommodation  to  Schenectady.  It  was 
drawn  by  three  white  horses,  which,  with  their  rider,  had  appro- 


630  THE  PIONEERS  OF  UTICA. 

priate  decorations.  At  the  moment  of  embarkation  a  salute  of 
twenty-fonr  guns  was  fired,  and  when  the  boat  began  to  move^ 
the  citizens  congregated  on  the  bridges  and  banks  of  the  canal, 
rent  the  air  with  loud  and  long  continued  cheering,  which  was 
repeated  at  intervals  until  the  General  had  passed  the  compact 
part  of  the  village.  At  the  last  bridge,  near  the  residence  of 
the  lamented  Judge  Miller,  little  boys  threw  baskets  of  llowers 
into  the  boat  as  it  passed.  The  General,  all  the  time,  pre- 
sented himself  to  the  people,  and  answered  their  congratulations 
with  bows  and  expressive  gesticulations.  The  Committee  at- 
tended him  to  the  bounds  of  the  county,  and  a  deputation  pro- 
ceeded with  him." 

The  Erie  Canal  was  completed  on  the  26th  of  October,  1825,. 
water  from  Lal^e  Erie  was  admitted  into  it  at  Black  Rock,  and 
on  this  day  the  first  boat  ascended  the  Lockport  locks,  j)assed 
through  the  mountain  ridge  and  entered  the  lake.  The  opening 
ceremonies  were  attended  with  unbounded  joy  and  enthusiasm  ; 
cannon  were  stationed  along  the  banks,  from  one  end  to  the 
other,  at  a  distance  of  four  or  five  miles  apart,  and  a  series  of 
reports  was  echoed  through  its  length,  in  token  of  the  mingling 
of  the  waters  ;  music  and  all  the  festivities  that  a  grand  national 
success  can  invent  were  put  in  requisition  to  glorify  the  occa- 
sion. A  flotilla  of  boats,  having  on  board  Governor  Clinton  and 
ofiicers  of  the  State  Government,  a  committee  of  the  common 
council  of  New  York,  and  numerous  delegates  from  towns  along 
the  line  of  the  canal,  made  the  passage  from  Lake  Erie  to  Sandy 
Hook.  Leaving  Buffalo  on  Wednesday  morning,  it  was  their 
intention  to  be  in  Utica  on  Saturday  night;  but  unforeseen  de- 
lays procrastinated  their  arrival  until  Sunday  noon,  in  tlie- 
afternoon  they  attended  divine  worship  at  the  Presbyterian 
Cliui-ch.  Earl_y  on  Monday  morning  these  distinguished  guests 
were  i-eceived  at  the  Court  House,  where  an  address  was  delivered 
by  Judge  Ezckiel  Bacon,  in  behalf  of  his  fellow  townsmen,  to 
which  Governor  Clinton  replied.  "Of  the  manner  in  which  the 
addresses  were  delivered,  it  was  observed  that  Judge  Bacon,  who 
always  does  such  things  well,  was  never  more  happy.  Governor 
Clinton  was  sensibly  affected,  and  delivered  his  reply  with  much 
feeling.  'J'lie  address  expressed  in  a  forcible  and  eloquent  man- 
ner the  congi'atulations  of  the  citizens  of  Utica,  and  paid  appro- 
priate and  mei-ited  compliments  to  all  those  who  had  planned  or 
assisted  in  tlie  execution  of  the  stupendous  work.     The  reply 


THE  THIRD  CHARTER. 


631 


of  tlie  Governor  contained  a  well-turned  and  well-merited  eulo- 
gium  on  the  Hon.  Judge  Piatt,  who,  by  his  exertions  in  the  Senate, 
and  in  the  Council  of  Eevision,  afforded  powerful  and  efficient 
aid  to  the  cause  of  the  canals  ;  and  to  whom,  also,  we  were  first 
indebted  for  the  favorite  and  popular  expression  of  'The  Young 
Lion  of  the  West,'"  They  then  reembarked  and  continued 
their  excursion.  In  the  evening  the  canal  was  illuminated  along 
its  course  through  the  village  by  floating  tar  barrels  on  fire. 
The  committee  from  Utica,  appointed  to  take  part  in  the  cel- 
ebration at  New  York,  consisted  of  William  Clarke,  president 
of  the  corporation,  Jonas  Piatt,  Thomas  H.  Hubbard,  Charles 
C.  Broadhead,  Eichard  E.  Lansing  and  Alexander  Coventry. 


Elsewhere,  along  the  whole  line,  and  to  the  city  of  New  York, 
the  occasion  was  observed  with  similar  demonstrations  of  deligbt. 
Medals  were  struck,  sketches  of  canal  scenes  wei'e  imprinted  on 
earthenware,  on  handkerchiefs,  &c.,  in  commemoration  of  the 
event 


632  THE  PIONEERS  OF  UTICA. 

As  an  evidence  of  the  rapidity  with  which  the  canal  was 
brought  into  use,  and  of  the  very  great  change  which  it  made 
in  the  mode  of  transportation  from  those  before  employed,  it 
may  be  stated  that  the  number  of  canal  boats  which  arrived 
at  Albany  during  the  season  of  1823,  was  1,329,  during  that 
of  182-1,  2,587,  during  that  of  1825,  3,336,  and  up  to  September 
6,  of  the  year  1826,  4,380  which  number,  it  was  presumed, 
would,  by  the  close  of  navigation,  be  increased  to  7,000.  The 
rate  for  transportation  on  the  turnpike,  in  1826,  was  one  and 
one-half  cents  per  mile,  the  rate  by  the  Erie  Canal  was  five 
mills.  The  impetus  it  gave  to  the  city  of  New  York  is  shown  in 
part  by  the  fact  that  its  proximate  completion  caused  the  erec- 
tion there,  in  1 824,  of  three  thousand  new  houses. 


CHAPTER  VI. 

HABITS  AND    CHARACTERISTICS  OF  THE    INHABITANTS. 

I  have  now  carried  the  story  of  Utica  and  its  inhabitants 
through  the  earher  chapter  in  its  development,  and  brought  it 
in  face  of  a  new  phase  of  commercial  life, — to  a  period  when, 
with  new  modes  of  transportation  and  of  trade,  the  village  took 
on  so  active  a  growth  that,  at  the  end  of  five  years  longer 
it  was  made  a  city.  Yet  how  small  it  still  was  when  compared 
with  the  city's  present  dimensions,  is  shown  by  the  map  on  the 
following  page.*  We  have  finished  the  history  of  those  who 
may  rightly  be  called  its  pioneers.  The  pursuits  and  the  traits 
peculiar  to  very  many  of  them  we  have  studied  in  detail.  What 
they  were  as  a  whole,  what  they  had  in  common  that  was  dif- 
ferent from  the  denizens  of  to-day,  their  social  habits  and  char- 
acteristics, it  remains  to  consider. 

Though  made  up  of  men  of  various  nationalities,  the  popula- 
tion was  more  strictly  native  American  than  it  has  been  at  any 
time  later.  The  sons  of  New  England  predominated,  and  next 
in  number  were  the  home-born  New  Yorkers,  in  whose  veins 
flowed  more  or  less  of  Holland  blood.  But  besides  these  there 
was  a  sprinkling  of  immigrants  from  every  portion  of  the  Brit- 
ish Isles,  among  whom  the  Welsh  were  most  numerous.  The 
great  Irish  influx,  now  getting  its  impulse  from  the  need  of 
laborers  in  the  construction  of  the  Erie  Canal,  had  as  yet  afforded 
the  place  few  important  accessions.  As  it  was  intimated  in  a 
toast  given  at  a  then  recent  Hibernian  supper,  this  canal  was  a 
^'capital  road  from  Cork  to  Utica."  Howbeit,  few  of  its  travel- 
lers had  yet  reached  the  terminus.  The  outflow  of  Grermany 
waited  many  years  its  commencement.  Negro  slavery  was 
practically  extinct,  for  of  the  ten  thousand  slaves  numbered  in 
the  State  of  New  York  in  1820,  Oneida  had  but  nine.  Slave 
sales,  which  once  had  not  been  uncommon  in  Utica,  were  no 

*This  map  was  prepared  from  one  made  by  John  Fish,  village  surveyor, 
in  1828;  being  copied  from  it  in  its  drawing,  but  shaded  and  otherwise 
adapted  to  the  year  1825,  in  part  by  the  aid  of  a  sketch  drawn  up  in  1824, 
by  William  J.  Bacon,  and  in  part  by  the  aid  of  the  village  records. 


634 


THE   PIONEEES  OF  UTICA. 


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THE  THIRD  CHARTER.  635 

longer  announced  in  the  papers,  an  issue  of  the  year  1817  con- 
taining the  last  of  such  announcements  that  the  writer  has  met 
with. 

The  more  obvious  differences  between  the  men  of  the  past 
and  those  of  the  present  are  those  that  are  common  to  the  whole 
civilized  world,  and  which  are  best  seen  bj  a  glance  at  a  few  of 
the  wondrous  achievements  of  the  past  fifty  years.  Well  versed 
as  we  are  with  modern  modes  of  transport  and  transmission,  it  is 
not  easy  to  realize  that  theyear  1824  saw  the  first  locomotive, — 
that  though  a  few^  paltry  steamers  were  cautiously  plying  our 
rivers,  twenty  years  still  elapsed  ere  they  ventured  the  ocean, — 
that  not  yet  had  scientific  research  struck  out  the  spark 
whence  followed,  in  time,  the  great  invention  of  Morse.  A  few 
wire  bridges  were  looked  on  as  marvels,  outdoing  in  wonder 
the  Colossus  of  Rhodes ;  but  not  until  1823  were  submitted  the 
plans  of  Brunei  to  tunnel  the  Thames.  Not  till  '23  were  the 
streets  of  New  York  lighted  with  gas.  Not  till  "24  did  Daguerre 
begin  his  incipient  trials  with  light,  and  photograph  and  stereo- 
scope were  much  later  developed.  Jennies  for  spinning  had 
long  found  their  use,  but  jennies  for  sewing  awaited  some  years 
an  inventor,  and  machines  that  have  since  changed  the  habits 
of  millions,  and  given  fresh  impulse  to  commerce  and  trade, 
were  first  seen  by  this  generation.  Sciences,  like  geology  and 
chemistry,  which  were  heretofore  cultivated,  have  in  the  fifty 
years  past  made  their  chief  acquisitions,  and  new  ones  have 
risen  to  pour  out  fresh  treasures.  In  their  wake  new  arts  have 
sprung  np  and  improved  manufactures,  and  these  have  furnished 
employment  unthought  of  before.  The  course  of  discovery  and 
the  movements  of  commerce  have  enlarged  the  bounds  of  our 
knowledge,  and  the  world  has  grown  greater  as  its  parts  are 
better  known.  Fifty  years  since  Ohio  was  just  filling  up ;  Illi- 
nois was  the  westernmost  point  of  migration,  and  the  vast  regions 
beyond  were  like  Texas  and  Mexico,  mere  terrce  incognitae.  The 
gold  of  California  and  the  wealth  of  Australia  rested  safe  in 
obscurit}^  Russia  was  a  half-savage  country,  and  China  as  well 
as  Japan  were  jealously  guarded  from  view.  When  to  all  this : 
to  the  increased  ease  of  travel,  the  widened  intelligence,  and 
its  free  interchange  through  all  parts  of  the  earth, — we  add  the 
more  abundant  population  and  the  competition  that  follows  in 
consequence,  we  have  causes  enough  to  give  the  men  of  the 


636  THE  PIONEERS  OF  UTICA. 

present  a  pressing  activity,  a  restless  and  wearj'ing  struggle, 
which  was  unfelt  by  their  fathers. 

These  fathers  of  Utica  were  busy,  though  in  a  narrower  sphere 
and  a  quieter  manner.  Content  with  less  gains,  less  urged  by 
ambition,  and  less  enticed  into  risks,  they  were  more  true  to 
their  word,  more  honest  in  dealing,  had  fewer  tricks  in  their 
trade.  True  sons  of  New  England,  they  honored  their  birth, 
and  practiced  the  staunch  virtues  they  had  learned  in  the  land 
of  steady-going  ways.  Karely  absent  from  home,  and  hearing 
little  of  matters  abroad,  they  were  fond  of  home  pleasures  and 
cherished  their  neighbors  around  them.  Each  knew  and  was 
known  of  the  rest,  and  each  took  an  interest  in  the  welfare  of 
all.  Their  fellows  they  rated  by  their  conscience  and  the  wa}'' 
it  was  kept,  not  by  the  length  of  the  purse  or  the  fortune  of 
birth.  Office  searched  after  the  man,  not  man  after  office,  and 
the  meritorious  only  were  put  into  place. 

The  domestic  economy  of  1825  is  better  told  by  negatives 
than  by  statements  of  a  positive  nature ;  and  this  is  evident 
when  we  think  of  the  numerous  articles  of  daily  use  now  deemed 
essential  of  which  our  fathers  were  ignorant,  articles  of  house- 
hold and  of  personal  service,  which  neither  here  nor  elsewhere 
were  in  general  request.  As  a  consequence  of  these  deficiencies, 
there  prevailed  a  uniform  plainness  of  style  and  adornment, 
which  at  this  day  is  mostly  seen  among  those  whose  lack  of 
means  forbid  them  to  appear  otherwise.  Let  us  glance  at  a  few 
of  these  differences,  and  chiefly  at  such  as  respect  the  dwellers 
in  Utica  only.  Chairs  were  unpretending,  but  substantial  and 
durable.  Rush  or  cane-bottom  seats  in  white  painted  frames,  set 
off  with  a  trifle  of  gilding,  were  stylish  enough  for  a  parlor  ;  im- 
ported and  exotic  woods,  with  seats  covered  with  brocade  or 
hair  were  reserved  for  the  dainty  and  rich.  Sofas  were  rare,  and 
pianos  still  rarer ;  not  ten  of  tlie  latter,  it  is  probable,  could  be 
found  in  the  place.  Carpets  of  ingrain  were  quite  in  the  mode, 
and  carpets  of  Brussels,  the  last  reach  of  wealth.  Very  many 
covered  their  floors  with  a  tissue  of  rags,  or  else  one  of  wool, 
which  they  spun  for  themselves,  and  sent  out  for  weaving, 
together  with  trimmings  of  beaver  shred  off  by  the  makers  of 
gentlemen's  hats.  Furnaces  were  unheard  of,  and  stoves  in  pri- 
vate houses  just  finding  a  ])lace.  And  these  were  heated  with 
wood ;  barely  three  years  had  elapsed  since  the  art  had  been 


THE  THIRD  CHARTER,  637 

known  of  kindling  up  anthracite.  But  wood  was  abundant, 
and  wide,  open  fire-places,  with  andirons  and  fenders  of  brass, 
brightened  a  room  that  might  be  otherwise  cheerless.  Both 
cooking  and  house-warming  were  done  by  the  fire  on  the  hearth. 
That  a  joint  of  meat  basted  thereat  had  a  juicy  richness  of  flavor 
which  no  stove  can  impart  it  needs  not  a  connoisseur  to  declare. 
But  as  to  warming  the  house  and  its  inmates,  no  such  claim  for 
the  older  over  the  modern  convenience  can  with  truth  be  as- 
serted. Despite  the  size  of  these  fire-places,  and  the  amount  of 
fuel  devoured,  warmth  was  maintained  only  immediately  in 
front  of  them ;  and  if  the  apartment  were  large,  one  side  of 
the  person  was  cold  though  the  other  might  roast.  Writing 
within  it,  during  severe  winter  weather,  you  might  be  forced  to 
suspend  work  at  times  in  order  to  thaw  out  your  ink.  Halls 
were  like  barns  and  chambers  scarce  better.  A  sleeping  room 
warmed  was  a  comfort  that  few  people  knew ;  and  to  make  a 
cold  one  endurable  warming-pans  were  generally  used.  Disrob- 
ing was  done  with  despatch ;  then  quickly  mounting  the  high, 
four-posted  bed,  you  drew  close  its  curtains,  and,  buried  in 
feathers,  you  forgot  your  discomfort,  dreading  naught  but  the 
prospect  of  rising.  At  church,  not  old  ladies  merely,  but 
younger  ones,  too,  were  glad  of  a  foot  stove.  People  ate  off 
from  blue,  figured  earthenware,  used  two-tined  forks  of  steel, 
and,  perchance,  oftener  carried  the  broad-bladed  knife  to  the 
mouth  than  comported  with  breeding.  Mrs.  Trollope  and  Mr. 
Fidler  had  not  yet  taught  Yankees  the  luxury  of  a  silver  fork, 
or  scoui'ged  them  into  manners  at  table.  Even  the  using  of 
napkins  was  a  practice  too  formal  to  be  observed  by  any  but 
the  very  select.  In  lieu  of  lucifer  matches,  flint  was  employed 
with  punk-box  and  steel,  or  a  recent  invention  that  brought 
light  from  a  compound  of  phosphorus,  into  which  you  plunged 
a  stick  that  was  headed  with  sulphur.  Candles  all  used,  and 
happy  were  they  who  were  not  restricted  to  tallow.  If  one 
went  abroad  of  an  evening,  in  default  of  the  moon,  he  carried 
a  lantern,  for  the  few  scattered  street  lamps  hindered  more  than 
they  aided  the  wayfarer.  The  only  bell  of  the  village  rang 
daily  at  nine,  at  twelve,  and  again  at  nine  in  the  evening,  and 
as  this  told  the  departure  of  day,  most  people  covered  up  their 
fires  and  retired.  In  the  dead  hour  of  night,  one's  sleep  was 
often  disturbed  by  the  hourly  cry  of  the  watchmen,  and  the 
welcome  assurance  that  "  all  was  well." 


638  THE  PIONEERS  OF  UTICA. 

Church  service  was  hekl  morning  and  afternoon,  and  Sunday 
school  Jcept  twice  in  the  da}^,  before  the  first  worship  and  after 
the  later.  Tuning-fork  and  viol  ruled  the  uotes  of  the  choir. 
The  barrel  organ  of  Trinity  that  aforetime  had  bi'eathed  a 
few  tunes  in  its  service,  gave  place,  in  "21,  to  an  organ  with 
pipes,  and  till  '24  no  key  board  was  touched  in  the  Pres- 
byterian "meeting  house."  The  evening  of  Saturday  was 
as  sacred  almost  as  the  one  which  succeeded  it,  though  our  fore- 
fathers' custom  in  respect  to  this  religious  observance  was  fast 
falling  away.  And  Sunday  itself — "  how  still  the  morning  of 
tlie  liallow'd  day!" — yet  not  the  morning  only,  since  through- 
out its  live  long  hours  a  placid  stillness  rested  on  the  place,  such 
as  now  retired  country  folks  alone  can  feel.  Well  might  the 
poet,  had  he  seen  it,  exclaim  with  dehght :  "  With  dove-like 
wings  peace  o'er  yon  village  broods."  Bearers  at  funerals 
were  presented  each  with  a  scarf  of  the  finest  of  linen,  suffi- 
cient to  make  up  a  shirt,  and  it  may  be  not  the  bearers  alone, 
for  if  the  mourners  were  able,  the}^  sent  a  like  piece  to  the 
whole  of  their  intimate  friends.  The  bearers  w^ho  served  when 
Colonel  Walker  was  buried  wore  their  scarves,  by  request 
of  the  famil}',  the  next  Sunday  at  church.  Few  carriages 
followed  the  dead  to  the  grave,  but  the  measured  toll  of  the 
bell  reached  every  ear  in  the  village,  and  all  w^ere  assured 
that  one  whom  they  knew  had  gone  to  his  rest.  Brides 
just  home  from  their 'tour  kept  open  house  for  two  or  three 
days,  when  good  cheer  was  dispensed  in  what,  for  these  times, 
would  be  deemed  a  much  too  liberal  way.  The  results  we  may 
guess,  if  we  can  conceive  of  the  figure  a  visitor  cut  at  the  recep- 
tion which  followed  the  marriage  of  a  daughter  of  Jeremiah  Van 
Rensselaer.  This  visitor,  then  a  young  man,  and  now  gone  to 
his  grave  as  a  very  respectable  old  one,  having  drank  rather 
freel}^,  was  placed  outside  on  a  seat  in  the  grounds  which 
fronted  the  mansion,  with  an  umbrella  put  carefully  over  him 
to  keep  off  the  sun,  and  yet  not  so  covered  but  that  he  was  seen 
by  all  comers  and  goers.  Merchants  went  twice  a  3'ear  to  the 
city,  and  having  bought  their  spring  oi*  autumn  supplies,  waited 
the  slow  movements  of  sloops  on  tlie  Hudson,  or  Durham  boats 
on  the  Mohawk,  ere  they  received  them;  or  tliey  had  them 
brought  up  by  teamsters  on  the  turn}>ike  in  enormous,  covered 
wagons,  drawn  by  four  and  six  horse  teams.     In  journeying  to 


THE  THIRD  CHARTEK.  639 

the  metropolis  they  often  set  out  in  parties  large  enough  to  have 
the  stage  coach  almost,  if  not  cpnte,  to  themselves,  and  going 
and  coming  made  it  an  excursion  of  pleasure  as  well  as  of  profit. 
Buying  by  agents  with  samples  was  altogether  unknown.  But 
ere  this  the  former  habit  of  barter  was  mostly  al^andoned  for  a 
proffer  of  cash  or  short  credit,  as  now.  Clerks  and  apprentices 
were  at  home  in  the  families  of  their  employers,  and  kept  the 
hours  of  the  family.  Stores  were  open  till  nine,  and  no  little 
shopping  was  done  after  dark.  IMerchant  tailors  w^ere  few,  and 
whoever  would  have  a  new  suit  of  clothes,  first  purchased  the 
stuff,  and  thence  to  the  tailors  for  the  making.  Doctors  carried 
and  dealt  out  their  medicines,  for  though  drugs  might  be  had  at 
the  drug  stores,  prescriptions  were  never  compounded.  They 
trusted  largely  to  drugs,  made  much  of  the  lancet,  but  lacked 
very  many  recent  improvements.  Printers  liad  no  other  press 
than  the  old-fashioned  Ramage.  The  two  hebdomadal  sheets, 
besides  one  or  more  editorials,  weight}^  with  affairs  of  State 
or  National  import,  contained  in  most  issues  a  sharp  onset 
from  Senex  or  a  stinging  rejoinder  from  Juvenis,  or  a  warfare  of 
words  between  Fidelitas  and  Justitia,  or  Medicus  and  Theolog- 
icus.  As  for  news,  that  which  came  the  farthest  and  was  long- 
est in  coming  was  thought  to  be  of  chiefest  significance,  and  the 
battles  and  turmoils  of  Europe  had  a  zest  that  was  lacking  in 
the  minor  concerns  of  the  county.  "Our  own  correspondent'' 
had  not  yet  received  his  commission ;  clippings  from  New  York, 
Boston  or  Washington  gave  the  text  only  of  his  subsequent 
lengthy  discourses.  Half  a  dozen  lines  of  obituary  did  honor 
enough  to  the  greatest,  and  for  mortals  in  general  their  date  of 
departure  was  the  sole  "patent  from  oblivion."  Horses  most 
people  had  of  their  own,  or  borrowed  of  a  friend,  and  so  relied 
little  on  liveries.  Horse-back  riding  was  more  in  vogue  than 
at  present,  and  buggies  not  yet  invented.  Instead,  many  kept 
a  chaise, — a  quaint-looking,  two  wheeled  vehicle  with  springs 
that  rested  on  thills,  which  supported  the  seat  and  its  hood-like 
cover.  At  fires  buckets  filled  the  office  of  hose,  and  in  them 
water  was  passed  b}'  friendly  hands  disposed  in  a  file  from  the 
place  of  supply  to  where  it  was  needed,  an  opposite  file  return- 
ing the  buckets  when  emptied.  At  the  burning  of  Harden's 
brewery,  in  the  winter  of  1820,  such  a  duplicate  row  of  assistants 
reached  -continuous  from  the  fire  on  Broadway  to  the  pump  in 


640  THE  PIONEERS  OF  UTICA. 

the  square,  and  here  eight  stalwart  fellows  manned  the  two- 
armed  hydraulic. 

Agents  had  not  yet  emerged  from  the  cities,  and  there  was 
no  one  out  on  commission;  no  one  to  tease  you  with  new  books 
or  steel  pens,  with  fancy  soaps  or  cements,  or  stuff  for  the  re- 
moving of  stains,  to  prate  of  a  new  fangled  lightning  rod,  or 
of  fruit  trees  warranted  to  bear,  no  one  to  solicit  insurance  on 
life,  or  bring  to  your  notice  the  thousand  inventions  which  'cute 
men  have  made.  Besides  the  noisy  call  to  an  auction,  the  sole 
cry  of  the  street  was  the  crj^  of  the  sweep,  who  came  every  spring 
to  clean  out  the  chimneys  without  ladder  or  rope.  "  Clam 
Perkins"  appeared  something  later  with  his  oysters  straight 
from  Amboy.  As  to  fresh  fish,  the  pike  of  the  Mohawk  was 
reckoned  a  treat  for  the  best.  Would  jou.  have  game,  you 
might  hunt  for  yourself.  Fruit  was  brought  in  by  the  farmers 
around,  but  that  from  the  tropics  was  rarely  seen  in  the  market. 

Of  the  sociable  habits  of  those  early  days  we  have  discours- 
ed heretofore.  Between  then  and  now  the  men  are  widest 
in  difference,  for  modern  ladies  visit  as  much  as  the  ancient. 
Grentlemen's  parties  at  dinner  were  not  only  a  frequent,  but 
with  some  leading  men,  almost  a  stated  occurrence,  and  when 
a  stranger  of  prominence  came  to  visit  the  town,  the  weekly 
routine  was  exchanged  for  a  daily.  That  free  drinking  pre- 
vailed we  cannot  deny,  and  to  an  extent  that  was  fearful.  The 
brandy  bottle  was  on  every  side-board  and  table;  "nips"  at 
the  tavei'n  exceedingly  customary ;  and  on  festive  occasions, 
ministers  even  sometimes  took  enough  to  be  gay.  If  short 
life  was  the  lot  of  many,  intemperance  may  too  often  be  assign- 
ed as  the  cause.  But  the  cry  of  reform  was  but  now  being 
heard  in  the  land.  It  was  in  ignorance  that  the  majority  were 
sinning,  and  even  the  more  intelligent  knew  little  of  the  evils 
which  later  generations  liave  been  abundantly  taught.  Fashion,' 
imperious  fashion,  was  all  on  the  side  of  the  glass,  and  who  was 
so  strong  as  to  hold  out  against  her  ?  With  such  habits  of 
drinking,  we  are  not  surprised  when  we  learn,  that  meetings  so 
exclusively  masculine  gave  vent  at  times  to  a  looseness  of  talk 
which  is  now  carefully  sealed,  and  that  gentlemen  even  vied 
with  each  other  in  singing  lewd  songs  or  telling  the  coarsest  of 
stories.  At  mixed  evening  parties  music  and  dancing  rather 
than  cards  were  in  vogue,  and  at  the  gayest  assemblies,  cotillions 


THE  THIRD  CHARTER.  641 

and  country  dances  were  the  sole  ones  performed.  Performed 
did  I  say  ?  And  how  better  define  the  skillful  precision  that 
«narked  eacli  step  in  the  figure,  where  was  no  walking,  no  shuf- 
fling, but  with  feet  well  raised  from  the  floor,  and  glowing  with 
conscious  excitement,  each  showed  at  his  best,  and  rendered 
with  care  an  artistic  pas  seulf  The  plainness  of  dress  is 
almost  inconceivable  now,  since  the  one  worn  on  Sunday,  a  few 
added  ribbons  and  slight  bits  of  lace,  sufficed  to  set  off  the 
smartest  of  belles.  No  table  was  set ;  ices  and  creams  with 
other  foreign  notions  were  still  unimported.  Waiters  carried 
round  sandwiches,  pickled  oysters,  sweet-meats  and  coffee,  then 
followed  again  with  whiskey  punch  or  Madeira.  Fathers  and 
mothers  were  present  to  regard  with  delight,  to  lead  home  their 
daughters  as  they  led  in  the  dance,  and  pumps  and  silk  stock- 
ings vanished  at  twelve.  Apart  from  formal  occasions,  the 
visits  of  neighbors  were  frequent  and  friendly.  Out-of-door 
interviews  were,  in  season,  as  common  as  droppings  into  the 
house,  and  none  had  a  privacy  unknown  to  his  fellows.  Public 
amusements  were  exceedingly  rare.  There  were  no  lectures,  no 
concerts,  no  plays ;  home  singers  rendered  all  the  music  that 
was  generally  heard,  actors  and  artists  were  content  with  metro- 
politan favor,  and  the  circuit  of  migrating  shows  was  from  city 
to  city.  At  some  time  rather  late  in  the  century's  teens  Mr. 
Whitworth,  a  tourist  from  England,  delivered  two  or  three 
lectures  on  botany,  and  formed  a  class  for  its  study ;  and 
a  single  lecture  on  Holland  was  spoken  hj  Judge  Yander- 
kemp  of  Trenton.  Early  in  the  course  of  the  war  Mr.  Ber- 
nard of  Albany,  took  the  brew-house  of  Inman  and  enacted  a 
few  "moral  plays."  He  also  gave  out  his  intention  of  putting 
up,  by  the  aid  of  subscribers,  a  handsome  erection  to  be  used 
as  a  theatre,  which  might  on  occasion  serve  for  a  ball-room.  A 
spectator  who  witnessed  a  comedy  translated  from  Kotzebue,. 
which  with  its  after-piece  formed  the  chief  stock  of  the  com- 
pany, found  a  goodly  number  of  gentlemen,  but  only  three 
ladies  present,  in  addition  to  tliose  he  escorted.  Such  feeble 
encouragement  deferred  for  a  dozen  years  longer  all  attempts  to 
establish  a  theatre.  A  second  menagerie  was  opened  at  Hedges, 
and  besides  other  "  small  cattle,"  showed  as  its  chief  wonder  a 
tiger  of  Brazil.  In  default  of  other  attractions  the  tavern  was 
hence  a  frequent  place  of  resort,  where  merchants  and  lawyers,. 

R-1 


642  THE   PIONEERS  OF  UTICA. 

and  ministers  too,  would  meet  in  sociable  chat,  to  talk  of  town 
interests,  Lear  the  last  current  news,  and  learn  from  chance 
travellers  events  that  had  happened  abroad,  for  papers  were* 
few,  and  tliose  published  weekly.  Aside  from  the  lawyers  few 
took  in  and  read  the  metropolitan  dailies.  The  chief  burden 
of  municipal  duties  resting,  moreover,  on  them,  these  men  of 
the  I'obe  were  best  versed  in  local  concerns,  and  so  more  than 
at  present  the  lights  of  intelligence.  As  they  kept  open  ofhce 
till  bed  time,  giving  welcome  to  friends,  they  shared  with  the 
post-office  and  tavern  in  dispensing  the  news.  The  boys  were 
free  of  ■  all  parts  of  the  village,  and  the  centre  of  trade  was  not 
too  good  for  a  play-ground,  where  on  long  summer  evenings 
they  "  followed  their  leader"  through  the  turns  of  Genesee, 
Hotel,  Whites boro  and  Broad. 

The  relations  of  intimacy  which  earl}^  in  their  settlemcMit 
bound  Utica  to  New  Hartford  and  Whitesboro,  and  the  fre- 
quent interchange  of  visits  that  went  on  between  them,  were 
now  markedly  less.  So,  too,  was  the  business  dependence. 
The  completion  at  Utica  of  its  combined  court  house  and 
school  made  a  place  for  the  holding  of  courts  which  before  did 
not  exist,  and  thus  took  from  Whitesboro,  a  part  of  its  long 
standing  advantage.  The  new  charter  of  Utica  widened  its 
bounds,  increased  its  internal  authority,  and,  creating  it  a  town 
of  itself,  struck  off  allegiance,  and  inspired  it  with  ambition  to 
claim  the  foremost  place  in  the  county.  And  now  came  the 
Erie  canal,  that  all-absorbing  channel  of  trade,  which  caused 
it  to  distance  New  Hartford,  as  Wliitesboro  had  already  been 
distanced  by  the  Seneca  turnpike.  Its  present  and  prospective 
advantages  had  already  brought  lawyers,  mechanics  and  mer- 
chants from  other  parts  of  the  county,  and  more  were  daily 
arriving.  Those  even  who  had  once  gained  a  flourishing  cus- 
tom relinquished  its  circuit  for  a  wider  and  Ijcttcr.  Yet  these 
towns  acquiesced  in  their  lot,  and  cheerfully  united  with  Utica 
in  schemes  for  their  mutual  good.  The  sj^irit  of  party  now 
prevailed  with  intensity  all  over  the  State,  and  alienation  occa- 
sioned by  political  difference  outweighed  by  far  any  feeling  of 
local  estrangement.  At  no  time  in  its  history  was  political  hate 
more  bitter  and  violent  than  from  the  rule  of  Clinton  as  Gover- 
nor to  the  national  contest  between  Adams  and  Jackson,  and 
nowhere  was  it  worse  than  in  the  old  Western  District.     In 


THE  THIRD  CHARTER.  643 

schools  and  in  families,  with  their  parent  and  head,  each  person 
was  ranged  on  one  side  or  the  other,  and  viewed  with  dislike 
all  such  as  hurrahed  for  the  opposite  party.  Colhsions  were 
frequent.  Men  of  high  standing  were  not  ashamed  to  enact 
the  role  of  the  bully.  For  some  newspaper  charge  or  reported 
remark,  some  hot  words  at  election,  or  advantage  unfairly 
gained  by  a  rival,  they  sought  revenge  for  the  wrong,  and 
assailed  their  opponent  with  rawhide  or  fist.  But  between  the 
leading  men  of  the  county  there  was  never  the  neighborhood 
jealousy,  the  jars  and  obstructions,  so  often  seen  elsewhere. 
Each  feeling  pride  in  the  merits  and  success  of  the  rest,  they 
labored  together  for  the  good  of  the  w^hole,  and  advanced  to 
office  and  honor  those  of  most  talent  and  virtue. 

While  the  canal  was  in  construction  the  interest  felt  in  the  work 
was  intense.  There  w^ere,  it  is  true,  those  who  derided  the  "  big 
ditch  of  Clinton. "  But  by  most  it  was  regarded  as  the  work  of  the 
age,  whose  design  and  achievement  brought  honor  on  all  who 
lived  at  the  time.  Some,  even,  went  so  far  as  to  say  that  when 
it  was  finished  they  would  be  willing  to  die.  The  canal  was 
completed,  and  in  the  manifold  good  its  completion  effected  it 
put  to  shame  what  its  builders  conceived.  It  increased  and 
diversified  trade,  and  gave  scope  to  manufacture,  excited  all 
kinds  of  industry,  and  set  in  flow  the  genuine  sources  of  wealth. 
It  sharpened  the  faculties  and  multiplied  the  exertions  of  men, 
made  employment  for  thousands,  and  cheapened  the  means  of 
subsistence.  It  opened  new  regions  and  settled  State  after 
State.  It  created  new  towns  and  enlarged  those  already  begun. 
Utiea  reaped  its  full  share  of  inflowing  blessings,  and  starting 
afresh  in  a  prosperous  course,  it  gathered  an  impulse  which  to 
day  is  still  unexpended.  The  men  of  that  generation  are  dead 
and  have  left  the  rich  legacy  to  us  their  successors.  With  this 
crowning  work  of  their  lives,  let  their  biography  cease. 


APPENDIX 


NOTES  OX  THE  TITLE  OF  THAT  PORTION  OF  COSBY  S  MANOR, 
OR  OLD  FORT  SCHUYLER  PATENT,  WHICH  IS  INCLUDED 
IN    THE    CITY    OF    UTICA. 


In  1725,  JSTicliolas  Ecker,  and  sundry  other  Germans  pur- 
chased from  tlie  Indian  proprietors,  by  license  from  Governor 
Burnet  of  the  Colony  of  New  York,  two  large  tracts  of  land, 
lying  on  both  sides  of  the  Mohawk  river,  and  adjoining  the 
brook  called  Sadaghqueda.  This  purchase  is  referred  to  in 
two  patents,  one  of  which  is  below  mentioned,  but  without 
particular  description  of  said  purchased  land.  They  were  sub- 
sequentl}'  conveyed  to  William  Cosby,  Governor  of  New  York, 
as  is  mentioned  in  his  will  hereafter  recited. 

By  letters  patent,  dated  January  2,  173-i,*  the  Colony  of  New 
York  conveyed  a  tract  of  land  to  the  following  parties,  viz. : 
Joseph  Worrell,  William  Cosby,  sheriff  of  Amboy,  John  Lyne, 
Thomas  Freeman,  Paul  Richards,  John  Felton,  Charles  Wil- 
liams, Richard  Shuckburgh,  Timothy  Bagley,  James  Lyne  and 
Frederick  Morris.  Said  tract  is  described  as  being  in  the 
county  of  Albany,  on  both  sides  of  the  Mohawk  river,  bounded 
by  a  line,  commencing  on  the  west  side  of  a  brook  called 
Sadaghqueda,  where  the  said  brook  falls  into  the  said  river, 
and  running  thence  south  38  degrees  west  238  chains,  then 
south  52  degrees  east  483  chains,  then  north  38  degrees  east 
480  chains,  then  north  52  degrees  west  483  chains,  and  then 
south  38  degrees  west  242  chains,  to  the  place  where  the  tract 
began,  containing  22,000  acres,  and  the  usual  allowance  for 
highways. 

By  deed  of  lease,  dated  January  8,  1734,  and  by  deed  of 
release,  dated  January  9,  1734,  Joseph  Worrell  and  his  associ- 

*  Recorded  in  the  office  of  the  Secretary  of  State,  Book  11  of  Patents, 
p.  166. 


646  APPENDIX. 

ates,  before  mentioned,  together  with  the  wives  of  such  of  them 
as  were  married,  release  and  convey  the  aforesaid  tract  of 
land  in  the  aforesaid  patent,  to  William  Cosby,  Governor  of 
New  York,  with  warranty  therein  against  themselves,  their 
heirs  and  assigns.  This  lease  and  release  are  recited  in  aij  in- 
denture, dated  20th  April,  1762,  from  Grace  Cosby,  widow  of 
Governor  William  Cosby,  to  Oliver  Delancey,  granting  the  part 
of  the  patent  on  the  north  side  of  the  Mohawk  river. 

The  last  will  and  testament  of  William  Cosby,  Governor  of 
New  York  and  New  Jersey,  was  made  on  the  19th  of  February, 
1735,  and  recorded  in  the  office  of  the  Surrogate  of  the  city 
and  county  of  New  York  on  the  30th  of  March,  1836.*  The 
testator  thereby  devised  all  the  tract  of  land  lately  purchased 
by  him  of  the  Germans,  and  called  the  Manor  of  Cosby,  situate 
on  both  sides  of  the  Mohawk  river,  in  Albany  county,  to  his 
two  sons,  William  and  Henry,  the  part  thereof  on  the  southeast 
side  of  said  river  to  his  son  William,  and  all  that  part  thereof 
on  the  northwest  side  to  his  son  Henry.  Governor  William 
Cosby  died  in  New  York,  March  10,  1736,  leaving  him  sur- 
viving Grace,  his  widow,  William  and  Henry,  his  sons,  and 
Elizabeth,  wife  of  Lord  Augustus  Fitzroy,  his  daughter,  his 
only  heirs  at  law. 

William  Cosby,  son  of  Governor  Cosby,  resided  for  some 
time  before  his  death  at  New  Eochelle,  Westchester  county,  un- 
married and  insane.  He  survived  his  brother  Henry  many 
years,  and  was  reputed  to  be  the  heir  at  law  of  Governor 
Cosby.  He  died  at  New  Rochelle  between  1767  and  1776,  in- 
testate and  without  issue. 

Lady  Augustus  Fitzroy,  sister,  and  only  surviving  heir  at  law 
of  William  Cosby  of  New  Rochelle,  son  of  Governor  William 
Cosby,  died  previous  to  1791,  leaving  her  surviving  her  sons, 
Augustus  Henry,  Duke  of  Grafton,  Charles  Lord  Southampton, 
and  her  daughter  Grace,  the  wife  of  Richard  Garmen,  Esq.,  who 
were  the  children  of  her  first  husband  Lord  Augustus  Fitzroy, 
and  Elizabeth  and  Lucia  Jeffries,  who  were  the  children  of  her 
second  husband,  James  Jeffiies,  Esq.,  they  being  her  only  heirs 
at  law. 

By  an  act  of  the  Legislature  of  the  State  of  New  York, 
passed  March  9,  1791,  it  was  provided  that  Elizabeth  Fitzroy,, 
*In  Book  No.  13,  of  Wills,  p.451. 


APPENDIX.  647 

or  such  person  or  persons  as  would  have  been  the  heirs  of  Wil- 
ham  Cosb}^,  late  of  New  Eochelle,  if  they  had  been  citizens  of 
this  State,  and  her  and  their  heirs  sliall  take,  have  and  hold  all 
the  i'eal  estate  whereof  the  said  William  Cosby  died  seized  or 
entitled  to  in  this  State,  in  like  manner  as  if  she  or  they  now, 
and  at  the  time  of  said  Williams'  decease,  were  citizens  of  this 
State,  any  pretense  or  plea  of  alienation  to  the  contrary  not- 
withstanding, provided  that  they  shall  and  may  sell  such  real 
estate  within  three  years. 

Bj  letter  of  attorney,  dated  March  31,  1791,  the  Most  Noble 
Augustus  Henry,  Duke  of  Grrafton,  the  Eight  Honorable  Charles 
Lord  Southampton,  Eichard  Garmen  and  Grace  his  wife,  the 
Hon.  Elizabeth  Jeffries  and  Lucia  Jeffries  constituted  John  Watts 
and  Charles  Shaw,  their  attorneys,  jointly  and  severally,  to  take 
possession  of  and  to  hold  such  real  estate,  and  to  sell  and  convey 
the  same  or  any  parts  thereof,  &c. 

By  deed  of  release,  dated  March  6,  1793,  recorded  in  the 
office  of  the  Secretarj'  of  State  of  New  York,  the  above-named 
heirs  at  law  of  Lady  Augustus  Fitzroy,  by  their  attorney,  John 
Watts,  for  the  consideration  of  £4,000,  conveyed  to  Gen.  Philip 
Schuyler  all  that  part  of  the  manor  of  Cosby  lying  on  the 
southeast  side  of  the  Mohawk  river,  and  which,  by  the  last  will 
of  Governor  Cosby  was  devised  to  his  son  William,  with  cove- 
nant and  warrant}^* 

But  before  this  time,  Schuyler  and  those  for  whom  he  acted, 
had  already  secured  a  more  perfect  title  than  any  he  could 
obtain  from  the  heirs  of  Governor  Cosby,  and  to  which  their 
conveyance  was  but  supplementary  and  confirmatory,  as  I 
now  proceed  to  show.  On  the  7th  day  of  May,  1772.  Daniel 
Horsmanden,  Esq.,  Chief  Justice  of  the  Supreme  Court  of  the 
Province  of  New  York,  issued  his  warrant  to  the  sheriff  of  the 
county  of  Albany,  commanding  him  to  sell  for  arrears  of  quit- 
rents  the  premises  described  in  said  patent  to  Joseph  Worrel 
and  others.  And  on  the  4th  of  July,  1772,  Henry  Ten  Eyck, 
Jr.,  Esq.,  sheriff  of  Albany  county,  sold  at  the  Court  House,  in 

*  The  consideration  of  the  above-mentioned  deed  was  equivalent  to 
$10,000— one-fourth  of  which  was  paid  to  said  Schuyler  by  William  Green, 
as  representative  of  the  heirs  of  John  Morin  Scott,  and  one-fourth  was 
paid  him  by  Rutger  Bleecker,  and  one-fourth  by  John  Bradstreet,  or  their 
representatives.  This  deed  was,  in  1803,  in  the  possession  of  the  executors 
of  Rutger  Bleecker. 


648  APPENDIX. 

tlie  city  of  Albany,  at  public  vendue,  to  Philip  Scliujder,  the 
highest  bidder,  21,900  acres  of  the  said  premises  for  £1,243 
10s.  7d.,  arrears  of  quit-rents  and  charges,  besides  £143  14s., 
"Costs  of  advertisements,  &c.  The  deed  of  Henry  Ten  Eyck, 
Jr.,  Esq.,  sheriff  of  the  county  of  Albany,  to  Philip  Schuyler,  is 
dated  July  20,  1772,  and  was  recorded  January  23,  1795  in  the 
Clerk's  Office  of  the  county  of  Herkimer,*  (at  Utica.)  In  con- 
sideration of  £1,387  4s.  7d.,  New  York  currency,  it  conveys  all 
that  certain  tract  bounded  as  follows :  Beginning  on  the  south 
side  of  the  Mohawk  river,  and  the  west  side  of  a  brook  called 
Sadaghqueda,  where  the  said  brook  falls  into  the  said  river, 
and  runs  thence  south  38  degrees  west  211  chains  and  41  links, 
then  south  52  degrees  east  483  chains,  thence  north  38  degrees 
east  453  chains  and  41  links,  thence  north  52  degrees  west  483 
chains,  thence  south  38  degrees  west  242  chains  to  the  place 
of  beginning.  The  description  omits  a  strip  along  the  south- 
easterl}^  side  of  the  patent  of  26  chains  and  59  links  in  width 
and  483  chains  in  length,  and  containing  about  1,284  acres,  to 
which  this  deed  conveys  no  title,  and  which  was  afterwards  im- 
properly called  the  Grore.  This  deed  recites  the  above  warrant 
of  the  Chief  Justice,  on  the  application  of  the  Eeceiver  Cen- 
eral  of  the  colony,  stating  that  on  the  first  day  of  June,  1767, 
there  were  three  and  more  years  quit-rent  due  for  said  patent, 
the  posting  of  the  requisite  legal  notices  of  sale,  and  the  sale 
bv  the  sheriff,  on  the  da}^  above  mentioned,  of  21,900  acres  of 
said  land  to  Philip  Schuyler,  the  highest  bidder. 

General  Schuyler  made  this  purchase  for  the  benefit  of  himself 
and  of  General  John  Morrin  Scott,  Eutger  Bleecker  and  General 
John  Bradstreet,  who  were  equally  interested  with  him.  The 
purchase  money  was  paid  at  tlie  time  of  sale,  Bradstreet 
paying  £951 14s.  3d.  for  his  share  of  the  manor  and  other  lands, 
and  advancing  by  way  of  loan  £1,300  to  Schu^^ler  and  Scott. 
General  Bradstreet  refused  to  be  known  in  this  purchase,  for 
fear  of  offence  to  the  Duke  of  Grafton,  who,  as  lias  been  said, 
was  one  of  the  heirs  of  Gov(.'rnor  Cosby. 

*  Liber.  B  No.  2  of  Deeds,  p.  279,  &c.  It  is  recorded  also  in  tlie  office  of 
the  Secretary  of  State.  July  15,  1812,  in  Liber  M.  R.  R  of  Deeds,  p.  211,  &c. 
It  was  witnessed  by  Robert  Yates  and  Peter  W.  Yates,  and  was  proven  by 
the  last-named  witness,  on  the  second  day  of  November,  1793,  before  Jere- 
miah Lansing,  Master  in  Chancery. 


APPENDIX.  649 

Two  separate  surveys  of  the  manor  had  been  made  before 
the  last  mentioned  purchase.  In  1786  a  fresh  survey  was  made 
by  John  R.  Bleecker.  The  whole  manor  was  divided  into  one 
hundred  and  six  lots,  and  a  map  was  prepared,  showing  the 
division  into  lots.  The  deed  of  partition  by  which  the  share  of 
Eutger  Bleecker  was  conve3^ed  to  him,  was  dated  December  19, 
1786,  proven  on  the  first  of  November,  1793,  by  Stephen  Van' 
Rensselaer,  a  subscribing  witness,  and  recorded  on  the  28th  of 
January,  1795,  in  the  clerk's  office  of  Herkimer  count}'.*  It 
recites  the  ownership  of  three-fourths  by  Schuyler  and  one- 
fourth  b}'  Bleecker,  their  desire  to  hold  their  shares  in  severalty, 
the  division  into  lots,  particularly^  describing  the  boundaries  of 
each  of  them,  their  balloting  for  the  same,  and  that  upon  each 
balloting  the  lots  Nos.  5,  14,  16,  24,  26,  86,  87,  88,  98,  99,  and 
100,  2,  6,  10,  18,  21,  78,  79,  89,  90,  91,  95,  96,  97,  7, 13,  17,  23, 
25,  83,  84,  85,  101,  102,  103,  and  the  undivided  half  of  3,  11, 
19,  27,  and  the  north  half  of  No.  1  were  drawn  by  Philip 
Schuyler;  and  lots  No.  8,  9,  15,  22,  80,  81,82,  92,  93,  94,  104, 
105,  106,  and  the  undivided  half  of  Nos.  4,  12,  20  and  28,  and 
the  south  half  of  No.  1  were  drawn  by  Rutger  Bleecker, — conveys 
to  Schuyler  all  the  lots  and  shares  of  lots  so  drawn  by  him,  and 
to  Bleecker  all  the  lots  and  shares  so  drawn  by  him. 

General  John  Morin  Scott  died  1784.  By  a  similar  deed  of 
partition,  dated  November  27,  1786,  General  Schuyler  conveyed 
to  Lewis  Allaire  Scott,  the  son  of  General  John  M.  Scott,  the 
east  half  of  lots  No.  2  and  of  No.  3,  one-half  of  4,  of  27,  and  of 
28,  lots  Nos.  7,  13,  17,  28,  25,  36,  38,  42,  45  and  50,  which  lay 
on  the  north  side  of  the  Mohawk  river,  also  lots  Nos.  51,  52,  65, 
66,  67,  74,  75,  76,  83,  84,  85,  101,  102  and  103,  lying  on  the 
south  side  of  the  river. 

Rutger  Bleecker  died  on  the  4th  day  of  October,  1787,  leaving 
a  will  which  is  dated  September  8,  of  the  same  year,  which 
was  proved  on  the  10th  of  December,  following  and  recorded  in 
the  surrogate's  office,  of  the  county  of  Albany,  in  Book  of  Wills 
No.  1,  pp.  36-38.  The  testator  gives  his  wife  the  support  of 
hei'self  and  family  out  of  his  estate  during  her  widowhood.  He 
empowers  his  executors  to  lease,  sell  and  dispose  of  his  lands 
and  give  deeds  therefor.     He  gives  and  devises  all  his  real  estate 

*  Liber  No.  2  of  Deeds,  p.  287.  It  is  recorded  also  m  the  office  of  the 
Secretary  of  State,  in  Book  of  Deeds,  M.  R.  R.,  p.  78,  &c. 


650  APPENDIX. 

to  his  live  living  cliildren  and  to  one  expected  to  be  born,  to  be 
equally  divided  between  them.  He  a|)|)oints  his  brother,  Barent 
Bleecker,  his  brother- in  law,  Peter  Elmendorf,  and  his  friend, 
John  Lansing,  Jr.,  to  be  executors,  and  his  wife  executrix.  He 
left  him  surviving,  his  widow  Catherine,  his  sons,  John  E.  and 
Peter  Edmund  Bleecker,  his  daughters,  Elizabeth  Brinckeroff, 
Maria  Miller,  Blandina  Dudlc)^,  and  Sarah  Rutgei'  Bleecker, 
born  January  16,  1788,  his  onl}-  heirs  at  law.  Peter  Edmund 
Bleecker  died  September  18,  1793,  aged  nineteen;  and  Sarah 
Rutger  Bleecker  died  December  10,  1793,  aged  five. 

General  John  Bradstreet  died  September  26,  1774,  in  the  city 
of  New  York,  and  was  buried  in  the  church  yard  of  Trinity 
Church.  His  last  will  and  testament,  dated  September  23, 
1774,  was  duly  witnessed  and  proved,  and  letters  testamentary 
granted  to  Philip  Schuyler.  After  a  clause  of  revocation  of  all 
former  wills  and  testaments,  and  after  sundry  specific  bequests 
and  devises,  he  devises  and  bequeaths  all  the  rest  of  his  estate, 
real  and  personal,  to  his  two  daughters,  equally  to  be  divided 
between  them  as  tenants  in  common  in  fee.  Notwithstanding 
which  devise,  he  empowers  his  executors  to  do  all  acts  and  exe- 
cute all  instruments  which  they  ma}'  conceive  to  be  requisite 
to  the  partition  of  his  landed  estate,  and  devises  the  same  to  them 
as  joint  tenants,  to  be  by  them  sold  for  the  interest  of  his  daugh- 
ters. He  ap]joints  as  executors  the  said  Philip  Schuyler  and 
William  Smith,  Esq.,  of  New  York.  The  last  named  executor, 
wdio  drew  this  will,  renounced  the  execution  thereof.  He  ad- 
hered to  the  crown  during  the  war  of  Independence,  and  was 
afterwards  Chief  Justice  of  the  Province  of  Quebec,  in  the  city 
of  which  name  he  died  in  the  latter  part  of  the  year  1793. 
General  Bradstreet  had  made  a  will  in  England,  on  the  10th 
day  of  November,  1754,  wliich  seems  to  have  been  recorded  at 
Doctor's  Commons,  in  which  he  gave  the  residue  of  his  estate, 
real  and  personal,  to  his  wife  and  two  daughters,  ther  whole,  on 
the  death  of  his  wife,  to  go  to  his  two  daughters.  At  his  death 
he  left  him  surviving  his  widow,  Mary,  and  his  two  daughters, 
Agatha,  who  married  Charles  John  Evans,  and  Martha,  who 
was  unmarried.  His  widow,  Mary,  whose  maiden  name  M^as 
Aldrich,  had  previously  married  Colonel  John  Bradstreet,  a 
kinsman  of  General  John  Bradsti-eet,  by  whom  she  had  two 
children,  Samuel,   major  of  the  40th  Regiment  of  Foot,  and 


APPENDIX.  651 

Elizabeth,  born  in  Boston.  Elizabeth  became  the  second  wife 
of  Peter  Livius,  who  was  afterwards  Chief  Justice  of  Quebec, 
and  who  died  in  England,  in  1795.  Samuel  married  and  was 
the  father  of  two  children,  Samuel,  lieutenant  of  25th  Foot,  and 
Martha,  born  in  Antigua,  W.  I.,  August  10,  1780.  Thus 
Major  Samuel  Bradstreet  and  Mrs.  Elizabeth  Livius  were  the 
half  brother  and  half  sister  of  Martha  and  Agatha,  the  children 
of  General  John  Bradstreet.  Mrs.  Mary  Bradstreet,  the  widow 
of  General  John,  died  March  31,  1782,  in  England. 

Martha  Bradstreet,  the  daughter  of  General  Bradstreet,  died 
in  England,  March  22,  1782,  unmarried  and  without  issue, 
leaving  a  will.  In  this  will,  dated  May  15,  1781,  and  proved 
at  London,  March  30,  1782,  the  testatrix  gives  the  produce  and 
interest  of  her  estate  to  her  mother,  Mary  Bradstreet,  during 
life.  She  devises  her  real  estate,  one-third  to  her  sister  Eliza- 
beth Livius,  one-third  to  Samuel  Bradstreet  and  Martha  Brad- 
street, children  of  her  late  brother,  Samuel  Bradstreet,  and  the 
income  and  profits  of  the  remaining  one-third  to  her  sister, 
Agatha,  the  wife  of  Charles  Du  Bellamy — the  same  person  as 
Charles  John  Evans,  he  having  at  one  time  taken  the  name  of 
Du  Bellamy,  but  his  real  name  being  Evans — and  in  case  of  his 
death,  then  she  srives  the  said  one-third  to  her  sister  forever. 
She  appoints  Sir  Charles  Gould,  knight,  to  be  executor,  and 
authorizes  him  to  sell  and  dispose  of  her  real  estate  in  North 
America  and  make  conveyances  thereof. 

On  the  3d  day  of  May,  1788,  Charles  John  Evans,  of  the  city 
of  New  York,  and  Agatha,  his  wife,  filed  their  bill  of  chancery 
before  the  chancellor  of  the  State  of  New  York  against  Philip 
Schuyler :  w^herein  they  charge  that  General  Bradstreet  in  his 
life-time  entrusted  large  sums  of  money  to  the  defendant, 
to  invest  foi>  him,  setting  forth  the  will  of  General  Bradstreet ; 
that  General  Schuyler  took  upon  himself  the  sole  execution 
thereof,  and  that  they  have  applied  to  said  defendant  for  an 
accounting ;  and  praying  for  a  full  discovery  and  accounting, 
and  that  defendant  may  be  decreed  to  convey  one  moiety  of 
the  said  real  estate  to  the  said  Agatha  Evans.  The  answer  of 
Philip  Schuyler  to  the  said  bill,  sworn  to  March  3,  1789,  adnfits 
that  in  1772  he  proposed  to  General  Bradstreet  to  become  part- 
ner with  him  in  the  purchase  of  Cosby's  manor  and  other  lands 
then  advertised  for  sale,  for  unpaid  quit-rents,  and  the  defendant 


652  *  APPENDIX. 

having  purcbasecl  said  lands,  General  Bradstreet  paid  for  his 
share  £951  14s.  3d.,  and  also  lent  the  defendant  £1,300,  which 
was  applied  toward  payment  of  his  own  share  and  that  of  John 
M.  Scott,  and  avers  that  General  Bradstreet  declined  being 
known  in  said  purchase,  and  the  defendant  holds  the  share  of 
General  Bradstreet  in  trust  for  the  purposes  of  his  will,  that 
there  were  large  sums  of  money  in  tlie  funds  in  England  belong- 
ing to  General  Bradstreet,  which  were  taken  possession  of  by 
Sir  Charles  Gould  as  executor  under  a  former  will,  but  which 
was  revoked  by  his  last  will.  This  was  done  with  the  approval 
of  the  comj^lainants  and  other  heirs  residing  in  England,  who 
preferred  that  Sir  Charles  Gould  should  have  charge  of  the 
property.  The  defendant  has  paid  various  sums  to  the  com- 
plainant and  the  other  representatives  of  General  Bradstreet, 
and  is  now  in  advance  to  his  estate.  This  defendant  has  caused 
a  division  to  be  made  of  the  lands  in  the. said  manor  and  the 
lots  to  be  drawn  by  indifferent  persons  to  each  proprietor,  and 
notice  thereof  to  be  given  to  the  complainant  and  others  inter- 
ested. This  defendant  is  advised  by  his  counsel,  Samuel  Jones, 
Eichard  Harrison  and  Alexander  Hamilton,  that  there  are  great 
difficulties  about  settling  the  estate  of  General  Bradstreet,  but 
on  receiving  proper  security  is  ready  to  proceed  in  the  further 
execution  of  his  trust  as  this  court  shall  direct.  General  Brad- 
street's  estate  is  entitled  to  5,462  acres  of  the  first  patent,  and 
to  4,875  acres  of  the  second,  in  Cosby's  manor.  No  decretal 
order  seems  to  have  been  entered  on  the  bill  and  answer  to  the 
■above  case. 

Charles  John  Evans  died  the  9th  day  of  August,  1793,  when 
his  widow,  Agatha,  under  the  will  of  her  sister  Martha,  became 
entitled  to  one-third  of  Martha's  interest  absolutely,  which,  with 
her  interest  under  her  father's  will,  entitled  her  to  two-thirds  of 
his  estate.  These  interests  were  made  over  to  her'  by  the  exec- 
utor who  lield  them  in  trust,  as  appears  by  the  following: 
Under  date  of  Ma}'  16,  1794,  Philip  Schuyler,  as  executor 
of  the  last  will  of  John  Bradstreet,  executed  a  deed  *  to 
Agatha  Evans  and  Edward  Gould,  merchant,  attorney  to  Sir 
Charles  Gould,  knight,  executor  of  Martha  Bradstreet.  This 
deed,  the  consideration  of  which  is  10s.,  recites  the  will  of  Gen- 

*  Proved  June  3,  1794,  and  recorded  in  the  clerk's  office  of  Herkimer  in 
Book  No.  2  of  Deeds,  p.  39,  on  the  27th  of  May,  1795. 


APPENDIX  653 

ei-al  Bradstreet  and  appointment  of  Schuyler  and  Smith  as  ex- 
ecutors ;  that  Schuyler  was  then  and  at  tlie  time  of  Bradstreet's 
death  seized  in  fee  as  tenant  in  common  of  and  in  two  equal  un- 
divided fourths  of  both  patents  in  Cosby 's  manor  and  other 
lands ;  that  Smith  is  dead ;  that  the  grantee,  Agatha  Evans,  is 
one  of  the  daughters  of  Greneral  Bradstreet ;  that  Martha,  the 
other  daughter,  died,  leaving  the  will  heretofore  mentioned  ;  that 
partition  of  the  said  lands  has  been  made  among  the  proprie- 
tors; and  it  conveys  lots  Nos.  6,  10,  18,  21,  77,  78,  79,  89,  90, 
91,  95,  96,  97,  the  north  half  of  No.  2,  the  undivided  half  of 
Nos.  3,  11,  19,  27,  Nos.  29,  35,  37,  39,  43,  47,  57,  58,  59,  60, 
61,  77  of  Cosby 's  manor  with  other  property  ;  to  have  and  to 
hold  two  equal  undivided  thirds  to  the  said  Agatha,  her  heirs 
and  assigns  forever,  and  the  remaining  third  to  the  said  Edward 
Gould  in  trust,  to  sell  the  same  and  divide  the  moneys  arising 
therefrom  to  and  among  Samuel  Bradstreet,  Martha  Bradstreet 
and  Elizabeth  Livius,  their  heirs,  executors  and  administrators; 
wuth  covenant  against  prior  incumbrances  and  for  farther  assur- 
ance. 

During  the  years  1790-1795  Charles  John  Evans  and  wife, 
and  Sir  Charles  Gould,  by  his  attorneys,  Edward  Gould  and 
Daniel  Ludlow,  and — after  the  death  of  Evans — Mrs.  Evans 
with  Sir  Charles  Gould,  conveyed  certain  lots  and  parts  of  lots 
in  the  manor  of  Cosby  to  actual  settlers  of  Old  Fort  Schuyler, 
among  others  to  Thomas  and  Augustus  Corey,  to  John  Post,  to 
Stephen  Potter,  to  John  D.  Petrie,  to  John  Bellinger,  to  Peter 
Bellinger,  to  James  S.  Kip,  &c.  Agatha  Evans,  who  died 
February  9,  1795,  by  her  will,  dated  November  9, 1794,  directed 
her  executors  to  execute  confirmations  of  the  above  mentioned 
conveyances. 

The  claim  of  Martha  Bradstreet  the  younger,  (Mrs.  Codd), 
based  in  part  upon  the  above  mentioned  will  of  Martha  Brad- 
street the  elder,  and  in  part  upon  the  will  of  her  aunt,  Mrs. 
Livius,  and  the  pertinacity  with  which  she  pursued  her  claim, 
have  heretofore  been  briefly  alluded  to  on  pp.  124,  125  of  the 
text  of  this  volume.  The  history  of  her  suits  forms  no  part  of 
the  object  of  these  notes  ;  their  unsuccessful  result  may  be  found 
more  fully  related  in  the  12th  volume  of  Wendell's  Kt-ports,  p. 
602,  and  the  5th  of  Peters",  402. 


INDEX 


Including  refepenees  to  persons  who  are  noticed  more  or  less  fully. 
Additional  names  of  parties  barely  nientioned  as  resident  of  Utica 
will  be  found  on  p.  428  and  on  p.  SIS. 


PAGE 

Academy,  Utica, 387 

Academy,  Juvenile 351 

Ackley.  Justus,  his  account  of  old 

Fort  Schuyler, 8 

Acqueduct  Company, 104 

Adams,  Aaron    50 

Adams,  Charles 425 

Adams,  Eber      . 209 

Adams,  John  (carpenter) 99 

Adams,  John  (grocer) 425 

Agricultural  Society, 452 

Ailiin,  Dr.  Edward 512 

Aikiu,  Rev.  Samuel  C 458 

Albright,  Major  J.  \V 451 

Allyn,  William  G 623 

Alversou,  William 14 

Alverson,  Uriah ...   13 

Ancient  Britons'  Benevolent  Soc'y  365 

Anderson,  George  K 413 

Anderson,  John  S 594 

Andrews,  Elou 547 

Andrews,  J 277 

Andrews,  Miss   487 

Anthon,  Rev.  Henry 510 

Assize  of  Bread  instituted 208 

Babcock,  Oliver 175 

Bacon,  Ezekiel 393 

Bacon,  William  J 623 

Backus,  Albert   308 

Backus,  Elisha 512 

Backus,  VV.  W 023 

Badger,  Harvey 622 

Bagg,  Moses. ...  40 

Moses  Jr.- 218 

_/s  Hotel  in  1815, 219 

Bagg's  Square,  former  shape ....   93 

use  as  a  horse  breaker's  ring  555 

Bailey,  John 293 

Bainbridge,  Dr.  Edward 123 

Balch,  Vistus 620 

Baldwin,  Rev.  A.  G 232 

Baldwin ,  Edward = .  145 

Ballou,  Benjamin 26 

Ballou,  Joseph   28 

Ballou,  Jerathmel 28 

Ballou,  Obadiah 29 

Bammau.  Henry 382 

Bancroft,  Caleb" 176 

Bank,  Manhattan 273 

Bank,  Ontario  Branch 325 

Bank,  Savings   . .    491 

Bank  of  Utica, 314 


PAGE 

Banks,  Daniel . .  . . ; 50 

Baptist  Chtirch,  Welsh, 134 

Baptist  Church,  Second 475 

Baptist  Missionary  Society, 365 

Baptist  Register, 59  7 

Barker,  Jacob 255 

Barnard,  Harvey   614 

Barnard,  Pharez 95 

Barnum,  E.  S 353 

Barnum,  Levi 254 

Bartlett,  M.  R 470 

Bartlett,  Smith 228 

Barto,  Henry  T 427 

Barton,  Joseph 225 

Barton,  J. &  Co., 513 

Battel,  Mellen 292, 530 

Battel,  Thomas  and  James 383 

Bates,  Archibald   32 

Bates,  David  G 487 

Baxter,  William 228 

Beach,  J.  H 269 

Beach,  Harvey  F 591 

Beach,  Hun  C* 409 

Beardsley,  Samuel 559 

Bed  bury,  J 515 

Beggs,  John 308 

Belin,  Philip 127 

Bell  William 413 

Bellinger,  Maj.  John   12 

Bellinger,  Peter 28 

Benjamin,  Eli  F 549 

Bennett,  Cephas 594 

Bernard,  John •  •  •  ■    381 

Bible  Society,  Oneida 284 

Bible  Society,  Welsh 418 

Bible  and  Common  Prayer  Book 

Society, .' 491 

Bicknell,  Bennett  and  Calvin. . .  .242 

Bingham,  A.  W 293 

Bingham,  Flavel 144 

Birdsell,  E 515 

Bissell,  John  and  Heman  96 

Black,  George , 473 

Black  River  Turnpike  begun 280 

Blackwood,  William 412 

Blake,  Joseph 515 

Bleecker,  Rutger,  a  proprietor  of 

Cosby 's  Manor., 7  and  Appendix. 

Bleecker  Street  paved 624 

Bloodgood,  Francis  A 65 

Bloodgood,  James  and  Lynott.  . .  .224 
Boardman,  Elijah 228 


656 


INDEX. 


Bond,  J 338 

Boom,  Abraham ^   9 

Bostwick,  Newell ...    43 

Bours,  Peter 247 

Bowes,  Joseph '^28 

Bowen,  Heury 277 

Bowman.  Frederick 32 

Brace.  Rev.  Samuel  W 598 

Bradish,  John 334 

Bradstreet,Gen.  John,  a  proprietor 

of  Cosby's  Manor  7  and  Appendix. 

Bradstreet,  Martha 128 

Brayton,  Milton 612 

Bread,  Assize  of,  instituted 208 

Breese,  Arthur 201 

Brewer,  B     515 

Brewster,  Charles 244 

Bridge  over  Mohawk,  petition  for  29 
Bridge  over  Mohawk,  erected ....  30 

Bridge  Street,  opened 271 

Bright,  Edward 528 

Briggs,  Asahel 515 

Briggs,  Noah 511 

Brittin.C 308 

Broad  Street,  opened 257 

Broad  Street,  paved 553 

Broadwell,  Ara 191 

Brodhead,  Charles  C 104 

Brodway,  Thomas 293 

Bromley,  John  P 528 

Bronson,  Greene  C 601 

Brooks,  Barnabas  and  Roger 40 

Brower,  Henry  J 623 

Brown,  Avery 228 

Brown,  Azor 413 

Brown,  Daniel     383 

Brown,  Enos 190 

Brown,  James 131 

Brown,  Haley 293 

Brown,  Henry 553 

Brown,  John 413 

Brown,  Lemuel 269 

Brown,  Nehemiah 856 

Brown,  Reuben 228 

Brown,  Ruf us 192 

Bryant,  Samuel 471 

Buck,  William  J 527 

Budloug,  Daniel 58 

Buell,  Jeptha 59 

Bull,  John  C 290 

Burchard,  Elisha 84 

Burchard,  Erastus 277 

Burchard,  Gideon 34 

Burchard,  Gurdon 33 

Buuce,  Joseph. ...    412 

Burden,  Henry . 486 

Burges,  Abner 515 

Bury,  John  A 338 

Burying  ground,  of  1806,  204;  of 

'1824 600 

Busa,  Loring 228 

Butler,  Comfort 355 


Butler,  Horace 590 

Butler.  Nathaniel 94 

Butteriield,  John 581 

Cadwell.  Elisha 622 

Calder ,  G  eorge 229 

Camp,  Amos .308 

Camp,  George  and  Horace 381 

Camp,  Harry 406 

Camp,  John .251 

Camp,  Talcott .  .   55 

Campbell,  Michael 176 

Canal  Erie  (see  Erie  Canal) 

Caiifield,  Walker 514 

Capron,  Elisha  and  Dr.  Seth   ....  131 

Capron  Cotton  Mills,   860 

Carnahan,  Rev.  James 211 

Carnahan  street,  opened ,  .624 

Carpenter,  Benjamin   528 

Carpenter,  Clark  and  Zeno, 593 

Carr,  Henry  W 594 

Carringtou,  Dr.  Samuel  and  John  38 

Case,  Seth 413 

Case,  William  P 594 

Casey,  V\'illiam 514 

Catherine  street,  adopted 280 

Catherine  street,  paved 553 

Cavana,  Peter 98 

Changes  since  1825,  by  invention 
and  discovery  635^  in  domestic 
economy  636;  in  habits  of 
merchants,  printers,  editors, 
doctors  &c.,  638:  in  funerals 
and  weddings,  638;  in  social 

characteristics 640 

Charles  Street,  opened 596 

Charter  of  Utica,  first  78;  petition- 
for  new  one  94;  second  and 
acts  passed  on  its  adoption 
206;  third  and  acts  passed. .  .482 

Chase,  Ira ,527 

Cheney,  Enoch 81 

Child,  Jonathan 241 

Childs,  David  VV 177 

Childs,  John 278 

Childs,  Silas  D 498 

Christian,     Luther,    Nathan    and 

'Ihomas, 292 

Christian  Repository, 597 

Christman,  Ja?ob {> 

Church,  Joshua  M 357 

Churches   (see    under    respective 

titles,) 

Churchill,  Charles 622 

Circus,  Stewart's 294 

Clark,  Aaron 32 

Clark,  Ezekiel 52 

Clark,  Erastus 62 

Clark,  Henry  B 413 

Clark,  H.  W.  &  William 808 

Clark,  Oren 471 

Clark,  Ralph 515 

Clark,  Major  Satterlee 525 


INDEX. 


657 


Clark,  Silas 57 

Clark,  Thomas  E 396 

Clark,  Welcome. ." 32 

Clark,  Willard 338 

Clark,  Z.  B 338 

Clarke,  Mrs.  Sarah  K  402 

Clarke,  Capt.  William 399 

Clitz,  John 131 

Clough,  Isaac 487 

Cobbett.  Heury   623 

Coburn,  Silas 528 

Cochrane,  Dr.  John.   439 

Cochrane,  James  and  Walter  L.  ..440 

Codd,   Matthew 123 

Coe,  Isaac  187 

Cole,  Bernard  and  William  514 

Colling,  Thomas 530 

"Collins,  Peter 555 

Colton,  D.  E 622 

Colwell,  Joseph 594 

Comstock,  Levi   277 

Comstock,  Moses  473 

Concert  for  joint  benefit  of  Presby- 
terian and  Episcopal  churches.558 

Conklin,  William  528 

Conklinor,  Penelope 553 

Congar,  Obadiah 277 

Cooley,  Justin 383 

Coon,  Barnard 81 

Cooper,  Apollos 44 

Cooper,  B.  F 607 

Cooper,  John 46 

Corey,  Thomas  and  Augustus...  .   27 

Cornwall,  Thomas. 384 

Corporation  shin-plasters   360 

Cosby,  Gov.  William,  Patentee  of 

Cosby's  Manor.. .7  and  Appendix. 
Cosby 's  Manor,  extent  of,  7;  pur- 
chasers of,  7;  division  of,  8 

and  Appendix 

Costlemau,  Joseph.  , 337 

Cotton  Factory, first  at  VVhitesboro283 

Cotton  Factory,  Capron 360 

Courts,  first  held  in  Utica 490 

Coventrv,  Ur.  Alexander 53 

Coventry,  Dr.  William  M 399 

Cozzeus,  Levi 511 

Cozier,  Ezra  S 335 

Crandall,  I^ewis 51 

Crane,  Edward 514 

Cross,  Erastus. ...    307 

Culver,  Abraham 99 

Cummins,  Ira 425 

Cunningham,  Hugh 185 

Cunningliam,  John 9 

Cunningham,  John  D 328 

Curran,  Edward 633 

Curry,  Elijah  P 594 

Curtiss,  George 633 

Curtiss.  John   98 

Dakin,  Martin   1 18 

Dakin,  Samuel  D 608 

Damuth,  George 9 


Dana,  Francis .    . .  130 

Dana,  James 171 

Dana,  Joseph 59 

Dana,  Martha 168 

Danforth.  Samuel 393 

Daniels,  Daniel     473 

Darling,   Nathaniel   33 

Dauby,  Augustine  G   539 

Davies,  Evan 888 

Davies,  Thomas 593 

Davis,  Asahel 369 

Davis,  Cornelius 358 

Davis,  Thomas  83 

Dav,  Henrv 619 

Dean,  H..." 486 

Decker,  Israel 338 

Delano,  Obadiah 594 

DeLong,  James  C  356 

Delvin,  James  and  William 143 

Derbyshire,  George 293 

Dering,  Charles  T 387 

Despard,  Mdrae     ..545 

Despard,  Richard 546 

Devereux,  John  C 137 

Devereux,  Luke 251 

Devereux,  Nicholas 376 

Devereux,  Thomas 291 

Dexter,  Otis 243 

Dick,  Bill  (see  Richards  William) 

Dickens,  Simon 487 

Dickens,  Rebecca 337 

Dickinson,  Ira 193 

Dickinson,  Russell  A 393 

Dinsmore,  Nathaniel 515 

Directory  of  1816,  first  one    437 

Disney,  Robert 547 

Dixon,  Abraham 437 

Dixon,  Rev.  David  R 368 

Dodd,  Rev.  Bethuel 90 

Domestic  economy  of  1835, 636 

Donaldson,  David 337 

Donaldson,  William 269 

Doolittle,  Jesse  W 318 

Dorcas  Society 477 

Dorchester.  Eliasaph 363 

Dorchester,  James  P.  and  Stephen  34 

Doubleday,  U.  F 357 

Douglass,  Dr.  James 610 

Dow,  Lorenzo,  visits  Utica   531 

Dowdle,  Jemmy    83 

Downer,  A.  O.  and  Norman   .  , .  .633 

Downing,  J 308 

Downing,  David 514 

Dows,  Ammi  and  Harry 631 

Drake,  C.  W 553 

Drean,  Henry .189 

Dunlap,  William,  visits  Utica. .  .558 

Dutton,  Chauncey  .• 619 

Dutton,  George 534 

Dwight,    Rev.  Timothy,    his   de 
scription  of  Utica  in  1798  and 

1804 85 

Dwight,  Rev.  Henry 339 


658 


INDEX. 


Dwight,  Henry  E 591 

Dwight,  Rev.  H.  G.  0 223 

Dwight,  Seth 222 

Dwyer,  Alexander 611 

Dygert.SylvanusP 96 

Earliest  settlements  of  Old  Fort 

Schuyler 8 

Easton,  Charles  Jr 82 

Eddy,  Oded 351 

Eddy,  Ruf us 193 

Edgerton,  Deratha 413 

Edmonds,  Robert 337 

Education 'Society,  Western 452 

Edwards,  John 472 

Eggleston,  Aaron 39 

Ellery  &  Vernon   405 

Ellin  wood,  Aaron  C 622 

Ellis,  Evan 552 

Ellis,  Marvin 147 

Ely,  Henry  B.. 513 

Embargo  of  Jefferson,  meeting  in 
Utica  to  memorialize  against,  258 

Enaals,  Henry 514 

Episcopal  Church,  (see  Trinity) 
Erie  Canal,  begun  438;  first  excur- 
sion, to  Rome,  477;  second,  to 
Montezuma,  488;  its  further 
progress  556;  its  completion 
publicly  celebrated  630;  re- 
sults of  completion 632 

Estes,  Stephen 594 

Evans,  Jonathan 81 

Evans,  Jenkins 176 

Evans,  Titus 308 

Everest,  Rev.  Charles  N 620 

Everett,  Rev.  Robert..    572 

Evertson,  John  E.  and  Barney.  .  .250 

Evertsen,  Jacob 384 

Execution,   capital,    first    one   at 

Utica 438 

Factory,  Glass,  Oneida 273 

Factory,  Glass,  Utica 281 

Factory,  Cotton 282 

Factory,  Woolen,  Oriskany 282 

Fay,  James 337 

Farnon,  Rev 474 

Faxton,  Theodore  S   498 

Fayette  St.  begun  488;  its  further 
prosecution  530;  called  Rome 
Street,  554;  name  changed..  .595 

Fellows,  William 57 

Female  Charitable  Society 230 

Female  Missionary  Society, 361 

Female  Society  of  Industry, . .      .477 

Field.  Thomas  F 547 

Financial  distress    following  the 

war  of  1812 \....43S 

Firemen,  first  appointed  207;  their 
first  meeting  209;  subsequent 

proceedings  .240 

First  street,  formally  adopted  271, 

extended 279 

Fisher,  John  H 228 


Flagg,  Mary 130 

Flandrau,  Mrs.  Elias 278 

Flandrau,  Thomas  H 536 

Fleming,  Walter 287 

Flint,  John 413 

Floyd,  John  G 623 

Flusky.  James 77 

Foot,  Moses,  his  re])ort  of  Old  Fort 

Schuyler  in  1785, .     9 

Ford,  Hobart 90 

Ford,  Stephen 39 

Forgery  (see  Teacher) 

Foster,  Timothy 191 

Francis,  Thomas  M 471 

Francis,  William 99 

Franks,  William 553 

Frost,  Ansel     594 

Fuller,  William  K 375 

Gainer,  William 336 

Gale,  Amos , 622 

Garrett,Samuel,Peter and  Cheney.  25 

Gay,  Amos 353 

Gay,  Samuel   425 

Gaylord,  Flavel 412 

Gaylord,  William 153 

Geere,  William 407 

Genesee  street,  paved  in  part. . . . 

529,  553,  595 
Genesee  Turnpike(see  Seneca  Turn- 
pike)   

George,  John   228 

George,  Samuel 135 

George,  Thomas 337 

Gibson,  Henry  B 274 

Gibbs.Ozias   308 

Gidney,  Eleazar 594 

Gilbert,  Edward  and  John 225 

Gimbrede,  Thomas 244 

Ginseng  house 133 

Gladden,  James 451 

Glass  Factory,  Oneida 273 

Glass  Factory,  Utica, 281 

Goff,  Hugh 243 

Gold.  Theodore  S 470 

Goodrich,  Solomon  P 143 

Goodliffe,  Joseph 514 

Goodsell,  Dr.  Thomas 378 

Goodwin,  Oliver  269 

Gould,  Joseph  P.  and  Stephen. .  .594 

Granger,  Otis  P 515 

Graham,  Misses  J.  &  E 487 

Graunis,  Cyrus 527 

Gray,  John 471 

Gray,  William  B 487 

Greaves,  James  and  John 619 

(ireeks,  sympathy  for 557 

Green,  George 357 

Green,  Henry 397 

Green,  John 529 

Greenman,  Hiram 549 

Gridley,  Amos 384 

Gridley,  E.  G   256 

Gridley,  Mrs  485 


INDEX. 


659 


Griffin,  Ebenezer 492 

Griffin,  Lewis 269 

Griffiths,  Eld.  David 357 

Griffiths,  Rowland 146 

Griffiths.  Watkin 472 

Griswold,  Chester 589 

Griswold,  Capt.  Samuel  B 623 

Grosvenor,  Francis  D 550 

Grove,  John 336 

Guest,  Henry  1 426 

Guiteau,  Calvin 449 

Guiteau,  Dr.  Francis,  Jr 120 

Hackett,  James  H 494 

Hale.  Peleg 60 

Halsey,  William  and  Hezekiah.  .   58 

Hamilton,  Eber 473 

Hamlin,  Giles 22 

Hamlin,  William  D 623 

Hammond,  Benjamin 50 

Hammond,  Rev.  John 73 

Hammond,  Calvin,  John  D.   and 

Worden 74 

Handy,  John  H 404 

Hardiker,  Richard 189 

Hardy,  Charles  E 509 

Harrington,  Elisha 611 

Harrington,  John  B 254 

Harrington,  John  D 293 

Harrington,  Susan 468 

Harris,  G.  W 277 

Harris,  Joseph 32 

Harris,  Oliver 426 

Harris,  Perley 338 

Harris,  Rufus 52 

Harrison.  John ....  .383 

Hart,  Ephraim  403 

Hart,  Jacob 338  I 

Hasbrouck,  Dr.  David 179 

Haskell,  Samuel 278 

Hasson,  John 552 

Hastings,  Eurotas  P 409 

Hastings,  Charles 446 

Hastings,  John  C 623 

Hastings,  Thomas .  .443 

Hatch,  George 619 

Hayes,  William ' 227,  485 

Hayes,  William  Jr 227 

Haywood,  William 253 

Hazard,  Charles  C 553 

Hazen,  Caleb  and  Thomas 176 

Health  officer,  appointed 626 

Hedges,   Jonathan 307 

Herrick,  Stephen 357 

Hewitt,  John 413 

Hewson,  John 384 

Hickox,  Augustus 190 

Hickox,  Preserved. 96 

Hickox,  Samuel 229 

Hicks,  Benjamin 145 

Higgins,  Wesley 594 

Hill,  Francis  M 260 

Hill,  Ichabod 514 


Hinckley,  Joel 277 

Hinman,  Maj.  Benjamin 72 

Hinman,  John  E 305 

Hinman,  John  P 383 

Hinman,  William  A.  &  Jay 572 

Hinman,  James 622 

Hitchcock,  Ira  A 357 

Hitchcock,  Alfred 302 

Hitchcock,  Dr.  Marcus .  151 

Hoadley,  Lester .  .  .623 

Hobby,   Elkanah,   Epenetus   and 

John 39 

Hochstrasser,  Paul 278 

Hoisington,  Rev.  Henry  R 529 

Holley,  John  M 623 

Holcomb,  William 594 

Holcomb,  Roswell .216 

Hollister,  Hiel 75 

Holmes,  Sylvanus         .    .....    .623 

Hooker,  Samuel  and  John 75 

Hooker,  Mrs.  C 293 

Hopkins,  Ira  D 589 

Hopkins,  John 52 

Hopper,  Captain   James 126 

Hopper,  George  J 594 

Hotel,  The 86 

Houghton,  William 278 

House,  John 41 

Howell,  Susannah 358 

Hoyt,  David  P 173 

Hoyt,  JohnC 84 

Hoyt,  Samuel 269 

Hoyt's  Alley  opened   595 

Hubbard,  Bela 119 

Hubbard,  Thomas  H 571 

Hubbell,  Alrick   615 

Hubbell,  Lewis 229 

Hubbell,  Matthew 25 

Hull,  Dr.  Amos  G 298 

Hull,  John 229 

Hunt,  David 623 

Hunt,  Flavel  and  Erastus 228 

Hunt,  Montgomery 273,.315 

Hurlburt,  Augustus 549 

Hurlburt,  Hezekiah  and  John. . .  .350 

Hutchinson,  Holmes  585 

Hyde,  Chester 528 

Independent  Infantry  Company,  .294 

IngersoU,  Henry  619 

Ingersoll.  John 451 

Inman,  Charles  and  John 48 

Inman,  Henry 48,558 

Inman,  William 46 

Inman,  Com.  William 47 

Insurance  Company,  Utica 323 

Iviaon,  Henry. 619 

James,  William  (farmer). , 137 

James,  William  (laborer) 176 

James,  Thomas 244 

Jarrett,  William 451 

Jeffers&Co, 308 

Jewett,  Samuel 50 


660 


INDEX. 


Joliuson,  Alexander  B 321 

Johnson,  Captain  Aylmer 117 

Johnson,  Bryan Gl) 

Johnson,  Isaiah         59 

Johnson,  James 514 

Johnson,  Moses   175 

Johnson,  Royal 2(39 

John  street,  opened . .  .385 

John  street,  paved 595,  634 

Johns,  Simon 98 

Jones,  Anson 356 

Jones,  Griffith 338 

Jones,  James 136,.487 

Jones,  John 487 

Jones,  Peter 338 

Jones,  Richard  T 593 

Jones,  Robert 527 

Jones,  Samuel 277 

Jones,  Simeon   .      40 

Jones,  Thomas  (blacksmith). . .    .   39 
Jones,  Thomas  (wheelwright).  .  .472 

Jones,  William   355 

Joslyn ,  John  S   623 

J  udson  &  Maddock 594 

Judd,  Rev.  Jonathan 194 

Juliet,  C 553 

Juvenile  Academy,   351 

Kasson,  Ambrose 484 

Kelty  &  Mitchell, 487 

Kent,  Francis 384 

Kimbal,  Richard 77 

King,  Walter     263 

Kingsbury,  Jesse 383 

Kip,  James  S 34 

Kip,  Henry  24v; 

Kirkland,  Charles  P 494 

Kirkland,  General  Joseph 343 

Kirkland,  Ralph  W 189 

Kissam,  James 337 

Klinck,  Leonard 193 

Knowlson,  William 623 

Knox,  James 623 

Kyte,  William 382 

La  Fayette,  Public  Reception  of,  627 

Ladd,'  William 278 

L'Amoreux,A.  report  of  his  school  ,473 

Jjamson,  Nathaniel 383 

Lamson,  Timothy 59 

Lancaster  System  in  use  in  public 

school 473 

Laney ,  Thomas 383 

Langdon,  Martin 293 

Lansing,  Col.  Gerrit  G 332 

Lansing,  Richard  R 332 

Lansing,  B.  B 348 

Latimer,  Thomas *336 

Latour,  Anthony  W 623 

Lawrence,  Richard 383 

Lee,  Charles  M 298 

Lee,  Philip  J 514 

Leeper,  John  H.   269 

Lewis,  David 472,593 

Lewis,  John 293 


Lewis,  Lewis 487 

Lewis,  Rees 593 

lyiberty  street,  recognized 230 

Liberty  street,  paved   553 

Library,  Public,  established 627 

Lincoln,  Calvin ,  .295 

Little,  James 384 

Livingston,  Henry  W 263 

Livingston,  Van  Vechten 515 

Lloyd,  John 551 

Locke,  Collings 407 

Lombard,  Theophilus 512 

Long,  James 553 

Lothrop,  John  H 157 

Lothrop,  Daniel  B 623 

Lovett,  Elisha 408 

Lowell,  William 358 

Ludlow,  John  R 472 

Lund,  James  T 528 

Lyceum,  Utica,  established 558 

Lvncli,  James 482 

Lynde.  William  A 308 

Mack,  Joseph 511 

Macomber,  George 75 

McBride,  Robert 376 

McCall,  Dr.  John 464 

McCall,  James 520 

McChestney,  Isaac 338 

McCoy,  Baker 293 

McDougal,  Peter 622 

McElwaine,  John 337 

McGarry,  John 594 

McGregor,  James 550 

McKiggin.  John 451 

McLean,  William 83 

McNamee, 9 

McQuade,  Michael  and  Thomas.  .592 
Main  street,  its  former  course. ...   93 

Maine,  Dr.  Zadock  P 610 

Mai  com,  Samuel  B 265 

Malcom,  Richard  M 300 

Manchester,  Otis 449 

Manhattan  Branch  Bank, 273 

Manufactures  of  1805, 201 

Mann,  Charles  A 623 

Map  of  Utica,  in  1802, 148;  in  1806, 

203;  in  1825, 636 

Marble,  Joel 293 

Marchisi,  John  B 409 

Market  House  of  1805,  304;  second 

one  309.  358;  third 624 

Markhani,  Peter  B 269 

Marshal],   Daniel 228 

Marshall,  Moses 100 

Marshal),  Richard 426 

Martin,  John 193 

Martin,  Robert 337 

Marvin,  Jedediah 358 

Maternal  Association, 597 

Matthews, 338 

Maude,  John,  his  visit  to  Utica  in 

1800, 103 

Maynard,  William  H 365 


INDEX. 


6fil 


Mayo.  J 228 

Meachara,  Dr.  1.  N 539 

Meartell,  George 330 

Medical  Society  of  Oneida  County, 231 
Meeting,  public,  in  opposition  to 

the  Embargo .258 

Mellisli,  J.  notice  of  Utica,  in  1807 

283,  295 
Menagerie,    first    one    sliown   in 

Utica 204 

Merrell,  Benajah 143 

Merrel],  Andrew 408 

Merrell,  Bildad 253 

Merrell,  Isaac 254 

Merrell,  Ira 161 

Merrell, George  F.  and  Bradford  S.487 

Merrell,  Harvey 594 

Mesick,  Henry 383 

Methodists,  their  first  meetings, 

257;  chapel,         391 

Midlam,  Thomas 614 

Midshipmen  enlisted, 314 

Military  drafting 259 

Miller,  Morris  S 233 

Miller,  David 383 

Miller,  Jabez   513 

Mills,  G.John 449 

Mills  &  Matthews, 487 

Mills,  Hev.  Samuel  T 469 

Minden  Turnpike  begun . .   280 

Missionary  Society,   Female,  301; 
Utica  Baptist,  365;  Young  Peo- 
ple's  363 

Mitchell,  John  B 255 

Mitchell,  Thomas  S 514 

Mis,  Peter 383 

Mohawk.Navigation  upon, 0,21,240; 
Steamboat  on,  531 ;  first  Bridge 
at  Utica,  29;  Dam  across..  .  .   589 
Mohawk  Settlements,  their  destitu- 
tion in   1790 27 

Moore,  William       293 

Morey,  Philip  and  Sons     13 

Morgan,  Walter 225 

Morgan,  Theophilus 229 

Morgan,  Lawrence 593 

Morgan,  Chauncey  and  Augustus,338 

Morgan,  Rev.  John 515 

Morgan,  a  teacher 553 

Morris,  Charles 591 

Morris,  Rev.  Daniel ..136 

Morris,  David  E .551 

Morris,  Rev.  Morris 209 

Morris,  Thomas  L 551 

Morris,  William 277 

Morrison,  Dr.  George 336 

Morrison,  Roderick  N 538 

Munrow,  Lemuel 337 

Munson,  Alfred 574 

Murdock,  John  B 189 

Murdock,  James 547 

Murray,  James  256 


Nash,  Andrew 514 

Navigation  of  Mohawk 0.  21,240 

Nazro,  John  B 241 

Neunhoeffer,  J.  C 308 

Newell,  Jesse 116 

Newland,  John 336 

Nicoll,  Richard  F 287 

Nicholas,  John , 101 

Nolton,  Lyman 553 

Norton,  Thomas 38 

Northway,  Rufus 619 

Nurse,  T.  H 277 

North  Rev.  Alfred 619 

O'Connor,  Captain 449 

O'Keefe,  Henry 473 

Old  Fort  Schuyler,  the  fort  which 
gave  it  name,  5;  circumstances 
that  contributed  to  make  it  a 
place  for  settlement,  5;  its 
first  division  into  lots,7;  boun- 
daries of  these  lots, 8;  earliest 
account  of  an  attempted  set- 
tlement, 8;  change  of  name,  78 
Old  Fort  Schuyler  Patent,  notes 

on  its  title.  Appendix, 

Oley,  Simon  V 636 

Olmsted,  J.  S 338 

Oneida  County  formed 79 

Oneida  Bible  Society, 284 

Oneida  Glass  Factory 273 

Oneida  Masonic  Lodge, 175,. 260 

O'Neil,  Owen...    ,.. 547 

Ontario  Branch  Bank, 325 

Oriskany  Factory, 282 

Osburn,  John 426 

Osburn,  Henry  W , 588 

Ostrom,  David 150 

Ostrom,  John 269 

Ostrom,  Joshua 288 

Ostrom,  John  H 373 

Oudenaarde,  Henry  and  Marinus.243 

Owens,  Evan 96 

Owens,  Owen 449 

Owens,  Thomas 451 

Palmer,  Asa .277 

Pancko,  Joseph  C 594 

Parker,  Jason 41,  288 

Parks,  Samuel 426 

Parmelee,  Truman 612 

Party  spirit,  its  former  violence  in 

this  State 642 

Payne,  Benjamin 227 

Peace,  news  of  declaration  of 387 

Pease,  Harmon 409 

Peckham,  George 426 

Peckham,  Seth 51 

Peckham,  John  S.  and  Merritt. .  .511 

Pierce,  Joseph 37 

Pelton,  Jonathan 515 

Penniman,  William 292 

Perkins,  David  L 622 

Perry,  Richard 487 


662 


INDEX. 


Petition  for  bridge  over  river, ...  29 

Petition  for  new  cliarter, 194 

Petrie,  John  D 32 

Pinckney,  Micajah 383 

Pine  street ,  opened 554 

Pittman,  William 25G 

Phelps,  Chauncey 192 

Phelps,  Bennet  E 622 

Place,  James .514 

Plant,  Benjamin 25 

Plato,  George 383 

Piatt,  James , 347 

Piatt,  Jonas 567 

Piatt,  Zephaniah 570 

Pocock,  John 336 

Pomeroy,  Dr.  Theodore 520 

Pond,  Julius 520 

Pond,  G 487 

Population   of   Utica    at  various 
periods  prior  to  1805,  96;    in 
1810,280;  in  1816,431;  in  1823,556 
Population  of  Utica, how  made  up, 633 

Porter,  Joseph   303 

Post,  John 19 

Post  street 624 

Potter,  Stephen 23 

Presbyterian  Church,   First  339,  459 
Presbyterian  Church,  Second  . .  598 

Queal,  John 244 

Ramsdale,  Moses 229 

Ranney,  Elijah 189 

Rappelyea, 256 

Rathbone,  Justus  H 483 

Rawson,  Chauncey 269 

Records,  earlier,   of   Village  and 

Town,  lost 79 

Reed,  David,  &  Sons 135 

Rees,  William 146 

Rees,  Mrs.  Maria 337 

Rees,  Isaac 514 

Remsen,  Simeon 98 

Rice,  Peter 623 

Richards,  George,  Jr 167 

Richards,  William 450 

Ripley,  Franklin 338 

Rhodes,  Robert  R .    .  .  .527 

Roberts,  John 90,  101 

Roberts,  John  T 427 

Roberts,  David 472 

Roberts,  Edward 472 

Roberts,  Watkin , 472 

Roberts,  Evan 551 

Roberts,  Henry 551 

Robbery  and  murder,  by  a  resi- 
dent of  Utica, 490 

Robbins,  Demas 244 

Robinson,  John 383 

Robinson,  J 515 

Rockwell,  Thomas   350 

Rockwell,  James  0 620 

Rodgers,  Junius 623 

Rogers,  Riley 307 


Roman  Catholjc  Church, 474 

Rome  street,   554 

Root,  Elijah 384 

Roper,  William   .   ,623 

Rose,  Elisha 193 

Rowe,  Erastus  337 

Rowe,  J  ohn      384 

Roxbury,  Helena 337 

Rugg,  Samuel 98 

Russ,  John  A 449 

Russ,  Philip 473 

Russt,  Samuel   18 

Ryder,  338 

Salyea,  Hendrick 9,  11 

Sanger,  Gerry 553 

Sanger.  Henry  K 609 

Sanger,  Richard 615 

Saumet,  Dennis   ....    623 

Savage,   William  B 381 

Savings  Bank, 491 

Sayles,  Darius 32 

Say  re,  James 509 

Scott,  John  Morin,  7,  and  appendix 

Scott,  Nathaniel 243 

Scott,  James 244 

Scott,  M.  Y 4S6 

Schaefer,  John,  and  Jacob .357 

Schiffer,  J.  C 623 

School  House,  old 92 

Schram,  William 620 

Schultz,  Christian,  Jr.  his  account 
of  voyaging  on  the  Mohawk, 

240;  of  Utica, , 246 

Schuyler,  Gen.  Philip,  a  proprietor 
of  Cosby's  Manor,  7,  and  ap- 
pendix          

Schwartze,  Philip  J 89 

Second  Baptist  Church 475 

Second  Presbyterian  Church,. . .  .598 

Second  street  adopted 271 

Sellick,  Jesse  622 

Seneca  street  adopted 197 

Seneca  turnpike 7,  103 

Settlement,  earliest 8 

Settlers,  character  of  early.  ..80,  629 

Seward,  Asaliel 161 

Seymour,  Alexander  349 

Seymour,  Orson 357 

Seymour,  Henry 480 

Shadrach,  Stephen 136 

Shapley,  John  and  Henry 193 

Shaw,  Rev.  Henry  M 484 

Shaw,  Benjamin  R 594 

Shaw,  John  P 622 

Shearman,  Ebenezer  B   128 

Shearman,  William  P 251 

Shearman,  Robert 505 

Sherman,  Watts 48 

Sherman,   H.  H 308 

Sherman,  Henry 383 

Shepard,  Abraham 614 

Shumway,  Leonard 594 


INDEX. 


668 


Sibley,  Samuel  A 593 

Sickles,  Thomas 259 

Sickness  iu  1795 51 

Sidebotliam,  Thomas 528 

Side-walks,  first  directed 359 

Sill.  ElishaE 317 

Simons,  Joseph 277 

Singer,  and  Co 278 

Skinner,  Thomas 83 

Skinner,  A.  B   528 

Slayton,  David   133 

Slosson,  Charles •  -  •  -633 

Smead&  Cable 357 

Smith,  Peter 14 

Smith,  Nathan   33 

Smith,  Richard   58 

Smith,  John 95 

Smith,  William,  ("  Nailer  ') 100 

Smith,  Nicholas 303 

Smith,  Levi 308 

Smith.  Philip 338 

Smith,  Charles 358 

Smith,  Truman. 407 

Smith,  Nathan  D 409 

Smith.  John  B 413 

Smith,  Walter 42G 

Smith  &  Bates 436 

Smith,  Dr.  Newel 484 

Smith,  Edward 514 

Snow,  Lemuel ...  487 

Snyder,  Rudolph 236 

Snyder,  Jacob 253 

Social  habits  of  early  Uticans. .  .  .640 
Society  Agricultural,  of  Oneida.  .452 

Society,  of  Ancient  Britons 365 

Society,  Bible  of  Oneida 284 

Society,  Welsh  Bible 418 

Society,  Bible  and  Praj'erBook.  .491 

Society,  Dorcas 477 

Society,  Female,  of  Industry 477 

Society,  Female,  Charitable 230 

Society,  Female,  Missionary 361 

Society,  Medical  of  Oneida 231 

Society,  Maternal 597 

Society,  Utica  Baptist  Missonary  365 

Society,  Utica  Tract 477 

Society,  Uraniau 260 

Society,  Young  People's  Mission- 
ary  363 

Soldiers,  in  war  of  1812,  enlisted 

from  Utica 313 

Soulden,   William 468 

Southerland,  Castle 338 

Spafford's  Gazetteer  of  1813,  ex- 

tract^f  rom ; . . .  339 

Sparrow,  Rev.  William 469 

Spertzell,  Justus 623 

Spencer,  William .451 

Spencer,  Julius  A 623 

Spitzenburger,  George 256 

Spooner,  Dr   .  . 472 

Sprague,  Asa 96 

Spurr,  Elisha  192 


St.  Hilaire,  Alexis  F. 93 

St.  Patrick,  Sous  of 516 

Stage  travelling 41 ,  288 

Stafford,  Joab 353 

Stafford,  Daniel 288 

Stafford,  I  )avid 190 

Stafford,  Spencer,  Jr.  &  Brothers,  509 

Staples,  William 293,  883 

Staring,  Henry 83 

Steamboat  on  the  Mohawk, 531 

Stephens,  Elder  John 135 

Sterling,  Jacob 173 

Sterry,  John  H 623 

Steward,  John,  Jr 217 

Stewart,  Robert 176 

Stewart,   Alexander 228 

Stewart,  George 278 

Stewart,  Capt.  Charles 543 

Stevens,  Nathan ,  .413 

Stevens,  Henry 514 

Stevenson,  Thomas. 425 

Stickney,  Eliphalet 622 

Stiles,  Edward 620 

Stocking,  Samuel 170 

Stocking,  Joseph 277 

Stockton,  Henry 619 

Stoddard,  John 193 

Stone,  Windsor 101 

Stone,  Erasmus 539 

Storrs,  Shubael 268 

Stow,  Samuel , 238 

Stowell  &  Bishop 514 

Streets  in  use  in  1805,  197;  in  1816, 

430;  in  1835,  (see  map) 634 

Strong,  Capt.  Elijah  194 

Strong,  Silas  D 384 

Sunday  School.  Utica 414 

Survey  of  Utica,  in  1816, 437 

Swan,  George 553 

Swain,  William 619 

Talcott,  Samuel  A 419 

Talcott,  Matthew 424 

Tax  list  of  1800 97 

Taylor,  Rev.  John,  his  notice  of 

Utica,  in  1800, 147 

Teacher  who  forged 306 

Tennery,  William  A 388 

Thayer,  Beniamin 515 

Thomas,  Daniel 137 

Thomas,  Levi   132 

Thomas,  Abijah 183 

Thomas.  Anson 182 

Thomas,  Briggs  W 182,  379 

Thomas,  Evan 255 

Thomas,  Thomas 277 

Thomas,  William  B 393 

Thompson,  Ignatius 437 

Thompson,  Samuel 546 

Thorn,  Stephen 623 

Thurber  Brothers, 536 

Tiffany,  Isaiah 613 

Tilden,  Eleazar 413 

Tillinghast,  Dr.  Wilbor 381 


664 


INDEX. 


Tillman,   William 191 

Tillman,  Andrew  P 277 

Timeiman,  David    023 

Tisdale,  George 224 

Tisdale,  George  L 425 

Tisdale.  William  H 451 

Todd.  Robert  J 292 

Todd,  Samuel  M 426 

Todd,  John   237 

Towushend,  Rev.  Jesse 387 

Tract  Society,  Utica 477 

Tracy,  Seymour 275 

Trade  in  1805 202 

Transient  character  of  early  in- 
habitants,   198 

Trinity  Church,  Society  begun,  92; 
organized  and  edifice  begun, 
149;  organized  anew  and  rec- 
tor called,  194;  edifice  com- 
pleted  and    dedicated,    231  ; 

concert  in 518 

Trowbridge,  David 174 

Truesdell,  Morgan 383 

Trvon,  E.  W 449 

Tucker,  Eliphalet 277 

Tucker,  Pomp 413 

Turner,  Duncan 189 

Turnpike,  Seneca 103 

Turnpike,  Utica  &  Black  River.  .280 

Turnpike,  Minden 280 

Turnpike,  eastward 103 

Tuttle,  Mandeville 2.56 

Tuttle,  Ziba 413 

Underwood,  Nathan 337 

United  Society  of  Whitestowu 
and  Old  Fort  Schuyler,  9U; 
officers  appointed  for  Utica, 
149;  its  condition  under  Rev. 

Jas.  Carnahau, 213 

Universalist  Church,  organized.  .627 

Urauian  Society, 260 

Ure,  James 119 

Utica,  origin  of  name,  78;  scanti- 
ness of  early  records  of,  79; 
its  first  charter,  78;  as  seen  bv 
Rev.  Dr.  Dwight,  in  1798,  85; 
as  seen  by  John  Maude,  in 
1800,  102;  as  seen  by  Rev. 
John  Taylor  ,  in  1802,  147  ; 
survey  of  it,  in  1805,  196; 
as  compared  with  Whites- 
boro  and  New  Hartford,  198; 
its  dependence  on  those  places, 
198;  its  second  charter,  206; 
as  seen  by  J.  Mellish  in  1811, 
295:  its  part  in  war  of  1812. 
309;  as  described  in  Spafford's 
Gazetteer  of  1813,339;  survey 
of,  in  1816,  428;  its  third  char- 
ter, 432;  map  of  in  1825,  636; 
who,  and  what  the  character, 
of  its  people ....  636 


Van  Alstyne,  A.  W 381 

Van  Buren,  Freienmoet 256 

Vanderlyn,  Henry 528 

Vauderlip,  Philip   623 

Van  Dyke,  Richard 269 

Van  Home,  Abraham  1)   .  .    217 

Van  Rensselaer,  Jeremiah,  Jr Ill 

Van  Rensselaer,  James 286 

Van  Santvoort,  Abraham 238 

Van  Syce,  Mrs.  Sarah 278 

Van  Syce,  Rebecca 358 

Van  Syce,  George 383 

Vaughan,  G.  W 256 

Varick,  Abraham  Jr 178 

Vedder,  J.  F.  J 622 

Vernon,  Edward 405 

Vizor,  Joel 229 

Vreeland.  Garrett 229 

Wads  worth.  Horace   412 

Wager,  David 623 

Wakeman,  Thaddeus  B 291 

Walker,  Col.  Benjamin 66 

Walker,  Thomas 154 

Walker,  William 546 

Wall,  Lansing 553 

Walton,  Abraham  M 121 

War  of  1812,  as  seen  by  Uticans.309 

Ward,  William   243 

Warner,  Jared  E 447 

Warner,  Jonathan  R 592 

Ward  well,  Daniel 520 

Washington  street,  adopted 230 

Watchmen,  Volunteer 210 

Watley,  John   82 

Water's,  Gilbert 413 

Watson,  James 231 

Watson,  Benjamin 426 

Weaver,  Nicholas  N . 383 

Weaver.  Peter 515 

Weed,  Thurlow 338 

Welles,  John 351 

Welles,  William  B 409 

Wells,  Arnold 32 

Wells  &  Warren,    189 

Wells,  Solomon  and  Alfred 193 

Wells,  Elisha 527 

Wells.  Stephen 619 

Wells,  public,  opened   209 

Welsh  Emigration,  133 

Welsh  Baptist  Church,    134 

Welsh  Congregational  Church,.  .135 

W  elsh  Bible  Society, 418 

West,  Royal 486 

West,  Bernice 594 

Western  District,  its  rapid  settle- 
ment   88 

Western  Education  Society, 452 

Western  Recorder 597 

Weston,  James 451 

Wetmore,  Edmund  A 532 

Wetmore,  Edward  P 620 

Wharton.  J 229 


IXDEX. 


665 


Whipple,  Robert 32 

Whipple,  Otis,  and  Otis  VV 513 

Whipple.  B.  B 594 

White,  Frederick 144 

White,  Rev.  Henry 351 

White.  Hiio^h,  and  Capt.  Henrv.  .586 

White,  Ira ".  ,.528 

White,  Augustus 176 

Wliiteley,  William 290 

Whiting-',  Frederick 335 

Whitestown  formed,  11;  its  Popu 
lation  in  1798,  12;  set  off 
from  Herkimer,  79;  Whites- 
boro.  Early  Society  and  Influ- 
ence of,  on  Utica,    198 

Whitesboro  St.  its  former  course  93 
Whitesboro  Cotton  Factory,. . .    .282 

Whitestown  Gazette, 83 

Whitestown.  and  Old  Fort  Schuy- 
ler,   United   Society  of    (see 

United  Society) 

Whitney,  John 413 

Wliittemore,  Thomas  H 513 

W^icker,  George  F 593 

Wilcox,  Lemuel  and  Shuthelah..357 

Wilcox,  Theodore 413 

Wilcoxson,  Gideon 216 

Wilber&  Stanton, 404 

Wilbor,  William,  and  Isaac  553 

Wilkinson,    Gen.    Samuel,  Court 

for  trial  of 386 

Wlllev,  Rev.  Elijah  F 476 

W^illeV,  G.  S 553 

Williams,  Nathan 60 


W^illiams,  William  (chandler)...   98 

Williams,  Elder  Abraham 135 

Williams,  William  (bookseller).  .164 
Williams,  Judah,  and  Judah.  Jr., 188 

Williams,  Stalham   249 

Williams,  Mrs.  Bethiali 255 

Williams,  John 301 

Williams,  Dr.  Ezra 347 

Williams,  Israel 413 

Williams,  Elhanan  W 609 

Williams,  Thomas  S 535 

Wiltsie,  Benjamin 308 

Wilson,  Dr.  Thomas 175 

Wilson,  Robert   176 

Wilson,  George  S 616 

Wilson,  James   618 

Winne.  Killian 250 

Winston,  Mrs.  Susan 382 

Winter,  James  C 291 

W^inter,  Joseph 308 

Witt,  Gott  132 

Wood,  Ezra 337 

Wood,  Dr.  Robert  C 610 

Woodward,  Dr.  Benjamin 39 

Wood  worth,  Erastus 594 

Wolcoot,  Claudius.  .  . 32 

Woolcot,  Dr.  Solomon. 152 

Worden,  0.  N 620 

Wright,  Josiah. 553 

Yates,  John  B 375 

Yates,  Alexander 413 

Young    People's   Missionary  So- 
ciety,  363 


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